Hurts named Oklahoma's starting QB

Jalen Hurts will be Oklahoma's starting quarterback to begin the season, head coach Lincoln Riley announced Monday.

Hurts will get his first taste of game action on Sept. 1 in the season opener against Houston.

The 21-year-old was competing with redshirt freshman Tanner Mordecai and true freshman Spencer Rattler for the starting gig.

Before transferring to Oklahoma in January, Hurts played three seasons with Alabama. He spent the 2016 and 2017 campaigns as the Crimson Tide's starter and led the team to a 26-2 record in that span. However, he was benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa during the 2017 championship game and subsequently lost his starting role the following year.

Hurts completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 765 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions off the bench last season for Alabama.

He is the third consecutive transfer to take over as Oklahoma's starting quarterback, following Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, the 2017 and 2018 Heisman Trophy winners, respectively.