Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy are familiar foes, having met in one of the most exciting games of the 2019 college football season as Big 12 rivals.
The quarterbacks accounted for 11 of that game’s 12 touchdowns as No. 9 Oklahoma held off visiting Iowa State 42-41.
Hurts, the Eagles’ No. 1 quarterback and a finalist for NFL MVP honors, was the quarterback of the No. 9 Sooners. Oklahoma held a 21-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
Purdy, the impressive San Francisco 49ers rookie who entered the starting lineup due to injuries, impressively rallied Iowa State to 20 fourth-quarter points to make it a one-point game with 24 seconds left. The Cyclones went for the win but Purdy’s two-point conversion pass was intercepted.
“You had to score almost every time you had the ball almost,” Purdy recalled. “It’s a different situation and scenario than we’re about to do on Sunday. It was a fun college game, it was a great experience to go up against Jalen and they had a great team. He was making plays and I felt we had to do the same as well.”
Purdy accounted for six touchdowns (five passing, one running) and threw for 268 yards and rushed for 55 more. Hurts passed for 273 yards and three touchdowns and added 68 yards and two scores on the ground.
Hurts also has vivid memories of that game, and he’s not surprised Purdy, a seventh-round draft pick, is undefeated in seven career NFL starts, including two this postseason.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” Hurts said. “He’s always been a really good player. He has a lot of moxie, he makes plays and he’s been doing this since college so it’s not a surprise that when he was given this opportunity to see the success he’s having now.”
–Field Level Media