Benched at halftime, Alabama’s Jalen Hurts was the class act of title game

Random notes:

▪  One College Football Playoff hero was the quarterback who was benched at halftime on Monday night. Alabama’s Jalen Hurts set an example by offering help to replacement Tua Tagovailoa and being all smiles after the 26-23 overtime win.

▪  Georgia isn’t going anywhere. The way recruiting is going in Athens, talk around the league says Kirby Smart is building a monster between the hedges. Not only could we see an Alabama-Georgia 2018 SEC title game, we could see a CFP finals rematch, as well.

▪  In case you were wondering, Kentucky isn’t scheduled to play Alabama in football again until 2023 in Lexington. Nick Saban will be 72 years old by then. He will either be retired or trying to win his 12th national championship. I wouldn’t bet against the latter.

▪  Josh Allen’s return is obviously huge for Kentucky football in 2018. The defensive end/outside linebacker will benefit from an added year of maturity and conditioning. A standout senior season would put him in prime position for next year’s NFL Draft. Having safety Mike Edwards return for his senior season will help the defense, as well.

▪  Don’t blame UK for bringing in junior-college quarterback Terry Wilson. Don’t blame now former UK quarterback Drew Barker for leaving the program as a graduate transfer. Now the one to watch is redshirt sophomore Gunnar Hoak.

▪  His first year in Columbus, former Jessamine County Colts star Chris Holtmann has Ohio State 4-0 in the Big Ten. After three seasons as Butler’s head coach, Holtmann steered the Buckeyes to an 80-64 win over then No. 1-ranked Michigan State on Sunday.

▪  It could easily lose Wednesday night at Missouri, but Georgia could be the SEC basketball sleeper. Mark Fox has a star in Yante Maten, an inside presence with Derek Ogbeide, a promising freshman in Rayshaun Hammonds and plenty of veterans.

▪  Were I in Bengals owner Mike Brown’s shoes, I would not have re-signed head coach Marvin Lewis. That said, I don’t consider it a major mistake and I give Brown credit for being his own man. He wanted continuity. We’ll see how continuity plays out.

▪  Interesting contrast between Reds and Bengals. When Reds Manager Dusty Baker fell out of fan favor after losing playoff series, owner Bob Castellini let Baker walk rather than risk a fan revolt. Under similar circumstances, Brown took the opposite approach.

▪  My NFL divisional playoff picks: Patriots over Titans and Steelers over Jaguars in AFC. Falcons over Eagles and Vikings over Saints in NFC. Picking Pittsburgh, but Jacksonville’s defense is tough enough to surprise the Steelers.

▪  Could Randall Cobb’s days in Green Bay be numbered? The Packers signed Davante Adams to a multi-year extension, meaning that Adams, Cobb and Jordy Nelson will all make over $10 million next season. Nelson or Cobb might have to go.

▪  Upset over criticism he received by turning his back completely to a player seeking an explanation, college basketball official Ted Valentine says he is thinking about retirement. Yeah, right. “TV Teddy” loves the attention.

▪  Agree with ESPN’s Bill Polian, the former NFL general manager, who says the problem with replay is that they’re trying to get every official’s call right, which upsets the flow of the game. You can’t get every call right. Bad calls are part of the game.

▪  In New Orleans for UK-UCLA, I followed Greg Oden in the media meal line. The 7-foot center led Ohio State to the NCAA title game before knee injuries ended his career. Now almost 30 and on the OSU staff, he joked about my bad luck. “I might eat everything here,” he said.

▪  Circling back around to the College Football Playoff, I loved Chris Fowler as the host of ESPN’s “College GameDay.” As the network’s lead college football play-by-play announcer, however, not so much. It’s a tough transition.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Benched at halftime, Alabama’s Jalen Hurts was the class act of title game."