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Hurts, Purdy set for rematch in NFL

PHILADELPHIA: Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy could be primed for a shootout in the NFC championship game.

It’s the first time Hurts — the league MVP finalist for the Philadelphia Eagles — and Purdy, the “Mr. Irrelevant ” rookie sensation for the San Francisco 49ers, have matched up in the NFL. And it’s a doozy, with a spot in the Super Bowl at stake.

But the two young quarterbacks have gone head-to-head before, in a game that was among the best in the 2019 college football season. Hurts passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores for Oklahoma, and Purdy passed for five touchdowns for Iowa State. Purdy’s No. 9 Sooners came out on top, 42-41, on Nov. 9, 2019, in Norman, Oklahoma.

“It was almost like you had to score every single time you had the ball,” Purdy recalled this week.

His stint with the Cyclones had a story that has pretty much been replicated in San Francisco.

As a freshman in 2018, Purdy played so well, so quickly that incumbent starter sophomore Zeb Noland decided to play elsewhere just a month into the season. Purdy took over in the fifth game of the season and led the Cyclones to a 7-2 record and a trip to the Alamo Bowl. He was the first true freshman quarterback to start a game for Iowa State since 1995 and finished with a team bowl-record 315 yards passing against Washington State in the bowl game.

Eagles defensive end Matt Leo, on the team’s practice squad, played for three seasons with Purdy at Iowa State.

“I remember when he came in straight out of high school, he was already working out before the semester even started,” Leo said. “Seeing that competitive nature in him, I knew the kind of tone he was going to bring to the team. And he did.”

Fast forward to 2022, when Purdy was the last player drafted, yet made the 49ers’ roster as the third-string QB and improbably took over after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo both got hurt. Purdy is now the third rookie quarterback ever to win two NFL playoff starts, the fifth to reach the conference title game as a starter and will look to be the first to reach the Super Bowl.

For all his success, it’s still easy to think about the game against Hurts that slipped away.

Sports

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2023-01-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/282084870941538

The Manila Times