When Chad Kelly went down with a season-ending injury, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze had a tough decision to make: whether to remove the redshirt from true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson.
Freeze planned to let Patterson sit the season out behind Kelly, the consensus preseason All-SEC first-team quarterback, and then take the reins in 2017. But that process sped up, with Freeze citing the desire to give his team the "best chance to win." That meant starting Patterson, the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the 2016 ESPN 300.
The decision paid off, as Patterson threw for a school freshman-record 338 yards in a 29-28 comeback win at then-No. 8 Texas A&M. Freeze said he wasn't surprised by his electric young quarterback's performance because of Patterson's ability.
And he's just the latest in a group of promising young quarterbacks that gives SEC fans reason for optimism about the position.
In August, there wasn't much optimism about SEC quarterbacks, and rightfully so. Kelly and Tennessee's Josh Dobbs were the only proven commodities -- and even they have their flaws -- while the rest of the league was filled with question marks.
Even a month into the season, as players such as Arkansas' Austin Allen and Texas A&M's Trevor Knight emerged as productive signal-callers, there still was a lot of uncertainty. For instance, two former Purdue quarterbacks -- Florida's Austin Appleby and LSU's Danny Etling -- wound up playing key roles for their squads.
Fast forward to November and the conference no longer looks in such dire straits at the position, thanks to a handful of promising true freshmen: Alabama's Jalen Hurts, Georgia's Jacob Eason, South Carolina's Jake Bentley and Patterson.
Hurts -- No. 26 overall in ESPN's latest #CFBrank -- has been by far the best of the group and is showing maturity beyond his years. In the SEC, only Kelly has a Total QBR better than that of Hurts (78.9), the first true freshman quarterback to start a game for Alabama since Vince Sutton in 1984. Hurts is 13th nationally in the metric, and his dual-threat ability has transformed Alabama's offense into a potent unit that ranks in the top 25 nationally in scoring (41.2 points per game), yardage (492.2 yards per game) and yards per play (6.75).
While Hurts' numbers (2,032 passing yards, 735 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns responsible for) are good and his athleticism is impressive, his poise is perhaps his best attribute. When Hurts has faced adversity -- for instance, fumbling the first snap of his career versus USC or the sack and fumble that Ole Miss returned for a touchdown to take a 24-3 second-quarter lead over the Tide -- he usually rebounded well. Even as LSU held Hurts and the Crimson Tide scoreless for three quarters this month, Hurts made big plays in the fourth quarter, rushing for 70 yards, including the game's lone touchdown in the final period of a 10-0 win.
Given his talent and impressive freshman campaign, Hurts might have the potential to become Nick Saban's best quarterback since he arrived in Tuscaloosa.
Eason was one of the most ballyhooed recruits nationally in the entire 2016 class and showed flashes this year of what's to come. Like most true freshmen who are thrown into the fire, the Georgia quarterback has had his ups and downs, but Eason has had several bright spots, the latest being an upset of then-No. 9 Auburn on Saturday.
His numbers weren't off the charts (20-of-31 passing, 208 yards) but he took care of the ball, with no turnovers for the fourth straight game. He also made some key throws. Earlier this season, with the game on the line, Eason showed no fear in crunch time, leading last-minute, go-ahead touchdown drives versus Missouri and Tennessee. Against the Tigers, it was this throw, a fourth-and-10 touchdown pass to Isaiah McKenzie for the win; against the Vols, it was a 47-yard touchdown pass to Riley Ridley with 10 seconds left that looked like a game-winner -- until Dobbs found Jauan Jennings with a winning Hail Mary for Tennessee.
The talent around Eason isn't what his Alabama counterpart has, but he has offered numerous signs that his future is bright.
Whereas Hurts and Eason took the reins early this season, Bentley and Patterson came along recently. The Gamecocks were looking for a spark after starting 2-4, and when they entered their off week, Will Muschamp gave Bentley an opportunity.
He answered by leading the Gamecocks to their three highest point outputs of the season: 34 points against Massachusetts, 31 points against Missouri and 24 points against Tennessee, all of which were wins. He didn't throw an interception until his most recent start, a 20-7 loss at Florida, his first game away from home, but the would-be high school senior (he skipped his final year to enroll at South Carolina early) has given his offense some confidence -- and the improved health at receiver and emergence of Rico Dowdle in the running game has helped, too.
Then there's Patterson, who didn't see the field until Saturday. While some criticized Freeze for pulling the redshirt off a player in the midst of a lost season that might result in a bowl appearance and nothing more, it's clear after seeing Patterson play why he made the decision. The former IMG Academy and Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist star appears to have the goods.
Despite playing on the road in front of 104,000-plus, Patterson made the big-time throws necessary in crunch time and showed a level of confidence that fits his stellar skill set. Patterson looks like a future star for the Rebels.
If the early returns are any indication, the SEC's four true freshman quarterbacks will be filling highlight reels for years to come.