The long ball -- everybody loves it.

For Alabama, though, it hasn't been so fruitful a season after Jake Coker's moonshots helped loosen things up for Derrick Henry's running game. The Crimson Tide offense is still ranked 31st nationally in Jalen Hurts' rookie season, they're just coming through different means.

Nick Saban addressed the down-field throwing issue unprompted last week when asked about the running game.

"We left a lot of money on the table in the last two weeks," Saban said a week ago, "not throwing the ball to the open guys when we're supposed to be reading it. We've got to get better at that."

Saban said he saw signs of improvement Saturday in the 48-0 beating of Kent State. There weren't a ton of throws down the field -- eight by our count. That wasn't surprising given the caliber of opponent.

Of the eight throws, three were completed. Starter Jalen Hurts was 2-for-5 for 53 yards when looking at the deeper routes. Blake Barnett was 1-or-3 with a 34-yard touchdown to O.J. Howard.

Hurts is 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) in throws 20 yards down the field, according to CFBFilmRoom.com.

Howard said there's no one major problem in the equation. Sometimes it's a matter of blocking, but nothing is beyond fixing with time. It comes back to one thing, in his mind.

"I'd say timing, everyone get on the same chemistry," he said. "But that comes as the season goes. It's all about timing."

He has seven passes that've covered 30-plus yards -- two of which went to last season's breakout playmaker, Calvin Ridley. The sophomore receiver isn't worried about where things are headed in the big-play category.

"We just have to get a lot more reps together in practice," Ridley said. "All the quarterbacks go and throw, so sometimes I don't (get throws) with the quarterback that's starting, and it just makes the timing bad sometimes."

Of Hurts' 30-yard gainers, five were true downfield throws. The 71-yard touchdown to ArDarius Stewart against USC went the distance because of a coverage bust. And a 30-yarder to Gehrig Dieter at Ole Miss was a sideline route with yards after the catch.

The 39-yard touchdown from Hurts to Stewart in the opener was a well-thrown deep ball for his first score. The rookie also had difficult throws for 51-and 40-yard gains against WKU. The toss to Ridley that covered 51 yards saw Hurts roll to his left, fake a short pass and chuck deep for his star receiver. Ridley adjusted with the ball in the air, turning to his other shoulder for the first-quarter gain.

A week later, he hit Ridley again for a 45-yard completion in the fourth quarter of the 48-43 win at Ole Miss.

The best throw Hurts had against Kent State was a 31-yard completion to Cam Sims. The back-shoulder throw fit a window only Sims could reach for a play ending at the Golden Flash 1-yard line. There were a few fluttering throws into heavy coverage that were not completed Saturday.

"I still think it's a matter of a couple reads here and there that we need to clean up with him," Saban said. "I don't think there's anything physically wrong with the way he throws the ball and each week he has gotten progressively better and we've had less and less and less of those types of things - which is the progress that we want to see and hopefully will be able to continue to build on."

There were a few occasions against Kent State where it appeared Hurts was looking for the deep ball but opted against it. On the play after Damien Harris' ankle injury, he surveyed the routes downfield before dumping down to Joshua Jacobs for an eight-yard gain. Then late in the first quarter, Hurts ran two yards into the sideline after seeing nobody open downfield.

Saturday was also the third straight game without an interception. The pick against USC remains his only of the season. Among SEC quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts, Hurts is the only one with fewer than two interceptions. At the same time, he's eighth in yards per attempt (7.1) and ninth in yards per game (181.8).

So while it's an area of concern, nobody's overly worried long term.

"Nobody wants to get it right more than him," Saban said, "and that's why I think he'll get it right."

Downfield throws vs. Kent State

Jalen Hurts

1. Threw it 45 yards in the air, but undershot Calvin Ridley as the safety approached with help. The pass had some flutter, Ridley never really had a good look at it.

2. Pump and go didn't fool the cornerback, but Hurts delivered a perfectly placed back-shoulder throw to Cam Sims for a 31-yard pass to the 1-yard line.

3. Pump fake froze middle linebacker 22 for a moment but he was able to get a hand on an under-thrown ball to O.J. Howard. Completed pass for 18 yards but it was a dangerous throw into coverage. Not one for the highlights.

"Yeah. It was thrown really hard," Howard said. "I think that's why the guy kind of misjudged it, it was thrown so hard. I thought he was going to try to intercept it, but it was coming so hard and kind of behind him, so he only could tip it, and he tipped it to me."

4. Play action, under pressure, Hurts threw another wobbly pass into double coverage, incomplete to Trevon Diggs. The ball traveled 47 yards in the air.

5. Fade from the 17-yard line to the end zone and Calvin Ridley was well placed considering tight man coverage. It just didn't account for safety Nate Holley coming over to knock it free at the last second for an incomplete pass.

Blake Barnett

1. Threw into double coverage to Gehrig Dieter from the Kent State 32 into the end zone. Tipped by DB and bounced off Dieter's fingers. Incomplete.

2. Faked handoff to B.J. Emmons, spotted O.J. Howard in deep crossing route for 34-yard touchdown pass. Led the tight end perfectly across the formation.

3. On third-and-10, had time in the pocket, threw across the middle 20 yards down field but ball was knocked away from Trevon Diggs who was covered tightly.

Totals: 3 completes in 8 attempts for 82 yards

Looked deep, didn't throw

Jalen Hurts

-- Looked deep on sixth play, dumped off short to Joshua Jacobs for 8 yards.

-- Rolled to his right on first play of fourth possessions. Surveyed the field, saw nothing and ran to the sideline for two yards.

Blake Barnett

-- Sacked on first play looking to throw down the field. Had 3.7 seconds in the pocket before being taken down.

-- Sacked again two plays later trying to escape the pocket from the Kent State 32. Pressure was immediate but he was pushed out of bounds 5.7 seconds after the shotgun snap.