You're not alone if you've questioned the timing of quarterback Blake Barnett's decision to leave the Alabama program.

These are natural questions: Why leave four games into the season? Why not just wait until after the year to transfer?

There's a reason.

If Barnett waited until after the season to transfer, he wouldn't be eligible to play at another FBS school until 2018. But sources told AL.com that Barnett recently became aware of an NCAA loophole that allows a player to be eligible to play at another FBS school one calendar year after leaving their previous school.

That's why the former five-star recruit is leaving now and transferring to a junior college, according to sources. Barnett will be eligible to play at another FBS school after the fourth game of next season as long as he completes an average of 12 hours of transferrable degree credits per term at the junior college, earns at least a 2.5 GPA in those courses and graduates from the junior college, according to NCAA Bylaw 14.5.6.

Helping Barnett, a redshirt freshman, is that he's closer to having the amount of credits needed to graduate from the junior college because of enrolling early at Alabama.

Barnett informed teammates and coach Nick Saban of his decision on Wednesday. Later Wednesday, Saban said he wasn't sure whether Barnett had made a final decision and said he hopes that Barnett ultimately chooses to remain with the team.

Barnett was Alabama's opening game starter during the Tide's win over USC. However, he was benched in favor of true freshman Jalen Hurts following the second series of that game and had been Hurts' backup ever since.

The California native was the No. 2 pro-style quarterback and No. 21 overall prospect in last year's recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.