Arizona State quarterback Blake Barnett said he was "not quite sure why" things didn't work out for him at Alabama, but having the coach say he was too nervous in his first start didn't help.

Barnett started Alabama's opening game of the 2016 season - a 52-6 victory over Southern Cal on Sept. 3 in Arlington, Texas. Barnett left the game in favor of true freshman Jalen Hurts after two series with the Crimson Tide trailing 3-0. Hurts started the rest of the season.

"A lot of backlash that I received from [the USC game] was that I came out nervous," Barnett told ESPN senior writer Ted Miller. "I think you could ask just about every teammate and they'd agree that I wasn't. But a certain coach went out to the media and said that I was, and so I got that negative reputation from it."

Sideline reporter Sam Ponder said at halftime of ABC's telecast of the Alabama-USC game that Tide coach Nick Saban had said Barnett had been lifted because he looked nervous during the season-opener.

Barnett informed Saban of his intentions to leave the Alabama program on Sept. 28, four games into the 2016 season.

The redshirt freshman enrolled at Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California. On Dec. 5, he committed to Arizona State. On Jan. 31, Barnett received a waiver from the NCAA allowing him to play from the start of the 2017 season for the Sun Devils. Without it, he would have been sidelined for one year from the date of his Alabama departure, which would have caused him to miss Arizona State's games against New Mexico State, San Diego State, Texas Tech and Oregon.

Arizona State held a spring football media day on Wednesday.

"A lot of things happened there where I'm not really sure why they unfolded the way they did," Barnett said about his time at Alabama.

The quarterback said he learned a lesson at Alabama.

"Never take anything for granted," Barnett said. "You never really know the circumstances that are going to be put in front of you. Your role, whatever situation you're in, is to do as much as you can, and that's what was really hard for me is that I truly believe I did as much as I can. I believe I did everything the coaching staff asked from me, and I believe I honestly did more. I'm not saying that to be braggadocious. I'm just saying that because I truly believe it.

"I'm a firm believer in my work ethic, and I'm a firm believer in doing what I have to do and going beyond that. I believe I did that there. The situation unfolded, not really the way I would want it to, but things happen for a reason."