The praise for Jalen Hurts came from all corners Saturday after the freshman quarterback threw for more yards than he ever has at the college level during Alabama's 51-3 victory over Mississippi State.

"I thought he made a lot of good throws today," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said.

"He stepped up a lot," receiver ArDarius Stewart crowed.

After Hurts accumulated 347 yards through the air and delivered four touchdown passes Saturday, the media was quick to push the storyline that the quarterback had made a great leap forward as a passer. But was that really the case?

Consider the opposition. Last month, the Bulldogs allowed 468 passing yards to Samford, the FCS school located just up the road in Birmingham. That wretched performance came after LSU quarterback Danny Etling posted a 134.5 efficiency rating in a victory over Mississippi State -- the highest he's produced against an SEC opponent.

The Bulldogs' secondary was vulnerable. But Alabama rarely expanded the dimensions of its passing game Saturday. According to the official play-by-play, nine of Hurts' 28 completions came on jet sweeps, screens and throws to the running backs. They totaled 134 yards. It was part of a horizontal strategy Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin implemented.

As eye-popping as Hurts' stat line was, it was inflated by ArDarius Stewart. In the second quarter, the junior receiver caught what was essentially a handoff before turning upfield and racing 67 yards for a touchdown. Hurts was credited with a pass. But Stewart did all of the work.

After the game, even left guard Ross Pierschbacher admitted that he considers the play Stewart scored on to be a run.

"Yeah," he said. "We're just running outside zone basically, just a little bit wider and they're going to get out on the edge and run like he did."

Throughout the season, Hurts has succeeded delivering passes at the short and intermediate levels. So it was no surprise he thrived Saturday when seeking out receivers running routes in that range. Operating in a clean pocket for much of the day, Hurts showed confidence when he threw a pair of touchdown strikes to Stewart, who created a window of space while running a skinny post in each instance. Long before then, Stewart became Hurts' favorite target. Hurts threw his way 13 times as Stewart produced 156 yards on eight catches.

The bulk of that total came after a mixup between Stewart and Hurts led to an interception on one of the few downfield passes Hurts threw Saturday.

"The receiver is supposed to go underneath, which is what he expected him to do," Saban said. "When you're throwing the long balls, you have to anticipate and it looked like a bad throw. But really it was a combination of not getting things accomplished in the route running like he anticipated. But I thought he made a lot of good throws today."

The performance certainly showed improvement from a productivity standpoint. In the previous eight quarters of action, Hurts completed 25 passes and threw for 271 yards. He exceeded that total in less than 45 minutes Saturday. It was a positive sign for a young college quarterback who is still in the nascent stages of development.

"He did what he was supposed to do today," Stewart said.

But it remains unclear whether Hurts has turned the corner as a passer especially when considering the quality of opposition he faced and the way in which his impressive stat line materialized Saturday. In that context, it's best to say Hurts took a step in the right direction this weekend instead of the great leap forward so many claimed he made.