Why Tennessee Running Back Jalen Hurd Is SEC's Best Freshman Offensive Player

Tennessee freshman running back Jalen Hurd's Twitter handle is "@MrHurd_1," appropriate considering the 18-year-old Volunteers star runs like a grown man.

Hurd's production has skyrocketed with each of his four games, more than doubling the production of senior Marlin Lane with his 328 yards on 72 carries thus far.

He also has seven catches for 59 yards and has accounted for three total touchdowns.

After earning his first career start in last week's 35-32 loss at Georgia, the 6'3", 227-pound runner finished with 119 yards on 24 carries.

That's the most yardage for a UT true freshman since Jamal Lewis in the 1997 SEC Championship Game.

In a league full of superstar freshmen, Hurd is emerging as the class of the 2014 class.

Opponent	Rush-Yards	Catch-Yards	Total Yards	Yards per touch	Touchdowns
Utah State	11-29	2-16	45	3.5	1
Arkansas State	23-83	0-0	83	3.6	1
Oklahoma	14-97	2-24	121	7.6	0
Georgia	24-119	3-19	138	5.1	1

Because of all that success, Hurd's aforementioned Twitter account is filling up with praise from some of the biggest names in sports.

Everybody from his idol Eddie George to gold-medal Olympian Carl Lewis have chimed in with positive words.

The kind of feedback Hurd is getting for his play so far is unique, especially for a Vols team that hasn't been in the national spotlight in some time.

Headlines gravitate toward the dynamic freshman. Part of it is his strong start on the field, but he is also lauded for his maturity in front of cameras and handling of the press.

Though it's extremely early in his career, Hurd appears to have a touch of the same mixture of talent and charisma as Vol legends Peyton Manning and Eric Berry did before him. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, native already is treated with similar reverence and love throughout the Vol Nation.

Perhaps that's because a fanbase starved for something positive anointed him a star before he ever stepped onto the field, and all the hype wasn't overblown.

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His early success has come in spite of the Vols' offensive line struggles. Not only does Hurd get tough yards between the tackles with defenders all around, UT offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian finds ways to get him the ball in space so he can have room to roam.

Georgia has some star freshmen such as Sony Michel, Nick Chubb and Isaiah McKenzie, but their supporting cast—and especially their offensive line—makes their success possible.

Texas A&M receiver Speedy Noil has made an impact, but it's the same story. Alabama's Cam Robinson is already one of the league's top left tackles. There are countless other impressive freshmen to mention.

But Hurd should get the early nod as making the biggest impact thus far.

No other running back in the league is hamstrung by such a young and inexperienced offensive line, yet Hurd continues to prove himself.

He's putting up better numbers than either of the first-year Georgia runners. Though LSU's Leonard Fournette is beginning to round into form after a tough start, Hurd has put up similar stats against stouter competition.

He has plenty of motivation coming from external entities as well. Perhaps that's why he runs so violently when he gets the football.

On national signing day when he officially signed with Tennessee, a voice from the USC war room said, "Jalen Hurd is so soft and terrible. I don't know why he (unintelligible)," reported Knoxville News Sentinel writer Evan Woodbery.

Anybody who's watched Hurd truck defenders and grind out extra yards after contact knows he's anything but soft.

Hurd has put to rest any concerns about his height so far as well, hitting holes with a vengeance and making himself a small enough target that he protects his lower body. Once he gets in the open field, Hurd's length and speed are to his advantage.

Even while Hurd produces, rivals talk.

Just this week, Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis stirred the pot a little more when he told GatorBait's Thomas Goldkamp that Hurd "can't hang" with the Gators.

"

Georgia was a big test for him, that's a physical team. But I feel like we have more to offer for him. We're going to come down, we're going to talk to him a little bit with the pads. We're not going to talk with our mouth, we're going to hit him and get back and get lined up. I don't think he can hang with us.

He's a good athlete, but we've got a whole defense coming for him.

"

Typical Florida smack talk. In one breath, Davis says the players won't talk with their mouth; in the next, he delivers the barb.

Davis later praised Hurd for being "physical" and "fast" but said that he "doesn't have top end speed."

"We have to welcome him to the SEC."

Hurd already stomped all over that welcome mat at Georgia and Oklahoma, which is another reason he is producing the best season by a true freshman in the league.

As the competition gets better, so does he.

The doubters will come, but Hurd takes it in one of those long strides.

Now, the spotlight will be firmly focused on Hurd entering the Florida game, but not just because of Davis' comments.

According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press' Patrick Brown, the Gators have outrushed Tennessee 181.5 to 52.6 yards per game in their current nine-game winning streak over UT.

The rushing advantage in this series goes even further.

The Vols must get a big game from Hurd. As if the jab from Davis and questions from all of the doubters weren't enough motivation, he wants to atone for his huge freshman miscue last week against the Bulldogs.

With UT backed up in the shadow of its own goal post, Hurd and quarterback Justin Worley fumbled a handoff exchange. Hurd took the blame for the fumble and is now ready to play in the game he's dreamed about since he was a little boy growing up in Middle Tennessee.

Hurd told Brown of the rivalry: "That's something that I was looking forward to all year when I was a kid and just growing up and being a Tennessee fan, and actually now playing in it, it's amazing."

If his progression throughout the first four games is any indication, Hurd won't just play; he'll star.

It's something most Tennessee fans expected when he committed to the Vols, giving UT its first blue-chip running back commit since Bryce Brown.

Now that he's actually on the field, the nation is getting a glimpse of what kind of monster Hurd can be with the ball in his hands. And this is only the beginning.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics gathered from UTSports.com.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.