TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- There are a lot of disclaimers to get out of the way, starting with the fact that Mississippi State isn’t a very good football team. The Bulldogs upset Texas A&M, sure, but they did so at home when Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight was sidelined with an injury. Remember, Mississippi State opened the season with a loss to South Alabama and needed all 60 minutes to beat Samford. The Bulldogs entered Saturday below .500 and near the bottom of the SEC West standings.

So let’s take what No. 1-ranked Alabama did to Mississippi State on Saturday with a grain of salt. As if that’s possible.

Freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Alabama offense sure didn’t make it easy to ignore what they did against the Bulldogs. A week after a below-par performance against LSU, they came out of the gate on fire, scoring on six of their eight first-half possessions and finishing with more than 600 total yards in the 51-3 victory. Receiver ArDarius Stewart went off for 156 yards and three touchdowns, Calvin Ridley caught his sixth touchdown of the season, and a trio of running backs combined for 112 yards on 16 carries.

But no star burned brighter than Hurts, who set career highs for passing yards (347) and passing touchdowns (four). He also rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown, bringing his total number of touchdowns to 27 -- which is already more than Jake Coker, Bama's previous quarterback, had all of last season and only eight behind Blake Sims' 35 total scores in 2014.

Is Hurts a finished product yet? Of course not. Even against Mississippi State, he was errant on a few throws and missed a few wide-open receivers, including what would have been an easy touchdown to Ridley in the first quarter. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Hurts averaged 6.1 air yards per attempt, his third-lowest average of the season. Alabama instead relied on a season-high 289 yards after the catch.

But again, it’s hard to be critical when you see that Hurts accounted for five touchdowns in one game. Never mind the interception he threw and the fumble he coughed up -- he became the first Alabama quarterback to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a game.

All in all, this was the type of performance that coach Nick Saban and the rest of the Alabama coaching staff were hoping for after spending extra time with Hurts during the week. They entered Saturday hoping to work on the passing game, and it showed. After attempting 19 passes at LSU, Hurts had 28 attempts by halftime against Mississippi State. It would have been easy to run the ball in the second half, yet Alabama settled for a season-low 31 rushing attempts, which was a far cry from the previous average of 45 per game.

“Jalen had a really good day today,” Saban said after the game. “It’s one of the things we’ve been wanting to do, is develop some confidence in the passing game, and obviously he was able to do that very well.”

With the SEC West title clinched and a spot in the College Football Playoff all but locked up, continuing to develop Hurts has to be a top priority for Saban as he looks to create a more balanced offense.

Ten teams have tried to break Hurts and the Alabama offense, and 10 teams have failed. But that doesn’t mean a defense like Clemson’s or Michigan’s can’t. Christian Wilkins and the Clemson defensive line can be dominant at times, and Michigan star defensive back/linebacker Jabrill Peppers has the speed and athleticism to spy Hurts and keep him in the pocket.

The Mississippi State game was a move in the right direction toward making Hurts more than a runner. Whether it was a single step or a leap forward depends on what you think of the level of competition.