Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy showdown has phenomenal college football precedent

Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy will face off in the NFC Championship Game, but the two quarterbacks did play against one another in college.

The NFC Championship Game is all set. The No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles will host the No. 2 San Francisco 49ers, with the winner earning a spot in Super Bowl 57. The Eagles reached this point after returning from their first-round bye and completely dominating the New York Giants in the 38-7 win. As for the 49ers, they surged past the Seattle Seahawks 41-23 in the Wild Card Round and survived a defensive battle against the Dallas Cowboys in their 19-12 Divisional Round win.

In the conference title matchup this upcoming Sunday, it will be Jalen Hurts vs. Brock Purdy, the two young quarterbacks that have pulled their team to two wins away from a Lombardi Trophy. This isn’t the first time that these two played against one another.

The two did so back in 2019 when Hurts was the quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and Purdy was the signal caller for the Iowa State Cyclones.

Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy actually faced off in college

Hurts and Purdy had quite the duel in the Big 12 matchup. The Sooners actually held a 42-21 lead entering the fourth quarter, behind five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) from Hurts. But, Purdy attempted to orchestrate a comeback in the final 15 minutes of playing time.

In the fourth quarter, Purdy threw touchdown passes to Chase Allen and Sean Shaw Jr to pull Iowa State to a 42-35 deficit. But in the closing seconds, Purdy threw a potential game-tying touchdown to Charlie Kolar with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation. Instead of going for the tie, head coach Matt Campbell went for the win. However, Purdy’s attempted pass was intercepted by Oklahoma’s defense. That allowed the Sooners to pick up the 42-41 victory.

Hurts completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 273 yards and three touchdowns while throwing one interception. The Sooners quarterback also ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

Purdy, meanwhile, completed 19-of-30 of his throws for 282 yards and five touchdowns, while running for 55 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

Hurts and Purdy will look to lead their respective teams to the Super Bowl. Will it be the high-scoring affair like it was in their college meeting? That’s tough to say, considering the 49ers and Eagles both have the best defenses in the league.

Eagles vs. 49ers takes place on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX.