To start the second half, Nick Saban decided to go with Alabama freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa over sophomore Jalen Hurts.
In an interview right before walking into the locker room to join his team, Alabama’s Nick Saban mentioned the quarterback play not being where he wanted it. He also said that all the blame can’t be put on sophomore Jalen Hurts, but it was a major contributor to the 13-point deficit.
Hurts led the Crimson Tide to the national title game as a true freshman in 2016 and not many quarterbacks can go 25-2 in their first two seasons with a program. However, Saban wanted more on the offensive side of the ball.
To start the second half, Saban decided to go with former five-star freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from Hawaii. He had received a ton of praise as a recruit and he was expected to give Hurts a run for his money potentially after the 2017 season.
Unfortunately, Saban has had to go with him more than he would have liked during a season which was supposed to be a learning period for the young quarterback.
By benching Hurts, Saban may have shown that he’s ready to move on at quarterback and trust the young freshman moving forward. He made the move in order to light a spark under the offense, but this could be telling as to where the quarterback position is headed in 2018.
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Tagovailoa’s first series was a three-and-out, but if he’s able to lead the Crimson Tide down the field to a couple of times to a second-half comeback, we will all be talking about how he’s the favorite to win the starting job in 2018.