Alabama Football: Tua Tagovailoa must start in 2018

2. The Alabama offense needs a spark

The Crimson Tide saw a minor stepback in their offensive stats this season. They averaged 38.8 points per game in the 2016 season before averaging 37.9 points per game entering the Championship Game. That’s not much of a decline, and it’s somewhat understandable given the turnover on the offensive staff.

The points are there, but that’s partly a function of being able to out-talent most of their opponents. A dominant defense that does some scoring of their own and provides the offense with excellent field position doesn’t hurt either. Despite all this, the explosiveness of this Alabama offense was noticeably impaired. The Tide had 27 plays of 30+ yards this season, 66th most in the nation. Just nine of those came through the air.

Hurts’ has always been a crafty runner, but when forced to throw the ball the Alabama offense goes quiet. Whether it’s confidence or competence, Hurts’ hasn’t developed as a passer nearly enough in year two to warrant him keeping the starting job over Tagovailoa.

Alabama had 94 yards of total offense in the first half. Tagovailoa led the Tide on a scoring drive of 56 yards on his second possession of the game, doing most of the work by himself, including the touchdown pass. He’s rough around the edges, but he woke up a silent Alabama crowd with some of the most exhilarating sequences of offense the Crimson Tide had all game long.