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Alabama Football: 3 Reasons Tua Tagovailoa deserves the 2018 Heisman Trophy

By John Mitchell

TUSCALOOSA, AL - NOVEMBER 24: Tua Tagovailoa #13 of the Alabama Crimson Tide rushes off the field after their 52-21 win over the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
TUSCALOOSA, AL - NOVEMBER 24: Tua Tagovailoa #13 of the Alabama Crimson Tide rushes off the field after their 52-21 win over the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

1. The numbers point toward Tua if you consider volume

The raw statistics are going to favor Murray and Haskins because they both played more than Tua throughout the season. Alabama’s ruthless beatdowns led to Tua spending fourth quarters sitting on the bench with a towel wrapped around his neck cheering on his understudies.

Much has been made about the lack of snaps in the fourth quarter, and Tua didn’t take a single one until the first weekend of November, but that doesn’t tell the full story. The full story is that Tua didn’t take a ton of snaps in the third quarter, either, typically doing the bulk of his damage in the first half and giving way to Jalen Hurts and Mac Jones after a drive or two in the third quarter, sometimes even earlier than that.

Tua threw only 80 passes after halftime this season, compared to 134 for Murray and 223 for Haskins.

Here’s the total snap numbers for each Heisman finalist this year (H/T Rich Cirminiello):

  • Tua: 588
  • Kyler: 808
  • Haskins: 1007

Tua took over 200 less snaps than either other finalist. If you extrapolate his numbers over Kyler Murray’s snaps, they’d look something like this:

4,864 total yards, 57 total touchdowns.

At Haskins’ snap numbers, you would get this:

6,062 total yards, 71 total touchdowns.

Tua threw a touchdown pass every 15.89 snaps he played this season, compared to 20.2 for Murray, and 21.42 for Haskins.

Tua scored a touchdown (passing or rushing) every 14 snaps he played this season, compared to 15.84 for Murray, and 19.74 for Haskins.

Tua also led the nation in yards-per-completion at 16.85 yards-per-attempt, slightly ahead of Murray and more than three yards-per-attempt ahead of Haskins.

Complaining about Tua’s numbers is akin to looking at Greg Maddux’s 76-pitch complete game and complaining that he only had six strikeouts; or arguing that Kobe Bryant is a better basketball player than Michael Jordan because he scored more points.

The raw numbers might favor the other two finalists, but volume matters, and Tua shouldn’t be penalized for the merciless beatdowns his teams laid on the opposition.

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