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

3. Tua’s injuries shouldn’t cost him the Heisman Trophy

Throughout the season, Tua has been dealing with a nagging knee injury that has limited his mobility (a huge part of the game that wasn’t even able to scratch the surface) and necessitated him wearing a bulky knee brace.

Despite that, his numbers coming into the SEC Championship Game had him as the Heisman favorite, with a slight edge in completion % and passer efficiency over Kyler Murray.

On the first drive against Georgia, Tua suffered a high-ankle sprain to his left ankle, which forced him to remain in the pocket for the entirety of the time he played, and didn’t allow him to get the normal zip on his throws with his inability to plant properly.

The numbers weren’t pretty, as Tua completed just 10-of-25 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown to two interceptions. A bevy of dropped passes early in the game certainly didn’t help either. For instance, how different does the game look if Irv Smith Jr. doesn’t drop a 50+ yard dart from Tua in the first quarter on a third-and-long of a scoreless game?

Pundits have been waiting for a Heisman “moment” from Tua, because evidently, a 44-yard gallop on one good knee in Baton Rouge to shut the door on LSU doesn’t qualify.

An injury to the other ankle in the fourth quarter robbed Tua of his chance to lead the comeback, as he was knocked from the game with the Crimson Tide trailing by just a touchdown.

A couple of drives earlier, Tua delivered a strike to Jaylen Waddle, who then proceeded to take the ball 51-yards for a touchdown to trim Georgia’s then two-touchdown lead. It’s possible that Tua had some more heroics in store, but we’ll never know.

Instead, Jalen Hurts checked in and had a fairy-tale ending, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to lift Alabama to a 35-28 win and the SEC Championship.

To see Hurts lead the comeback and use that as a detriment to Tua because a backup QB was able to win the game is a disservice to both players. Hurts isn’t your normal backup, having spent two years as Alabama’s starting QB and winning the SEC Offensive Player of the Year award in 2016, along with pushing the Tide to back-to-back national championship appearances.

One bad game, with several extenuating circumstances, shouldn’t rip away the Heisman Trophy from the guy who has been leading the charge for the entire season.

Tua tried to gut out an injury that ultimately required surgery, when he probably should have gone to the bench right then and there, and that’s what’s likely to prevent him from taking home the Heisman Trophy.

I think Kyler Murray is a deserving Heisman winner. I think Tua Tagovailoa is a deserving Heisman winner. One of them will take home the stiff-arm Saturday night, in what will likely be one of the closest votes in the history of the award.

I’d take Tua with Murray as a close second, but I don’t think you could go wrong either way.