Alabama Football: 5 impact players for Tide in national title game

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Tua Tagovailoa #13 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates after the win over the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

1. Tua Tagovailoa

While Trevor Lawrence has taken the football world by storm this season, a year ago it was Tua Tagovailoa emerging onto the scene to lead the Crimson Tide to a comeback victory over Georgia in the National Championship game. Tagovailoa threw three touchdowns in the second half against the Bulldogs, including the game-winner to Devonta Smith in overtime.

Tua carried that momentum right into the 2018 season, where he has put up eye-popping numbers. Tagovailoa threw for 3671 yards and an insane 41-4 touchdown to interception ratio. His first interception didn’t come until early November against LSU. Tagovailoa is the lifeblood of the Alabama offense and has transformed it into the most dangerous unit that Nick Saban has ever had.

Alabama’s win over Oklahoma is a perfect example of what makes Tagovailoa so dangerous. While Kyler Murray struggled to get adjusted to the speed of the Alabama defense, Tagovailoa iced the game away early with four straight touchdown drives to start the game. As soon as Murray found his footing, Alabama already had built a 28-0 lead. Even with as much talent as Oklahoma has on offense, there was no chance it was coming back in that game against the Alabama defense. Tua’s play will be perhaps the biggest factor in the National Championship game.

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