Alabama Football: 3 overreactions to win over Tennessee in Week 8

1. LSU routs Alabama without Tua

There’s no use in sugar-coating this: Tua Tagovailoa is not only college football’s best player, he’s the most indispensable player in the country as well. He’s the only player Alabama could not possibly live without, and his injury casts a dark shadow on the rest of the season.

On the positive side of things, if Tagovailoa absolutely had to have this injury during the regular season, this probably was the best time for it. A game against lowly Arkansas and then a bye week provides him with 20-days between surgery and the showdown with LSU in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 9. That’s why the tightrope procedure was done so quickly — to maximize the amount of time he has to recover from the procedure.

While Alabama and Tagovailoa are optimistic he will be able to play against the Tigers, that’s far from a guarantee this early in the process. He had this procedure right after the SEC Championship last season, and still seemed far from 100% a full four weeks later when the Tide played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. To be fair, though, he was also dealing with a lingering knee issue, and that ankle was on his plant foot, making that recovery all the more strenuous.

There’s just no margin for error in his recovery process. Jeff Allen and the training staff will be earning their money as they try to get Tagovailoa ready for the game. Any setback between now and then would likely prevent him from being able to play.

The Alabama/LSU is already garnering “Game of the Century” hype once more, with there being a strong likelihood that it is No. 1 vs. No. 2 when they meet up as long as Auburn doesn’t throw a wrench in there by upsetting LSU in Baton Rouge this weekend.

The air would be sucked from that hype if Tagovailoa is unable to play, though. Beating LSU this year, even with a fully healthy Tagovailoa is far from a guarantee. The Tigers look good enough to capture the program’s first national championship since 2007; they very much have looked every bit of Alabama’s equal so far this season.

Without Tua? You can forget about it. Instead of the potential instant-classic we would likely get with him in the lineup, I’d expect something similar to what transpired against Clemson in Santa Clara to end last season if it’s Mac Jones taking the snaps instead.

There’s no Jalen Hurts around now to save Alabama. I do expect a much improved Jones against Arkansas after a full week of preparation as the No. 1 quarterback, but even with Alabama’s quartet of ridiculous receivers, I don’t see Jones being able to keep pace with Joe Burrow and that high-powered LSU offense.

Hope for the best in regards to Tagovailoa’s recovery and that he is able to be at least close to his normal self in time for LSU to come calling.

The alternative is too ugly to stomach.