The hay is in the barn.

Well, at least I think it is.

I don’t think that Nick Saban is still deciding who his starting quarterback is going to be. That decision, I believe, was not going to be determined by what happened in fall camp. Unless there was some mammoth disparity — it was clear that one guy feasted on rib tips all summer while the other trained like an NFL quarterback — this was never going to be a true fall camp battle.

It’s finally game week, which means that we’ll stop seeing quotes like this from Saban.

“Both guys (Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa) are playing pretty well, so we’ll just keep going and see if anybody separates,” Saban told ESPN last Tuesday.

“There could be a role for both of them, but there’s been no decision made either way. Just like every position, there’s good competition at quarterback, and nobody’s backing away from that competition. As much as anybody, the other kids on the team will let us know which one of those guys gives us the best chance to win. The good thing is that we’ve won with both.”

Goodness, even I was bored reading that and I’ve been eating this stuff up all offseason.

Now, though, the offseason is over. At least when Saban talks about the quarterback situation after Saturday, he’ll be asked about actual game action and not “who had the better scrimmage, coach?”

So what happens with the Alabama quarterback situation this Saturday against Louisville? Let’s make a prediction about that.

You know, considering where the hay is.

Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

I think Tagovailoa starts. End of story.

OK, not literally. That’d be pretty boring. Hurts will have a role, albeit not the one he wants.

Some said that Hurts “deserves” the opportunity to start because of his record and what he accomplished the past 2 years. The last time I checked, Saban isn’t handing out starting gigs because he thinks a player “deserves” it. Barring a punishment, players start for Saban based on the belief that they give Alabama the best chance to win football games.

Tagovailoa gives Alabama the best chance to win games. That isn’t just based solely on one half of football, though the notion that what he did in the national championship should only be considered “one half of football” is comical. Tagovailoa has the ability to take the Alabama offense to new heights.

We saw the Tide offense, in its first year without Lane Kiffin, look extremely average against quality opponents with Hurts last year. It wasn’t just a Georgia thing. I don’t think that’s lost on Saban. I think that’s why the thought to put Tagovailoa in the national championship even entered his mind in the first place.

Now that Tagovailoa has had an entire offseason to develop and continue to grow, why wouldn’t Saban ride with the southpaw?

I actually think Saban could try and make this into what it was last year, but with roles reversed. I’d fully expect to see Hurts take over in the third quarter with Alabama up something like 3-4 touchdowns and pitching a shutout. That’s the beauty of the way this opener could shake out.

There’s a good chance that Alabama gets a comfortable lead early against a rebuilding Louisville squad. I actually wouldn’t even be surprised if Tagovailoa had a somewhat pedestrian game and gave way to Hurts with the game in hand. No, it wouldn’t be a “benching.”

But in many ways, that’s sort of the perfect scenario for Saban in the opener. It’d be even better if he watched Hurts come in and start dominating. That makes it seem like Hurts is a bad Tagovailoa half away from getting an opportunity to take his job back, though I don’t think that’ll actually be the case.

Week 1 plays out much like Ohio State’s 2015 start at Virginia Tech. The guy who won the national championship gets the start (like Cardale Jones did), and exits the game in the middle of the second half after an up-and-down showing with a dazzling play or 2. The previous starter then enters and promptly pours gasoline on the fire (like J.T. Barrett did).

By the end of the night, we’re left thinking the same thing we thought all summer. That is, no one program should have that much quarterback talent.

But like Alabama’s final snap of 2017, there will be a clear takeaway after Alabama’s first snap of 2018.

Tagovailoa is QB1, and he’s ready for an encore.