Nick Saban shares latest on Tua Tagovailoa ahead of Mississippi State game
For three weeks, the college football media was on “Tua Watch” closely following to see if Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa would be able to play against LSU. Now the LSU game has come and gone and there are still questions surrounding Tagovailoa’s health.
On Tuesday, reporters who observed the media viewing of Alabama’s practice noted that Tagovailoa was not particularly active, raising questions about his availability for Week 12 against Mississippi State. On Wednesday’s SEC media teleconference, Nick Saban was asked about his quarterback’s status.
“He has soreness in his ankle from playing in the game,” Saban said on the teleconference. “He is a game-time decision regarding whether he can or cannot play. I don’t even know if he can practice today. It’s kind of day-to-day.”
Three weeks after the tightrope procedure, Tagovailoa was 21-of-40 passing for 418 yards, 4 touchdowns and an interception against LSU. On Oct. 26, Mac Jones started for Alabama at QB against Arkansas. Jones was 18-of-22 for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 48-7 win.
Tua could skip the next two games and come back for the Iron Bowl. Bama would still be 10-1.
Bama needs big wins to impress the committee though. I think we may see Mac Jones. Today is Wednesday. Full day tomorrow and walk through Friday. If Tua has not practiced this week it will probably be Mac Jones. With the Heisman race pretty much over he will probably rest up and rehab. No point in tipping that to State blatantly though.
I think Bama can get a convincing win Saturday with Tua out and that’s not a knock on the Bulldogs. It could be a good opportunity for the Tide to work more on the run game (not that it’s bad right now but a lot of my Bama friends would like to see more of it). I just don’t think it’s worth to risk Tua’s health this weekend if he’s not feeling right. Just like Bayou Tiger said, they can let Tua rest of the next two weeks and get ready for the Iron Bowl.
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