Joel Klatt thinks Alabama needs to impress CFP committee with Tagovailoa out
By Jake Rill
Published:
When Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a season-ending hip injury, it caused many people to get emotional. That includes FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt.
In an interview with the New York Post’s Justin Terranova, Klatt described what it was like when he found out about Tagovailoa’s injury, which was evident from the moment it occurred that it was going to be serious.
“I am devastated, heartbroken,” Klatt said. “My producer told me in my ear before we were about to go to a game break, ‘Tua’s down, it looks really serious, it’s not the ankle.’ My heart sank. I pray that this is not a career-threatening injury. There’s an anxiousness and anxiety that comes with an injury like this, if you remember what happened to Bo Jackson.”
Now, Alabama has to try to keep going without Tagovailoa, as Mac Jones will be the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback moving forward.
That shouldn’t be an issue this week, but Alabama still has a difficult road matchup against Auburn coming up in its regular-season finale. If the Crimson Tide are going to make the College Football Playoff, they can’t afford a loss. And because they don’t have Tagovailoa, they may also need to win in impressive fashion.
“This is exactly why he have a committee of 13 people instead of computers,” Klatt said. “It is my belief they should, and would, penalize Alabama, particularly if they show they are a weaker team without Tua. People will point to [Ohio State’s] Cardale Jones [replacing an injured R.J. Barrett], but they beat Wisconsin, 59-0, and showed they might even be better with Cardale. So, now it is incumbent on Alabama and Mac Jones to beat Auburn handily to show they are the same or better without Tua.”
Before facing Auburn, Alabama plays Western Carolina on Saturday at noon ET on ESPN.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
