Nick Saban offers advice to Mario Cristobal after woeful first half: ‘Put Tua in’
By David Wasson
Published:
The Miami Hurricanes went into halftime of Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game searching for answers to jump-start their sputtering offense against the Indiana Hoosiers – so much so that ESPN analyst Nick Saban offered a suggestion that worked once in a very similar situation.
“It’s the national championship game, you gotta throw caution to the wind,” Saban said. “Put Tua in the game and let’s go.”
Saban was referencing his decision to pull Jalen Hurts at halftime of the 2018 CFP national title game, when Alabama trailed the Georgia Bulldogs 13-0. Hurts, who had led the Crimson Tide to that point with a stellar season that included 37.1 points per game, passed for just 21 yards against Georgia in the first 30 minutes before Saban decided to bench Hurts and go with backup Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa awakened the Alabama attack when he entered to start the second half, tossing three touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s 26-23 comeback victory in overtime – including a 41-yard strike to DeVonta Smith on a 2nd-and-26 that stunned Georgia and went down in Alabama lore.
Miami needed a similar spark at halftime of Monday’s game against the top-ranked Hoosiers, having compiled just 69 yards and not scoring a single point through 30 minutes. The Hurricanes’ best chance to score backfired late in the second quarter when Carter Davis’ 50-yard field goal doinked off the upright.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
