Alabama Football: All indications are Tua is good to go against LSU

Even though Nick Saban should not and will not admit it, all indications are Alabama football QB, Tua Tagovailoa will be the Tide starter on Saturday.

Tua Tagovailoa starting for the Crimson Tide on Saturday is one thing. How close the Alabama football quarterback will be to a full recovery is another matter. Cobble together rumors, morsels, tidbits and clues between words of coachspeak – and still how close Tua will be to 100 percent is unknown.

It is November and if Tua is less than 100 percent, he will be one of many players on both teams. The season takes a toll, even if the price is not surgery.

On Wednesday, Nick Saban said as little as possible about Tua’s recovery.

"I’m not going to play the guy if he can’t move"

Practice videos have shown Tua is moving pretty good this week. Could he have a set-back during game preparation? He could. The ankle could swell and become tender after testing it in normal passing drills and no-contact team sessions. Odds are, Tua will continue to progress and be healthy enough to whatever is needed in the Crimson Tide passing game.

The Bengal Tigers will not be playing two-hand touch on Saturday. They will take every opportunity to knock Tua out of the game, including going for his ankle. That is part of football.

The biggest key to the game is can the Crimson Tide protect its star, quarterback. Called runs for the Tide gunslinger are out of the question. The risk outweighs any possible reward. Tua will scramble when needed. He will also be told to throw the ball away to protect himself. If a scramble turns into an actual run, the outcome will be either a slide or a touchdown.

Steve Sarkisian will have game-planned for what Tua can do best and what puts him a minimal risk. No gameplan can protect a QB from a leaky offensive line. That Alabama football unit has been effective in pass protection this season. LSU will try mightily to change that. With Michael Divinity gone, the Bengal Tigers pass rush will be heavily dependent on outside linebacker, K’Lavon Chaisson.

Even with Divinity, Chaisson was LSU’s best pass rusher. Battling Texas, Chaisson was a constant threat coming off the edge. Against the Longhorns, the speedy backer had five pressures, three hurries, three tackles and one sack.

Chaisson did not play against the Crimson Tide last season. In fact, he played only one game in the 2018 season. This season he was dinged-up again and missed two games, and much of a third, after the LSU victory over Texas. He had 8 tackles and a sack against Florida and six tackles against Auburn.

His one job on Saturday will be to get to Tua. If the Tide can handle him without constantly double-teaming him, LSU’s defense will be in trouble. If the Tide can contain Chaisson, Dave Aranda will have to resort to more blitzes. If Tua reads a blitz, the LSU secondary will be vulnerable. It will be a chess match for Sark and Aranda.

How the game of college football has changed. Nick Saban will not play a QB that cannot move. Bear Bryant once told an injured Kentucky QB, if he could stand up on a Saturday, he could play. That QB was Babe Parilli, who played and was never hit in the game, with the Wildcats beating LSU.