Alabama Football: The legacy of Tua Tagovailoa

Today marked the end of an era in Tuscaloosa. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the career of the best QB in Alabama football history.

Unfortunately, the magical 2020 season Alabama football fans had hoped for won’t happen as we envisioned. As of this writing, Tua, Ruggs, Jeudy, Lewis, Wills, and McKinney have declared for the NFL draft. Post-Iron Bowl there were rumbles of Tua, Ruggs, and Mckinney returning, but it was not to be.

It isn’t all bad news though. Dylan Moses announced his intent to return… twice. Devonta Smith will also return along with Alex Leatherwood. We are still waiting to hear from Najee Harris, Landon Dickerson, and LaBryan Ray. It is likely we will see Dickerson and Ray return. Reports indicate Najee is highly likely to declare for the draft.

Now that the dust is beginning to settle and we are getting a clearer picture of what Alabama football will look like in 2020, let’s look back on the career of Tua Tagovailoa and just appreciate how great he was in his time wearing crimson.

Many people will only remember his Freshman season for the National Championship against Georgia where he led Alabama football back in the second half to win in overtime. While that is probably his greatest moment at Alabama, I think the legend of Tua began several weeks earlier.

As we all know, Nick Saban is notoriously ill-tempered when it comes to turnovers by his offense. Even in games where the score is in hand, he will come unglued over turnovers. Just ask A.J. McCarron. However, after Tua threw his first career INT, a pick-six against Tennessee, Saban seemed unfazed. Almost calm even. After the game, he had this to say about the interception,

"You probably don’t know Tua very well, but he says thank you and apologizes for everything and he was apologizing for that"

That play, that game, was the real beginning of Tua’s legacy for Alabama football. He showed that day he was made from a different mold. Of course, Tua went back out after the pick and completed five of his next seven passes including a 60-yard TD to Henry Ruggs.

The pick was a near meaningless play in a beat down, but to me it showed Tua’s character, resilience, and leadership. Traits that will be sorely missed.

Tua is the best to ever line up under center for Alabama football. Period. I believe Alabama has another great QB coming down the line in Bryce Young, but I don’t think we will see Tua’s records and achievements be surpassed any time soon.

Here is a list of some of Tua’s records at Alabama along with second place for comparison:

• Single-season total yards – 4156 (Second – 3837)
• Career total yards per game – 235.8 (Second – 181.0)
• Single-game total TDs – 7 (Second – 5)
• Single-season total TDs – 48 (Second – 36)
• Career total TDs – 96 (Second – 80)
• Career completion percent – 69.3 percent (Second – 66.9 percent)
• Single-season passing yards – 3966 (Second – 3487)
• Single-season TD passes – 43 (Second – 33, also Tua. Third – 30)

It’s simple. There is no QB even close to Tua in the history of Alabama football. Like many great careers though, there will be some what-ifs attached to it. What if the defense played better against Clemson in 2018? What if injuries hadn’t ravaged the 2019 season? What if he decided to stay for his senior year? Would we now be talking about one of the greatest ever in college football, not just at Alabama?

We will never get to know the answers to those questions, but one thing is certain. Alabama football was taken to new heights under the leadership of Tua Tagovailoa.

Tua will go down as one of the most legendary players in Alabama football history. His story isn’t over either. He has the talent to become one of the all-time greats at the next level too. Good luck at the next level Tua. Remember, every Bama man’s behind you.