National Sports
Tagovailoa leads Alabama to national championship
After a first half that saw Alabama starting quarterback Jalen Hurts complete three of his eight passes for just 21 yards and Georgia building a 13-0 lead, Crimson Tide coach (and Kent State alumni) Nick Saban made a gutsy call:
He benched Hurts for someone who hadn’t played a snap against a FBS opponent for three months: Tua Tagovailoa, a freshman out of the same high school in Hawaii that produced Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota.
The decision paid off. Tagovailoa led a furious comeback for the Crimson Tide, completing 14 of his 24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns, including a 41-yard bomb to DeVonta Smith to win the game in overtime.