The biggest storyline in the days leading into Week 11 has seen yet another mini, albeit not so expected, development.
Tua Tagovailoa suffered a high-ankle sprain in Alabama’s Week 8 win over rival Tennessee and didn’t play the following week. Coming off the bey as had been previously been the case, Nick Saban confirmed yet again Monday that, two weeks and two days removed from surgery, the starting quarterback would be a game-time decision for No. 2 Alabama’s huge Week 11 matchup this Saturday with No. 1 LSU in Tuscaloosa.
Tuesday, al.com has reported that "[t]he expectation, according to sources, is... Tagovailoa will play against LSU on Saturday.” That’s not really news as it’s been widely expected that Tagovailoa will be on the field for the Tigers game after having nearly three weeks to recover from the procedure; where the website plows new ground is the expectation “that he’ll likely look healthier and less limited than what most outsiders are probably expecting.”
Despite the positive expectations, it’s still believed that Saban and his coaching staff will wait until gameday before officially announcing whether it will be Tagovailoa under center or sophomore Mac Jones making the second start of his collegiate career.
The Crimson Tide opened as a seven-point favorite. That number has dipped a bit to 6½ as of this posting.