The expected has officially come to fruition.
Prior to the Chase Young situation that developed — and is still developing — Friday morning, Tua Tagovailoa‘s health was the biggest storyline in college football heading into Week 11 of the regular season. 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 bye and as had previously been the case, Nick Saban confirmed yet again this past Monday that, two weeks and a handful of days removed from surgery, the starting quarterback would be a game-time decision for No. 3 Alabama’s huge Week 11 matchup this Saturday with No. 2 LSU in Tuscaloosa.
With gameday at hand and kickoff of the latest Game of the Century less than an hour away, it has been confirmed that Tagovailoa will take the field and be under center as the Crimson Tide plays host to the Tigers in a tilt rife with SEC and College Football Playoff implications.
“He’s fine, he’ll start,” head coach Nick Saban said on the broadcast shortly before kickoff.
As clumsily and obviously stated by one of the individuals who’ll be in the broadcast booth at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday afternoon, Tagovailoa will be less than 100-percent healthy -- as are most college football players this deep into the season. How that ankle responds to its first real action since the surgical procedure will determine in very large part in which direction the Tide’s offense heads throughout the course of the game.
A healthy Tagovailoa currently sits tied for third in the country in touchdown passes (27) and second in passing efficiency (212.4). The junior remains one of the top Heisman Trophy contenders, and will be looking to become the first winner of the most prestigious trophy in the sport to miss a game since Florida State’s Charlie Ward in 1993.
Should Tagovailoa suffer an in-game setback, he would be replaced by Mac Jones. In replacing Tagovailoa against the Volunteers, the redshirt sophomore Jones completed six of his 11 passes for 72 yards and had neither a touchdown nor an interception.
For his career, Jones has thrown for 595 yards, five touchdowns and an interception in completing just over 64 percent of his 67 passes.