BY: Andrew Edwards
Few things in this world are certain, but this is: Tua Tagovailoa will be the starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide in 2019.
After being shell shocked in Santa Clara for the 2018-19 national title game, Tua and the Crimson Tide look to retool their offense and defense and get back to a more traditional style of play for the 2019 season.
During the A-day game on Saturday, Tua completed 19 of 37 attempts for 265 with a TD and INT. For some, it was a lackluster performance. For others, such as Nick Saban, Tua’s performance was not so bothersome.
The back-up QB position, however, is heating up. Fans were eager to see early enrollees Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson, but left with high hopes for sophomore, Mac Jones, who completed 19 of 23 passes for 271 yards with two TDs and one INT.
“I thought Mac did fine,” Saban said. “The good news is that’s one of the biggest things that Mac has to learn to overcome is when he has a bad play he kind of hangs on to it for a while and doesn’t always go to the next play, but I think he did that well today.”
There’s also been rumblings from practice about John Metchie, the four-star wide receiver from Canada who capped off a great spring by winning MVP honors for the A-Day game. Metchie finished with five catches for 133 yards and no touchdowns.
The defense is typically difficult to judge during a spring game, as the first and second team offenses typically like to run vanilla packages. However, sophomore cornerback, Josh Jobe, who worked with the first-team defense throughout the spring, seemed to have a really good day. Jobe had three pass deflections, including two on back-to-back plays during the third quarter.
Say what you will about what was seen on Saturday– most of your questions will not be answered until Alabama takes on Duke in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-a kick-off game. Despite the lackluster performance, fans should pump the breaks on Tua who will soon begin his second Heisman campaign come this Fall. Focusing on the secondary will be key for Alabama this 2019 season, as it seems to have been their Achilles heel last year. Fix that issue, and Alabama will be looking at another opportunity to potentially play Clemson in the playoffs – a matchup that could be one for the ages.
