By: Mauryn Toole ‘20

Place yourself in a coach’s position. Would you play your senior QB who is solid and consistent on the field, or your true freshmen who seems to be the real deal? Well, Clemson head Coach, Dabo Swinney, had no hesitation when deciding who to play. Although his freshmen superstar quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, is picking up wins, Swinney is picking up a major loss with his original quarterback, Kelly Bryant, deciding to transfer four games into his final season. Just 300 miles west of Clemson University, University of Alabama head Coach, Nick Saban, has found himself in a similar position as Swinney.

With two strong quarterbacks, one being his two-time starter with 26 wins before his junior season and two national championship appearances, the other being a five-star recruit coming in halfway through the national championship game against Georgia and leading Alabama to a victory after being down, Coach Saban is left with a difficult decision of who will play and who will ride the bench. But how do you make this decision?

It’s simple, all you need to do is put the second half of the 2018 national championship game on a loop to know who will win the starting job. Tagavailoa, as a true freshmen, delivered one of the most incredible moments in college football history, giving Alabama great exposure to their athletic abilities and creating the new “2nd-and-26” mentality. There isn’t a ton of evidence that Tua Tagovailoa should be Alabama’s starter this season, but unfortunately for Jalen Hurts, the little evidence there seems to be incredibly compelling.