Last Saturday in the Alabama vs Ole Miss football game, Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a terrible hip injury, in which on field spectators said Tagovailoa “was screaming with pain” after going down.  Tagovailoa suffered a dislocated right hip and will have to sit out the remainder of the season. After the injury, Tagovailoa was flown from Mississippi to Birmingham to receive treatment in the form of surgery. Since yesterday, doctors stated Tua’s surgery went as planned and expected to make a full recovery.  However, this recovery won’t come quick, as Tua is expected to miss all of the 2020 college football season in which would be his last NCAA eligible year as a student athlete. But now, Tua will have to focus on rehabilitation for his hip. Many experts and NFL fans were looking forward to Tagovailoa’s declaration for the 2020 NFL Draft.  Instead, they will have to wait till at least the 2021 draft and possibly even the 2022 NFL Draft since Tua will have the opportunity to redshirt his next academic year.  

Not only is this a loss for Nick Saban and Alabama, but Tua’s injury will influence the rest of the College Football season.  For example, Alabama will visit Auburn in a week and a half for the 84th edition of the Iron Bowl. With Alabama’s second string quarterback Mack Jones starting against an experienced Auburn defense, anything could happen.  Alabama’s second loss would surely put them out of the playoff picture and ultimately open the door for a PAC-12 representative, such as Oregon or Utah to be a candidate for the College Football Playoff. Tua’s injury puts more weight on the PAC-12 and SEC Championship game, granted Oregon and Utah win out.  If Auburn beats Alabama and Georgia loses in the SEC Championship game, Oregon or Utah would have a very high percent of obtaining the #4 seed in the College Football Playoff. In the meantime, Alabama takes on Western Carolina this Saturday in which will mostly likely be a blowout, but still an important game in Nick Saban’s eyes as he will be able to see Mack Jones’ ability and potential to lead Alabama to a College Football Playoff appearance.  

-Diego Palko ‘21