Road to the College Football Playoff – Alabama: A tale of two quarterbacks

Alabama’s road to the College Football Playoff began with a decision well before the season began.

The College Football Playoff has never taken place without Nick Saban’s Alabama team in the field. After a comeback in the SEC Championship Game, the Crimson Tide clinched the top seed and open as 14-point favorites over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29. Now that they’re in, let’s go back in time to see how Saban’s team made it this far.

The decision

Alabama’s march to another playoff berth began last January when Saban inserted freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa into the game to start the second half of the National Championship Game vs. Georgia. Tagovailoa orchestrated the comeback and tossed the game-winning touchdown in overtime. It was then that a quarterback controversy was born.

Jalen Hurts was the starter for the previous two seasons and led them to a national championship and a national championship berth in the other. He would be a starter on 99 percent of other schools, but not at Alabama where Saban tabbed Tagovailoa as the starter. Saban’s decision was the correct call as Alabama went undefeated as Tagovailoa played his way to the top of the Heisman Trophy conversation.

The decision 2.0

With Saban going with Tagovailoa as his starting quarterback, that left Hurts with a difficult decision to make. Hurts could have elected to transfer to a number of universities to give him a chance to play out his remaining years of eligibility. All offseason, there were rumors about who could use Hurts, where Hurts would fit in best and his father even called him the biggest free agent in college history. Hurts decided what was in his best interest was to remain with Alabama as a backup and stay ready in case he had an opportunity.

His opportunity came late in the second half vs. Georgia in the SEC Championship Game with his team trailing. Hurts came off the bench to lead Alabama to a comeback win that saw Hurts throw and run for a touchdown in the closing minutes. Without Hurts, Alabama doesn’t win the SEC Championship Game. They are still likely in the playoff, but probably as the No. 4 seed, which would set up a game with Clemson in the semifinal, rather than a potential title game.

Playoff prognosis

Hurts might get his first start of the year in the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma. Tagovailoa suffered a high ankle sprain in the SEC Championship and underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean it up with the hope that he can return in two weeks. If the scope and recovery goes well, he will be healthy and ready to start for the Dec. 29 game.

If Tagovailoa isn’t quite right, Hurts will get the start in a game that pits the No. 1 scoring offense of Oklahoma against Alabama’s No. 2 scoring offense, although that was with Tagovailoa as the conductor. There could be a slight drop with Hurts under center, so the Crimson Tide defense that had the No. 4 scoring defense, allowing 14.8 points per game, will have to play their best game against Heisman candidate, Kyler Murray and the explosive Sooners offense.