No, it will not be Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide this week. It’ll be The Mac Jones Show in Tuscaloosa. Get to know Jones now.
Tua Tagovailoa is recovering from ankle surgery that will keep him out of the Arkansas game on Saturday as Mac Jones makes his first career start with the support of his coach and teammates.
Jones is a former three-star recruit from the 2017 class from Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated from the prestigious Bolles School, whose alumni include National Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, rock and roll legend Gram Parsons and 2006 ACC Champion quarterback of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Riley Skinner.
Jones has a chance to be The Bolles School’s second-most famous Jones, the second-best college quarterback and the second-best part-time contributor to greatness, as Parsons once collaborated with The Byrds in the 1960s. So he’s got his work cut out for him to be a Tuscaloosa Flying Burrito Brother.
After redshirting in 2017, Jones played 14 games last year as Tua’s back-up and entered the year with 13 career pass attempts.
Through last week’s game vs. Tennessee, Jones has completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 360 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in 12 games. He has averaged 8.0 yards per attempt in those dozen games and has a passing efficiency rating of 133.0. Jones also has a rushing touchdown.
But what does any of this matter? No one is replacing Tua.
Jones doesn’t need to be Tua in order to do his job vs. Arkansas and he knows he’s got the support of everyone in the locker room to hold it down until Tua returns.
“We’ve done well historically with backup quarterbacks,” Alabama tight end Miller Forristall said via 247Sports. “I’ve got as much faith in Mac as I’ve got in any quarterback here. He’s sat here and practiced against our defense for three years. MVP of the spring game. He can throw the crap out of the ball. It’s not like our playbook gets limited or we stop attacking down the field.”
Guess who’s getting the ball from Jones a ton this week vs. the Hogs?
“We practice situations, we practice with every receiver, so he has relationships,” said wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. “He knows what we like and what we don’t like, so he’ll be ready.”
Looks like Miller Forristall has some competition for getting the ball from Jones versus Arkansas.
So it’s pretty clear, his receivers dig him, but what about the head ball coach? We’re not talking about Steve Spurrier, we’re talking about Nick Saban himself. What does he have to say about his new temporary starting quarterback?
“I think that he didn’t do anything that really hurt us in the game,” said head coach Nick Saban. “I think that he had two balls that were dropped that were critical situations in the game…“All in all, I thought he handled the situation really well. It’s a difficult circumstance to get thrown into. We’ve got a lot of confidence in Mac. With a week of preparation, I think he’ll do a lot better in this game.”
Saban had previously compared Jones to American tennis legend John McEnroe for his fiery passion to compete, often in a self-destructive manner. So Mac, in a way, is like Johnny Mac. He can make plays but will get a little fired up about the little stuff that doesn’t go his way. Got it. Can’t wait.
Do we have faith in Jones to lead the Crimson Tide to victory over Arkansas? Of course, we do because they’re Arkansas and he plays for Alabama. If he can play more than half the game to beat Tennessee at night at home, then he can play a whole game at night at home to beat Arkansas. Just gotta believe in him like his teammates and coach do and not get too emotional.
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