In wake of Tua injury, Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence should rest for ‘load management’

The season-ending hip injury to Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should have college football introducing load management as the NBA made famous.

Seeing Tua Tagovailoa screaming in pain on the Davis-Wade Stadium field with a dislocated hip that ended his season and put in question his professional career was heartbreaking. There was no one to blame for the injury that took place on a routine football play. But it’s also something college football coaches and players can learn from when it comes to protecting their health.

Load management is almost like one of those George Carlin joked about you couldn’t say on TV. When Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James and other superstars are taking routine maintenance days to protect their health so they are healthy for the postseason, some scoff they can’t see them on TNT.

It’s a genius move the NBA should be praised for despite those who scream and shout when they can’t see their favorite stars on TV or in person on a random Tuesday.

College football can learn from the NBA — who didn’t invent load management — who perfected the art of preserving the health of your best players.

If I’m LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, I’m thinking a lot more about when to pull Heisman front-runner and potential No. 1 pick, Joe Burrow, who is the key to the team’s national championship hopes. Tua got hurt late in the second quarter with Alabama up 35-7. They didn’t need him to in the game to hold off Mississippi State. Should Saban have pulled Tua in the first quarter? After it’s 21-0? There is no Magic 8 Ball or Miss Cleo to call to predict when injuries can happen. But you can be hyper-aware they do and will happen.

LSU plays Arkansas on Saturday in one of the biggest mismatches you’ll see this side of Ohio State vs. Rutgers this year. LSU doesn’t need Burrow to beat Arkansas. If I’m Coach O, I’m putting Burrow on load management and I’m pulling him when I’m up 21, even if there are four minutes left in the first quarter.

Protect Burrow at all costs. He is like Frodo in Lord of the Rings and Coach O is his Sam.

You’re not seeing Kawhi or LeBron sitting often against the best teams. It happens. But there are layups you can sit and get a win. The same is true in college football. The SEC is playing a bunch of them this weekend with FCS teams collecting a check on their way out of town. LSU, meanwhile, is playing an SEC cupcake.

If there was ever a time for Coach O to say he’s pulling Burrow when LSU is up 28-0 midway through the second quarter, reasonable people would understand him being extra cautious.

If I’m Ryan Day at Ohio State, I’m taking Justin Fields out when I’m up 14 and letting my defense hold the lead. They can’t outright sit Fields with Penn State and Michigan on deck, but if it’s 35-7 at halftime, you’re taking his helmet from him.

If I’m Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, there’s no chance Jalen Hurts sees another fourth quarter before the Big 12 Championship Game.

The same thing for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and his handling of Trevor Lawrence. The Tigers sophomore quarterback went to the medical tent during the Wake Forest win and briefly sent fans into a panic. He was okay. He is more than okay and looking like the phenom we say last year. But put up four scores in the first quarter vs. South Carolina and get him out of the game.

It’s possible we see a Burrow vs. Lawrence showdown in the College Football Playoff. Clemson doesn’t need Lawrence to beat South Carolina or whoever is the sacrificial lamb in the ACC Championship Game. Clemson needs Lawrence to beat Ohio State or LSU or Oklahoma or Georgia or whoever else they’d meet in the playoff.

Of course, convincing guys like Burrow, Lawrence and other superstars to sit the entire game is more impossible than the new burger at Burger King.

Pulling off load management in the NBA is easier with their 82-game schedule and half the league’s teams making the playoffs. They can sacrifice 10 losses for the sake of resting players with the big picture in mind.

College football has to be ultra-selective when to apply load management. One loss and your title hopes can dissolve, even if you’re Alabama, so you can’t just sit your Heisman quarterback or 2,000-yard rusher on a random Saturday in October.

But when you have an FCS opponent on the schedule or you’re playing a team that can’t score on a high school team, you can use it to your advantage. Saban tried to last year when Tua barely played a fourth quarter and he still got hurt. Sometimes no matter what you do, football happens.

The NBA knows you don’t win championships in November-March. The NFL has snap counts for players and is ultra-cautious not to overwork running backs. The NHL rests goalies between starts and on back-to-backs. MLB is becoming more conservative with how much they work their bullpen and strict pitch counts for starters have long been in play.

Every professional sport knows it’s important for the players to get their rest for myriad reasons, including injury prevention.

It’s long overdue for college football to place an emphasis on load management to reduce the risk of something like what happened to Tua happening to their best player.

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