He won a host of individual awards last season, but all Tua Tagovailoa could think about were the missed opportunities for Alabama football in it coming short of a national championship.
On Monday, he spoke to the media on how the Crimson Tide failed to master the small things against programs of lesser competition and what the end result came to be.
“Throughout the games where we played teams that weren’t up to our level of competition, we made a lot of mistakes that could get away with,” Tagovailoa said. “It ended up catching up with us and that’s something we can all take from.”
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The returning starter at quarterback for the Tide said the team is getting back to “create good habits” in spring practice. He credits Clemson’s entire defense and its coordinator, Brent Venables in causing him to be very uncomfortable in a 44-16 beatdown of Alabama.
Despite him setting the single-season school record in passing yards (3,966), touchdown passes (43) and total scores (48) in 2018, Tagovailoa may possibly be the most slept on or overlooked signal caller in the fall by the national landscape. With the returns of Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, Jake Fromm and Justin Fields among others, the native Hawaiian will not be the focal point of conversation and it could be a huge blessing for the Tide.
During its five national title seasons under Saban, most of them have come with the team facing adversity.
He has Steve Sarkisian back with him as offensive coordinator and all his primary targets at receiver are back. In Monday’s airing of In My Own Words, Stephen Smith of Touchdown Alabama Magazine reveals why Tagovailoa will be overlooked in the upcoming season.
You can check out the audio version of the podcast on SoundCloud.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
