Give him the Heisman Trophy.
The mumbling that may come from national media against Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama in winning the coveted bronze honor is the understanding of him not seeing action in the fourth quarter of matchups.
He has not reached the situation, because there has not been a need for him in the second half through six games. Tagovailoa’s effectiveness through three quarters of football has the Crimson Tide with nation’s top-ranked scoring offense in college football.
His lone flaw has been a few miss fires on passes (25 incompletions), however, his accuracy on touchdowns outweigh a minor issue. Tagovailoa accounts for 18 scoring passes on 76 of his completions – 101 attempts – which makes for nearly 25 percent of his production (24%).
He’s completed 76 of 101 passes (72.5%) for 1,495 yards and has yet to throw an interception.
In his second conference game on the road, the sophomore made quick work of Arkansas’ secondary and the ESPN cameras – totaling 334 passing yards with four scores. He missed on just three attempts (10 of 13), netting a 76.9 percent completion mark while posting his second performance of 300-plus yards.
With Tagovailoa running the offense, Alabama should have five receivers finish with 500 or more yards at the end of the year.
Nick Saban is enjoying this group, as it has registered at least 50 points in five of six games and 60 points versus Ole Miss and Arkansas. Thirteen quarterbacks have won the Heisman since 2000 – including Marcus Mariota, who served as Tagovailoa’s mentor in high school.
Tagovailoa has the highest completion percentage of all 13 guys at this point and the lone one that comes the closest to him is Robert Griffin III. The former Baylor standout hit on 72.4 percent of his throws during the 2011, as he won the award and put the Bears on the map.
Even with a few incompletions factored in, the Hawaiian is still the most exciting player to watch on Saturdays. After noting the struggles of Will Grier and Jarrett Stidham, Tagovailoa should far and away be the frontrunner for the Heisman.
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.
