Presented by BACON BOISE.
This Day In Sports…January 8, 2018:
Alabama wins an overtime thriller in the CFP national championship game when true freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who had taken over in the second half for struggling star quarterback Jalen Hurts, throws a 41-yard touchdown pass to fellow true freshman DeVonta Smith. The Crimson Tide thus finished a rally to defeat Georgia 26-23 after trailing 13-0 at halftime. The gutty decision to insert Tagovailoa paid off for coach Nick Saban, giving him his fifth national title with ‘Bama and sixth overall, tying the record held by Crimson Tide legend Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Tagovailoa threw two second-half touchdown passes, and the second one tied the game 20-20 with 3:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. Alabama would have won in regulation had not kicker Andy Pappanastos sent a 36-yard field goal wide left. In overtime, Georgia started things off with 51-yard field on its possession. Then the Crimson Tide’s first snap saw Tagovailoa dragged down for a 16-yard sack, making it 2nd and 26. But he responded on the next play with the deep ball to Smith to end the game. And with Hurts looking on under the red and white confetti shower, Tagovailoa was named the game’s Offensive MVP.
Even though Saban went on to name Tagovailoa Alabama’s starter after the opening game the following season, Hurts remained to back him up and saw action in 10 games during the 2018 campaign. With Tagovailoa going out of the SEC championship game due to an injury, Hurts came on to rally the Crimson Tide to a 35-28 victory. He transferred to Oklahoma in 2019 and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting to LSU’s Joe Burrow. It was still a legit choice by Saban, though, as Tagovailoa led Alabama to another berth in the CFP championship game following the 2018 season.
Fortunes have flipped for Tagovailoa and Hurts in the NFL. Hurts was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He became Philly’s starter toward the end of his rookie year and has led the Eagles to two Super Bowls since, winning last year’s in a rout of Kansas City. Tagovailoa, on the other hand, was taken with the No. 5 pick in 2020 by Miami. His numbers have been solid overall with the Dolphins, but his career has been hampered by a slew on concussion protocol episodes. Tagovailoa, after a disappointing 2025 season in Miami, is “open to a fresh start elsewhere.”
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
