Tua bomb was the greatest single play in Alabama athletics history.

Con

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I am probably the only person who had this thought, and I think it lowers my rating as a Crimson Tide fan to have felt this and admit it, but I will now be honest and say so. At halftime, I had just about made up my mind that if they came out with Jalen in the second half and kept trying to do what they had been doing, I was going to turn off the TV and go to bed. I was fed up at that point, and just couldn't take it anymore.
I thought that too to be honest. I don’t know if I would have followed through with it though. I just wanted to see if Tua would get a shot. We were so bad on offense up until halftime I was becoming very frustrated.


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RollTide_HTTR

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At halftime I was cycling through "He's definitely going to put Tua in." and "There is no way he actually puts Tua in right?"
 

RedWave

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I thought that too to be honest. I don’t know if I would have followed through with it though. I just wanted to see if Tua would get a shot. We were so bad on offense up until halftime I was becoming very frustrated.


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Had it just been that first half, I probably would have still been patient. But it wasn't. For me, it was a whole season of watching a super athletic kid who passed the ball on a 6th grade level trying to play when everyone watching knew what he couldn't do, which is what his job was to do.
 

RTR91

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At halftime I was cycling through "He's definitely going to put Tua in." and "There is no way he actually puts Tua in right?"
A local TV sports reporter usually does one day a week on the radio with Doug Amos. She said reporters can watch the game from two places - press box or a room under the stands near the field. She prefers to be in the room for the second half to get onto the field faster. Most of the people in the room for the second half were those that cover Alabama. When Tua jogged out onto the field, she said you could hear a gasp from everyone like "Oh, it's happening."

I had the emotional roller coaster of "Ermagahd!! Saban's doing it. Tua's playing." to "Oh gosh. He's playing a true freshman right now. I'm about to puke."
 

Probius

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Had it just been that first half, I probably would have still been patient. But it wasn't. For me, it was a whole season of watching a super athletic kid who passed the ball on a 6th grade level trying to play when everyone watching knew what he couldn't do, which is what his job was to do.
I agree wholeheartedly. If nothing had changed at halftime, Bama doesn't win. I also think if that change had happened before the Iron Bowl, Bama wins that game as well. This is why I'm so excited for next season. We will finally get to see these young talented WR's show what they are capable of.
 

B1GTide

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A local TV sports reporter usually does one day a week on the radio with Doug Amos. She said reporters can watch the game from two places - press box or a room under the stands near the field. She prefers to be in the room for the second half to get onto the field faster. Most of the people in the room for the second half were those that cover Alabama. When Tua jogged out onto the field, she said you could hear a gasp from everyone like "Oh, it's happening."

I had the emotional roller coaster of "Ermagahd!! Saban's doing it. Tua's playing." to "Oh gosh. He's playing a true freshman right now. I'm about to puke."
I told my wife at half-time that Alabama had one chance to win - play Tua. I still didn't think it would be enough given GA's defense and the 13 point deficit, but he would give Alabama a chance. Still, even after saying it I was shocked when Tua started the second half. I was very, very happy, but shocked.
 

Con

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Had it just been that first half, I probably would have still been patient. But it wasn't. For me, it was a whole season of watching a super athletic kid who passed the ball on a 6th grade level trying to play when everyone watching knew what he couldn't do, which is what his job was to do.
I agree. I kept waiting for the offense to turn the corner.


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Tidewater

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I am probably the only person who had this thought, and I think it lowers my rating as a Crimson Tide fan to have felt this and admit it, but I will now be honest and say so. At halftime, I had just about made up my mind that if they came out with Jalen in the second half and kept trying to do what they had been doing, I was going to turn off the TV and go to bed. I was fed up at that point, and just couldn't take it anymore.
I was watching the video of the coaches watching the game and commenting.
Some of it was good. I kind of liked the guy from Northwestern. Bobo was more than a bit of a homer for Georgia, but he played and coached there so I get that. Gundy did okay and Sumlin had some good observations.
Cutcliffe, however, seemed to have a burr under his saddle about Alabama. Did somebody at Bama tinkle in Cutcliffe's cornflakes at some point?
 

Evil Crimson Dragon

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My father called me at halftime and said he bet me his pension check that Tua was coming in and Bama would pull it out............I told him at the end of the game he should have bought some lottery tickets
 

editder

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A local TV sports reporter usually does one day a week on the radio with Doug Amos. She said reporters can watch the game from two places - press box or a room under the stands near the field. She prefers to be in the room for the second half to get onto the field faster. Most of the people in the room for the second half were those that cover Alabama. When Tua jogged out onto the field, she said you could hear a gasp from everyone like "Oh, it's happening."

I had the emotional roller coaster of "Ermagahd!! Saban's doing it. Tua's playing." to "Oh gosh. He's playing a true freshman right now. I'm about to puke."
Not me. Given a choice of losing the game through the accumulation of missed opportunities or going down swinging I was willing to go with the latter.
 

RedWave

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Not me. Given a choice of losing the game through the accumulation of missed opportunities or going down swinging I was willing to go with the latter.
Going down swinging...that is how I felt about it too. I watched Tua make a couple of missed throws and said "I am okay with that. At least he threw the ball! I will take us losing this way over losing the other way." I seriously was just done with Jalen, more likely earlier in the season, but definitely by that game. I really think I lost my taste for him during the LSU game. That game, it seemed we had so many defensive players get injured, and I could not help in my mind but to attribute it to the fact that our offense was stalling too much and putting the defense back on the field. That game, IMO, cost us the Auburn game.
 

RTR91

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Not me. Given a choice of losing the game through the accumulation of missed opportunities or going down swinging I was willing to go with the latter.
Don't get me wrong. I wanted the switch to happen. Was just a moment full of emotions.
 

Tenntiderman

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I've been racking my brain all night and I truly think it's highlight number one in the history of Alabama sports. I've never seen anything like that game. I'm still in disbelief. It's like the exact opposite of how I felt after the 2010 and 2013 iron bowls.
I want to say this......the bomb to #6 was beautiful ......but to me is just another example of what Bama football is. For all the folks out there who counted us down and out? Another disappointment for them. That play is why these kids go to Bama. No we don't win every single game, but that play and all the other previous plays showed why we were there. To win. You never count out the Tide when the hay is still going into the loft so to speak. Blocking on that play was awesome. They believed. It was Bama football. Fighting to the end. The old guard was happy!! Been a Tidesman since 1961. I was 9. Real Tidesmen are tough. I realized that things needed to go well to avoid another sack. Nothing could have been better. Got to hear the nation whine about needing 8 more teams in the playoffs all over again!!!! I love it I do!!
 

Tenntiderman

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I am still enjoying watching Jelks go off tackle (thanks to Larry Rose) and glide 74 yds in the 1985 Iron Bowl. The winning FG in that game. Tua's winning throw was for the NC and that is awesome....but I can remember so many thrilling plays. Wish many of you could have seen Johnny Davis (#38) getiing hit around the 8 yd line and taking 7 Awbun players into the endzone without even hitting the turf. Tossed the ball to the official. Grinning. So was I!! What a player!! It is what being a Tide guy is all about. Remembering why I was watching the 2017 NC game to begin with.
 

BamaMoon

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My favorite play of championship game, of course, is the final one. But the runner-up may strike some of y'all as unusual. It's the first call on Tua's second possession, a quick play action followed by a ripped throw down the middle of the field, just off the finger tips of the diving Ridley.

Thrown with a foot more air, it's a touchdown. But even though it didn't work, it remains a thing of beauty, a show of speed and daring and 'almost.' Looking back, we can also see that it served as a portent: Something which had been hidden for most of the year was about to be unleashed.
I love to consider stuff like this. Just an example of how an unsuccesful play (incomplete pass) can still be successful as the game goes on. I remember the exact play you are talking about. There was one other, I think it was supposed to be a inside screen pass to Juedy (?) but Tua got so much pressure he kinda threw it at his feet. That play would have also probably scored a TD.

That was a good one, and probably had more significance than anybody much recognized at the time. But I had another favorite other than the last one.

It was the 3rd and 8 play where Tua got flushed right, then realized he was about to get stuffed. With nothing to lose, he reversed field, and broke a tackle in the backfield.

When that happened, you could see an OL (Leatherwood? Williams was out injured by then), but more so Bo Scarbrough, instantly and viciously engage. I think in that split second, both realized we had something worth selling out for.

They led some thunderous blocking and got Tua not quite 7 yards upfield. Then Tua went low, lowered his shoulder and bulled for the final 4 feet or so for a much-needed first down.

I have no inside information whatsoever. But I think that was the play where the team became his.
Probably the most underrated play of the game IMO. It was also a play that made me think Tua has the toughness to play/scramble if needed, but, having seen him play throughout the year, I knew he would only use it selectively.

I'll make a little mini prediction: Tua will become more feared for his scrambling ability than Jalen. Notice I didn't say running ability but scrambling. Jalen was most effective with his legs on planned runs or prebailing the pocket before there was ever any pressure. Tua, as he's already proven (UT game), will scramble to pass and also be able to scramble to run and he'll break the back a few defenses in the future with his ability to scramble from the pocket and make huge plays.

I agree wholeheartedly. If nothing had changed at halftime, Bama doesn't win. I also think if that change had happened before the Iron Bowl, Bama wins that game as well. This is why I'm so excited for next season. We will finally get to see these young talented WR's show what they are capable of.
Here's how big Tua's performance was. If Jalen plays the second half, it's not about IF we lose, but HOW BAD we lose. This would have been a program changer (in terms of perception) and a watershed moment for Georgia and Kirby. I just don't think we can underestimate how "historical" that play is for whatever time CNS has left at Bama and the continuation of this program's dynastic dominance!
 

BamaMoon

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Since we've kinda drifted into "other" big plays or moments in the game, one that I remember is just before we score the first TD. Tua was driving the team down the field with completion after completion. Even from home, you could feel the momentum swinging to Bama and we started to feel we actually had a chance to at least get back in the game.

I think it was the sliding completion to about the 5-10 yard line just before the Tua to Ruggs TD when Herbstreit basically said "There's a different feel now...Daboll can now call any play in the playbook...this is what Alabama fans have been talking about." It made me think KH had been reading Tidefans because it was something many of us already knew, but I can only imagine how the average viewer felt when they were basically seeing Bama's #2 QB takeover the game.
 

92tide

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Since we've kinda drifted into "other" big plays or moments in the game, one that I remember is just before we score the first TD. Tua was driving the team down the field with completion after completion. Even from home, you could feel the momentum swinging to Bama and we started to feel we actually had a chance to at least get back in the game.

I think it was the sliding completion to about the 5-10 yard line just before the Tua to Ruggs TD when Herbstreit basically said "There's a different feel now...Daboll can now call any play in the playbook...this is what Alabama fans have been talking about." It made me think KH had been reading Tidefans because it was something many of us already knew, but I can only imagine how the average viewer felt when they were basically seeing Bama's #2 QB takeover the game.
i have re-watched the second half a few times and the change in momentum and attitude of both teams is palpable throughout the half. even with the couple of big plays uga had (the td and interception) it just had the feel that bama was not going to be denied.
 

92tide

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I was watching the video of the coaches watching the game and commenting.
Some of it was good. I kind of liked the guy from Northwestern. Bobo was more than a bit of a homer for Georgia, but he played and coached there so I get that. Gundy did okay and Sumlin had some good observations.
Cutcliffe, however, seemed to have a burr under his saddle about Alabama. Did somebody at Bama tinkle in Cutcliffe's cornflakes at some point?
i noticed that watching the replay of the coaches commentary. cutcliff was being a tool (at least imo) about tua and bama throughout the second half. and, at least to my ears, he was very vocal about wanting bama to lose. even after the game is over you can hear him in the background complaining about something bama was doing wrong during the celebration.
 

RollTide_HTTR

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i noticed that watching the replay of the coaches commentary. cutcliff was being a tool (at least imo) about tua and bama throughout the second half. and, at least to my ears, he was very vocal about wanting bama to lose. even after the game is over you can hear him in the background complaining about something bama was doing wrong during the celebration.
Not from the coaches film but the biggest eye roll reaction to the whole Tua thing was from Scott Frost IMO

“It was a decision I don’t know I would have been courageous enough to make. That’s the answer you want to hear. The other answer is that he was pretty obviously better and they had 12 games to figure that out and didn’t. Coach Saban is above criticism with everything he’s accomplished, so I don’t mean it that way, but I recruited Tua out of high school and knew what he could do and it doesn’t surprise me that he did what he did. Jalen’s a great player, too. That was a very bold and courageous move and I’m surprised it didn’t happen earlier [in the season].”
 

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