What is the status of Tua's ankle?
- Thread starter pop11011
- Start date
- Status
If Tua is medically cleared to play like he was against LSU then he should play at least a half. This will keep him fresh and sharp. Auburn will be the best defense Bama has played all year, and one of the worst offenses we have played all year, and Tua will need to be sharp for a must win game to have any shot at the playoffs and a rematch with those classless goons from the bayou.
Roger, understood. My point is that there is a trend in big games for Tua to have some bad turnovers early in games (or early in a half of play in the CFPCG v. UGA). I think he's a bit too juiced up because he wants to be perfect and do great things for his teammates. All I'm saying is that maybe in the next big game the staff should protect him a bit more in the first possession or two until that juice eases off and it becomes just about executing what they are taught. I'm not saying he's bad. I'm saying that sometimes there is more to playcalling than Xs and Os...especially in the passing game where rhythm and comfort at QB is a big part of success.
I mean, he did have 2 turnovers that accounted for 14 points for LSU. The loss ain't on him exclusively but he's a contributing player on a team that lost. The 2nd turnover was perhaps on the staff being over-aggressive when an bad half on offense kinda dictated taking it to the locker room and regrouping.
Everyone on that team contributed - but so did everyone on LSU's team. Did Tua make mistakes? Yep. But, according to Saban, there were 25 missed tackles in the game. 25. That wasn't because Alabama sucks. The LSU RB and QB are hard to tackle, just like Alabama's players are hard to tackle.
This loss was not on Tua, and anyone who thinks that it was really doesn't understand the game.
I hope he is near 100 percent for Auburn game. I know it was in Tuscaloosa, but didn't Bama beat Auburn by about 20 points last year? If I remember correctly, Tua had a great game vs the Auburn defense. And the defense is basically the same players this year, right? If Tua is healthy, I think he will play well, even though it is at Auburn. We definitely need to avoid injuries between now and then.
I never said that, but let me give you an example. Coker played in a game in which Clemson scored 40 points. He threw for 335 yards, no turnovers, 203 rating. He did what he had to do to win that game, including protect the football. It wasn't his fault the other team scored 40, I mean they had Watson, but he played to the best of his abilities. And I will reiterate, he played on a broken toe the whole season. Coker wasn't good enough to make mistakes and come back, but he didn't make the mistakes so he didn't have to.
Now, Tua is better. Did he really play to the best of his abilities against Clemson when he turned the ball over twice including a pick six? That 145 rating is really Tua at his best? What about the last LSU game? 168 rating is solid, but those two turnovers were extremely costly. They cost the team 10 points. Considering the offense only accounted for 35, 7 was gift wrapped for LSU, that basically means the net production of the offense was a fairly modest 28. That ain't awesome.
We had this discussion before Tua ever started. I said a gunslinger brought with it inherent risks, and I'm pretty sure you said he could throw enough TDs that it won't matter. Well, three times now he's been in holes, that included his own mistakes, that even he couldn't throw his way out of. Is he a great QB bound for the NFL? Yeah, but he's still someone that takes risks he shouldn't take that put his teams in holes they shouldn't be in. This hasn't happened one, or twice in a big game this is the third time now and it does matter. A QB's first job is to not put his team in a hole. When you score one offensive TD in the first half, but you give away 10 points, that's putting them in a hole.
Now, hopefully Alabama gets a chance to right the ship and Tua can write a different final chapter. But if he doesn't? He'll not have played up to his potential. So far he absolutely could have been better in big games, and I remember other QBs not playing their best in big games that were not spared due critique in that regard.
Last edited:
I absolutely think that it is fair to say that Tua has not looked as good against great defenses. But remember this - Coker did not have to face the 2018 Clemson defense. If you had Coker in the game last year, what do you think that you score? He would have been sitting on his rump half the plays because that d-line was in Tua's face all game long.
Tua has played great against great teams. He has not played as great against great defenses. That is not because Tua fell off in those games - it is because the opponent had something to do with his play. QBs do not play in a vacuum.
When Alabama's defense shuts down the opposing QB, is that because the opposing QB has a bad game, or is it Alabama's defense? I would give the defense a lot of the credit.
I think that's a reasonable response, but let me just come out and say what I want to say, because I do think even a hobbled Tua is the most talented QB Saban has had.
I just want to see a little more balanced offense with Tua taking less risks early. Look, I loved his play in the second half against LSU! He did what he had to do, but he doesn't always have to do that. I'll bring up one more Coker example. Against Ole Miss Coker came in off the bench into a terrible situation. Down multiple scores, Alabama couldn't stop Ole Miss, so Coker just threw caution to the wind and started balling. He wasn't that great, he threw two picks, but he did what the situation called for and I was on here saying he should be the starter and Alabama still had a shot at a championship.
When the time is right, it's great that Tua has this other gear no other Alabama quarterback in my lifetime has had. But, and once again this isn't just on Tua it's a philosophy, I think too much is often asked of him early. I mean Najee ran for 7.7 a carry on LSU. He ran for 6.6 against Clemson. It doesn't have to be, and shouldn't all be on Tua's shoulders. Unleash him when needs be, but I am absolutely resolute in my belief that either he's being asked to do more than is necessary early on in some of these big games, or he's trying to do too much. Don't force it, take the low hanging fruit, try to avoid mistakes, get the running game going, it will pay off in the long run.
There's no way to say definitively that we wouldn't have come back in that Georgia game if he had finished it.
And, how many teams would love to have a starting QB who is 4-2, or even 3-3, in top 4 matchups?
Well, first off just about any team in college football would want to have Tua. I'm not complaining about Tua's capabilities, but rather his use. To give an example...
Greg McElroy was 2-1
AJ McCarron was 3-3
Blake Sims was 1-1
Jacob Coker was 3-0
Jalen Hurts was 3-1 (not counting either Georgia result)
So, we know Tua is the most talented of the group. The question is if his talent is being used in the best possible way? You'd think better quarterback would be better results right? That's still possible though, if Alabama gets back in this he could win two more top 4 matchups and I know if used properly that's likely to happen. I suppose it's worth nothing that the playoff era has obviously created more top 4 matchups and upped the degree of difficulty.
There are so many factors that go into these stats. If they all played the same opponents, with the same team, and so forth, these stats might mean something. It's like when they put the stats up that Tua had more passing yards and TDs in one season than Joe Namath had in his three years as QB at Bama. But they played in totally different circumstance and the comparison was ridiculous.
Because Tua has the worst defenses of the bunch, and he knows it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yep! He can’t control the defense but he also can’t make mistakes that puts the defense in horrible situations like at the end of the first half.
- Status
Latest threads
-
SEC West Showdown Sends Alabama to Oxford to Meet with Ole Miss- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Davis II Named to Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Eleven-Run Third Powers Alabama to 14-5 Win over Samford
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Maybe aTm's Pockets Aren't So Bottomless After All -- Layoffs In The Athletic Department
- Started by 4Q Basket Case
- Replies: 9
-
Time to un-vacate 2005-2007 on field victories and un-forfeit the 1993 season?
- Started by CmdrThor
- Replies: 24
-