Tagovailoa out for season with dislocated hip
Alabama's run for a College Football Playoff spot will happen without its starting quarterback, as Tua Tagovailoa is out for the season due to a dislocated hip with a posterior wall fracture suffered Saturday.
Tagovailoa, the consensus top draft-eligible quarterback, is expected to make a full recovery, the school said in a statement obtained by Andy Staples of The Athletic.
Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes! God always has a plan 🙏🏽
— Tua. T 🇦🇸 (@Tuaamann) November 17, 2019
Tagovailoa suffered the injury toward the end of the first half versus Mississippi State after falling awkwardly while being brought down by two Bulldogs defenders. The junior star suffered a bloody nose on the play and was unable to put any weight on his right leg as he was carted to the locker room.
He was eventually taken by helicopter to Birmingham for further examination.
The injury occurred on the same right leg that Tagovailoa had surgery on for a sprained ankle suffered earlier this season against Tennessee. After missing a couple of weeks, Tagovailoa returned for the blockbuster matchup with LSU last weekend.
Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban told reporters after the game that Saturday's injury was unrelated to his previous ailment.
"He was good, at least as good as he was a week ago in terms of his ability to move," Saban said, according to Mark Schlabach of ESPN. "I don't think anything he did affected his performance in the first half. So the guy played, and I thought he played really well. And we hate it that he got injured. We hate it for him. We hate it for his family."
While there's no timetable on a potential return for Tagovailoa, the pivot is widely regarded to be a top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He's eligible to return to Alabama for his senior season, but it's likely he's played his last game at the collegiate level.
Mac Jones will take over at quarterback for the Crimson Tide with Western Carolina and Auburn left on the schedule.