Maybe there won’t be much drama after all?
With top-ranked Alabama crushing Arkansas and second-ranked LSU doing what it needed to hold off Auburn, Week 9 officially set the stage for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown between the Tide and the Tigers in Week 11. As we get set to embark on 14 days of unrelenting, breathless hype, though, the overriding individual storyline will surely be Tua Tagovailoa‘s availability.
The Tide’s starting quarterback and at-one-point Heisman Trophy frontrunner, Tagovailoa suffered a high-ankle sprain in the win over rival Tennessee last weekend and didn’t play Saturday in the blowout win over the Hogs. Following surgery, the junior’s return to the playing field has been a fluid situation.
Following the blowout of the Razorbacks, and saying he’s “doing really, really well,” Nick Saban gave a startlingly-positive update on his starter’s rehab progress.
“We expect him to return to practice by midweek this week,” the head coach said. “I don’t know what he’ll be able to do or how much. But that’s sort of the prognosis for where we are right now.”
The fact that Tagovailoa will return to practice in some form or fashion 10 days or so ahead of the latest Game of the Century would seemingly indicate that that particular storyline has already been played out.
Stay tuned, though. Just in case.
