Tagovailoa describes thought process on first two TDs against Southern Miss

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tua Tagovailoa continued to make things look easy. Saturday, the star quarterback completed 17 of 21 passes for 293 yards while throwing for five touchdowns for a second straight week.

But what’s going through the left-hander’s mind when he’s picking apart defenses? Following Alabama’s 49-7 victory over Southern Miss, Tagovailoa broke down his first two touchdowns to Henry Ruggs III in detail.

The first score came on Alabama’s third offensive play as the Crimson Tide faced a second-and-13 from the Southern Miss 45-yard line. After keeping the ball on an RPO, Tagovailoa fired a quick slant to Ruggs who turned on the jets and burst down the field untouched for the score.

“It was really based on the leverage of the backside safety and the safety that was the front side on Smitty (DeVonta Smith),” Tagovailoa explained. “Smitty was the first read, and Henry Ruggs was the second read. I just went through my progressions after that.”

As Tagovailoa pointed out, the safety covering Ruggs on the play never closed in on the receiver, giving him ample space to catch the ball and use his sub-4.3 speed to do the rest. The quarterback’s ability to read this while ripping the ball away from running back Najee Harris allowed the Crimson Tide to take an early 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

Tagovailoa’s second touchdown required a deeper throw as he dropped back on second-and-4 from the Alabama 26-yard line before delivering the ball to a wide-open Ruggs for a 74-yard touchdown. One again, the play looked like a simple pitch and catch but required more reading from the quarterback.

“On that play, the DB didn’t really bite,” Tagovailoa said. “The DB was more so flatfooted. So you kind of gage the leverage that the receiver has on that guy, and there’s no way he’d be able to run with someone like that. I just gave him a shot, an opportunity and he did the rest.”

Watching the play, you can see Ruggs bait the safety into thinking he was running a crossing route before breakout outside. Meanwhile, Tagovailoa patiently waited for his receiver to make the move before chucking him the ball.

Despite his stellar showing, Tagovailoa still left Saturday looking for improvement. He took the blame for Alabama’s first failed drive as the Crimson Tide went three-and-out late in the first half. During that drive, Tagovailoa took a sack and nearly threw his first interception of the season before Alabama was forced to punt.

“There’s a lot of things I need to fix,” Tagovailoa said. “There’s been a lot of miscommunication. I think the two three-and-outs that we had were a testament to us not doing things correctly and the miscommunications that we’ve had. It’s an opportunity for us to learn from it, to grow from it. And I think we finished a lot better.”

Still, it’s hard to find much fault in the junior's performance so far this season. Through four games, Tagovailoa has completed 77.8 percent of his passes for 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns without any interceptions. Those numbers should only grow as Tagovailoa's matured approach behind center continues to allow him to break down opposing defenses on the fly.

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