Alabama started off SEC play on a high note Saturday as it raced past South Carolina in a 47-23 rout inside of Williams-Brice Stadium. The Crimson Tide has recorded 500 or more yards in all three of its games this season as it piled up 571 yards of total offense against the Gamecocks. Here are three takeaways from the game.

No longer needing to exit games early in the third quarter, Tua Tagovailoa has had more time to fill up the stat sheet this season. The left-hander did just that over the weekend as he completed 28 of 36 passes for a career-high 444 yards and five touchdowns.

The standout performance marked Tagovailoa’s first 400-yard game in a Crimson Tide uniform. It was also the first time an Alabama quarterback has thrown for 400 or more yards and five touchdowns in a single game.

“I think it really starts with our coaching and our guys up front,” Tagovailoa said. “Everyone I’m surrounded with. Those are the guys that make plays. Those are the guys that make me look good. If we just stick to what coach tells us, I feel like things like this can happen.”

Last year, Tagovailoa regularly gave way to Jalen Hurts as Alabama attempted to get both quarterbacks as many snaps as it could. With Hurts now putting up big numbers of his own at Oklahoma, Tagovailoa has been able to play deeper into games. Saturday he didn’t leave until midway through Alabama’s second drive in the fourth quarter.

Tagovailoa hasn’t wasted those added snaps either. Through three games, the junior has completed 76.9 percent of his passes for 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns with no interceptions. At this point last year, Tagovailoa had completed 72 percent of his passes for 646 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions.

If Tagovailoa keeps up at this torrid pace, he'll finish the regular season with 4,028 yards through the air, more than he piled up over 15 games last year.