Alabama junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is working with his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons with the Crimson Tide.One potential way to stop Alabama's offense this football season is to always know what's coming, which seems to be the case most weekdays this month in Tuscaloosa.
"Practices are scripted, so I feel like the defense matches all our plays every time we go out there," Crimson Tide junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa lamented in a news conference this week, "so it's a little hard to get open. In scrimmages, there are no scripts. It's a lot better for us."
It's hard to imagine Alabama's offense being better than a season ago, when the Tide averaged 522.0 yards and 45.6 points per game. They became the first team in college football history to win all 12 regular-season contests by at least three touchdowns, and there was no shortage of hardware earned.
Tagovailoa came up short in the Heisman Trophy voting but won the Maxwell Award, while receiver Jerry Jeudy claimed the Biletnikoff Award. The offensive line was among the three finalists for the Joe Moore Award.
Now it's up to new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to somehow improve the production and enhance Tagovailoa's play, which has started with the 6-foot-1, 218-pounder improving his progression reads after dropping back to pass.
"We feel that we can grow in the area of full-progression reads," Sarkisian said earlier this month. "The more things you do well, the harder you are to defend, and we felt like that was an area we could really improve in. I think Tua has really bought in to that. He's shown drastic improvements, and the receivers see it as well.
"One of the misnomers is that we're shifting into a drop-back team, but we're just trying to add to an offense that was really prolific a year ago."
Sarkisian is the third offensive coordinator to work with Tagovailoa in as many seasons, following Brian Daboll (2017) and Mike Locksley (2018).
Tagovailoa set single-season school records last year with 3,966 passing yards and 43 aerial touchdowns, and his efficiency rating of 199.4 led the nation. He was asked this week how things are developing from the progression standpoint.
"I'm just taking what the defense gives me now," Tagovailoa said. "If they're going to give me the first read, I'm not going to pass it up. You never go broke taking a profit."
The Tide return four receivers - Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle - who averaged at least 16 yards per reception last season, and there has been plenty of discussion about using all four on the field without a tight end.
How much Alabama employs four-receiver sets remains to be seen, but Tagovailoa hopes to have that opportunity.
"They aren't going to play man against that. They're going to play zone," he said. "If they play man against these guys, then we've got to go out and torch the defense. If they play zone, it opens up a lot for the run game."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.