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Going to freshman QB lets Tide sail to another title

Nick Saban changed quarterbacks at halftime of the national championship game and went to a freshman. Who saw that coming?

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The whole thing took nearly four hours, but in the end Alabama’s Nick Saban showed why he is the best college football coach of our time.

Maybe of all time, but there’s too many variables in different eras to really worry about that right now.

For coaches that have recently been fired, well, Nick just showed you why he keeps rolling. No, I’m not talking about recruiting. What won the Crimson Tide’s fifth national championship in the last nine years (and Saban’s sixth) was a willingness to change and adapt.

Trailing 13-0 at halftime, Bama’s offense was non-existent. They had just four first downs and less than 100 yards of total offense.

What does Nick do? He changes quarterbacks. That’s almost unheard of in a championship game. You don’t replace a two-year starter at halftime of a national championship game, do you?

Like we said earlier, Nick didn’t teach Georgia coach Kirby Smart every thing he knows.

Nick didn’t just replace Jalen Hurts at halftime. He did it with a freshman who didn’t take a meaningful snap all season long.

So much for the experience argument. For the last several years, it’s been proven time and again that talent trumps experience every time.

Nick has said it in routine press conferences the last several years. At SEC Media Days in 2014, he told everyone he didn’t recruit players to sit on the bench as freshmen, but expected them to contribute immediately.

It’s almost as if Alabama junked the entire game plan and put it in the hands of true freshmen. They started throwing and started using more tempo.

Tua Tagovailoa, formerly of Hawaii that is not particularly known for producing stellar quarterbacks, came in the second half and the Tide started flinging it around with his southpaw style.

“You can never tell about left-handed quarterbacks and left-handed crapshooters,” said Paul (Bear) Bryant, another Alabama coach that rolled the dice once or twice.

Tagovailoa was 14-of-24 with an interception and three touchdowns.

But he made plays. Huge plays that will go down in Alabama’s rich history.

How huge?

On fourth-and-4, down a touchdown, with less than 4 minutes remaining Tagovailoa juked around in a collapsing pocket, waited for what seemed an eternity, then hit Calvin Ridley for the game-tying score.

Are you serious? That doesn’t happen with a freshman quarterback.

In overtime, he started off by taking a 16-yard sack on first down, something you simply can’t do in that situation.

Game over, right?

Tagovailoa calmly throws a 41-yard walk-off touchdown on a rope to DeVonta Smith, who was streaking down the left sideline behind a Georgia cornerback.

Freshman to freshman. Talk about making some gutsy decisions.

To be fair, though, Tagovailoa isn’t even the first left-handed Crimson Tide quarterback to do some pretty improbable things.

Ken Stabler kept Alabama fans on the edge of their seats for a few years in the mid-1960’s.

For Georgia, this is a game they will shake their heads over for years, decades to come. For a program without a national title since 1980, this one will sting for awhile.

For Alabama, well, it’s No. 17 the way they count the titles.

For Nick, he now has six titles which ties him with Bryant, but he still won’t let up because the legacy isn’t totally complete with the Crimson Tide quite yet.

All of Bryant’s titles were at Alabama.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.