Four takeaways from Alabama title game win: The Tua Effect and intriguing last play

What a game.

What a thrilling ending to a season full of twists and turns.

Alabama's 26-23 victory over Georgia in the College Football Playoff national championship game was a scintillating spectacle.

It was replete with heart-stopping action and fascinating storylines.

There was a coach who tied a legend. There was the quarterback who came off the bench to launch a jaw-dropping comeback. There were bit players who grabbed the spotlight.

There was so much drama it was difficult to process all that unfolded Monday night. But AL.com did so by examining some of the most interesting developments in this edition of "Four Takeaways."

1. Inside the final play that won a title

The final moment in Alabama's championship season was fascinating on multiple levels, but most of all because it had a touch of irony.

The play Alabama ran -- "Seattle" -- featured a concept that long ago helped inspire the coverage schemes that became a staple of Nick Saban' defense as well as the one Georgia runs under his protege, Kirby Smart.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, long ago, used four verticals to beat Saban's Cover 3 when he was a defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns -- forcing him to develop a pattern-matching system that mixed zone and man principles to combat it. 

Years later, Saban and his offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, turned the tables and dialed up a play with that same Steelers framework -- using it to put the finishing touches on a national championship. It called for the four receivers to line up in a three-by-one look out of "11" personnel and go downfield.  

Alabama practiced "Seattle" in a two-minute drill in the days before the game, with Tua Tagovailoa at the helm. Tagovailoa completed passes to other receivers in the set but never DeVonta Smith, Daboll revealed.

"He has a feel for that play, good vision," Daboll said of Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa used his eyes to draw the safety, Dominick Sanders, toward his tight end Irv Smith Jr., who was already being tracked by two linebackers.

Meanwhile, Smith was able to gain a free release by establishing inside leverage against cornerback Malkom Parrish.

Smith's maneuver was days in the making, too. Mike Locksley, his position coach, told him that Georgia's safeties, in a Cover 2 look, would cheat and gamble -- leaving no time to recover if they made the wrong decision. The key for Smith was to not only run off the ball but also regain width on his route and reset his course ever so slightly back toward the sideline, so Sanders would have to travel a greater distance to catch him.

But Sanders never did make up the ground and Smith ran under the pass from Tagovailoa near the goal line, scoring the touchdown that won the title for Alabama.

"The safety didn't come off the hashes," Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said after the game. "[Sanders] read the tight end down the middle and the safety stayed on the hash, and the corner let him go and [Tagovailoa] was able to get the ball in...It was a great read."

All in all it was perfect execution from the design of the play to the way it was practiced and carried out by the players involved in a pressure-packed moment. In short, it was a total team effort.

2. Why Saban's success factored into his game-changing QB decision

Nick Saban's decision to bench Jalen Hurts and insert Tua Tagovailoa will go down as one of the best decisions a coach has ever made in a championship game.

It revitalized Alabama's offense and changed the complexion of a game Georgia was on the way to winning.

But it was also incredibly risky. Had Tagovailoa failed to make an impact and Alabama lost Monday, a quarterback controversy would have dominated the off-season conversation and questions about the future of both players would be asked.

A coach that didn't have the stature Saban has would have had a hard time pulling off a similar move and withstanding the ensuing onslaught of criticism if it backfired or simply didn't work out as intended.

Saban knew he had more latitude. He had already deflected the minimal blowback he received from a curious decision to dump offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and install Steve Sarkisian before the 2017 national championship game Alabama lost to Clemson. 

In retrospect, players even admitted the unexpected switch created a distraction.

"That was a big change in such short time and short notice, so deep into the year," former outside linebacker Tim Williams said.

Saban was given the benefit of the doubt, even though the result didn't go his way.

So, he was already keenly aware his track record could shield him from any negative fallout. This is yet another example of Saban maximizing the advantages he has created for himself by dint of his own success. Over the years, he has pushed to expand a support staff that is already among the most extensive in the country. He has also tapped into the growing coffers at Alabama by reinvesting in the program and keeping the Tide on the cutting edge.

On Monday, he had the bona fides to make a gutsy move that landed him a sixth national championship. The fact that Saban had won five other titles gave him the wherewithal to roll the dice and do what was best for Alabama.

3. Examining the Tua effect on offense

In the afterglow of victory, Brian Daboll still wore a poker face.

He wasn't going to break down how the offense transformed after Jalen Hurts was removed from the game and Tua Tagovailoa was summoned as his replacement.

"Both those guys are good players," he said. 

Daboll, of course, didn't need to explain how dramatically different Alabama looked with Tagovailoa at the helm.

Everyone could see it. Hurts completed three passes -- none of which traveled more than five yards beyond the line of scrimmage. On three occasions, the sophomore quarterback bailed from the pocket, maneuvered to his right and threw the ball away -- a direct result of Hurts limiting his options by taking away an entire side of the field with his rollouts. In another instance, he overthrew Ridley on what should have been an easy touchdown pass. Later, he couldn't avoid the pressure before tossing an incompletion to Ridley on a comeback once the receiver stopped his route.

After compiling only 21 passing yards and misfiring on five of his eight attempts, Hurts was lifted. In came Tagovailoa and a dormant offense sprung to life.

Tagovailoa, operating mainly with "11" personnel and some empty sets, began connecting with receivers who were in motion -- hitting them in stride and throwing them open. 

By delivering one complete pass after another, Tagovailoa allowed Alabama to run hurry-up and keep Georgia's defense on its heels. He also accomplished that by expanding the dimensions of the passing game and attacking all regions of the fields. On his second attempt, he launched a bomb over the middle to Ridley off a play-action maneuver. It fell incomplete, but it showed the Bulldogs that Alabama could stretch the field between the seams.

That also softened Georgia's defense on the edges, making Daboll's shallow, horizontal plays more effective. Sure enough, two passes after he went deep to Ridley, Tagovailoa dumped the ball off to Henry Ruggs III in the flat for a nine-yard gain.

As Tagovailoa led the comeback effort, he also remained committed to staying in the pocket, stepping up within it to make throws like the 20-yard completion he delivered to Jerry Jeudy on a drag route in the fourth quarter during the game-tying touchdown drive.

In essence, Tagovailoa did a better job than Hurts of using all the levers within the offense and maximizing the options at his disposal.

"I think Tua certainly gave us a spark," Saban said.

And as a result the offense revved up. 

 4. How 'rat poison' games led Alabama freshmen to center stage.

The story after the game was the rise of Alabama's freshman class.

Tua Tagovailoa ignited Alabama's comeback. Najee Harris added a new dimension to the running game. Alex Leatherwood stood strong at left tackle in relief of the injured Jonah Williams. Receiver Henry Ruggs III kept the offense humming by catching passes in the slot. DeVonta Smith delivered the game-winning touchdown reception.

On Monday night, it was the Crimson Tide's least experienced players who made the biggest impact. 

Their performance in a pressure-packed title fight decided by three points can be traced back to the exposure they received in three of the most lopsided wins of the season -- victories over Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

At the time, those games didn't seem all that significant in the grand scheme of things. Nick Saban would have argued they may have had a negative effect by creating their share of unrealistic expectations or "rat poison" as he calls the hype.

But in those routs, which were decided by an average margin of 53.3 points, the seeds for what happened Monday were sown. Tagovailoa, for instance, played 104 snaps in that blowout trilogy; Smith 87.

"I think preparation leading up to this point has been the key thing," Tagovailoa said.

Having a chance to play against SEC competition also was a major factor.

It's yet another reason why what unfolds in September and October can influence the outcome of a season in January.

Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin 

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