On Saturday, the Alabama Crimson Tide played the Mississippi State bulldogs. As expected, they came away with the victory, but it came at a very high cost when starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was taken off the field with 3:01 left to play in the second quarter. Later, it was revealed that he was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Birmingham, Ala., with an apparent hip injury.
ESPN’s Jim Nagy posted the following update on Tagovalia.
Hearing Tua Tagovailoa’s hip injury is serious. Hip fracture. Similar to Bo Jackson’s career-ending injury. Surgery tonight or tomorrow morning. Praying for Tua and his family. 🙏
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) November 16, 2019
The Athletic’s Aaron Suttles posted a new report just a few minutes later:
Breaking News: Tua Tagovailoa is out for the season with a dislocated hip with a posterior wall fracture, a person with knowledge of the situation tells me.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) November 16, 2019
Tagovailoa was taken down from behind by two defending Bulldogs and landed face down as his helmet was knocked off of his head. Tagovailoa stayed on the ground and when the trainers came to help him, they were able to get him up off the field, but it was apparent he couldn’t put any weight on his right side. As he was speaking to his trainers on the field, Tagovailoa‘s nose started to bleed and the medical cart was brought onto the field to take him off of the field and into the locker room.
Coach Nick Saban confirmed it was a hip injury — “a freak thing that you seldom see” — during a press conference following the game. Saban is coming under fire for playing Tagovailoa as he was still recovering from an ankle injury sustained earlier in the season, and with such a substantial lead, many feel backup quarterback Mac Jones should have played instead. Saban said his intentions were to put Jones in the game for the second half, but he wanted to keep Tagovailoa in the game to get practice with the two-minute drill.
Jones finished the game for the Crimson Tide and kept the Bulldogs from putting any points on the board in the second half. Still, the headlines from this game surround Tagovalia, his serious injury, and his recovery and future.
Tua Tagovailoa was carted off with a hip injury while Alabama held a 35-7 lead late in the first half https://t.co/5P6shkxc53
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 16, 2019
