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He has fallen to the 50-meter line as a fighter who has knocked out his opponent by TKO.
Tua threw three haymakers in the third quarter of the 83rd Iron Bowl, and all connected on the chin: a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy, a 33-yard touchdown pass to Josh Jacobs and a touchdown pass from 40 yards to DeVonta Smith.
After the third game, Alabama's second left-hander turned his back on his sideline and flexed his arms in celebration.
He then gathered his hands in prayer and thanked with a bow.
Auburn was finished, but not the Tua Show.
He added a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to trigger the celebration, and engraved his name in the history books. There was just enough suspense in Auburn's victory in Alabama (52-21) to make it interesting and more magic to make it obvious. On Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the country's best college football player had his best game of the season and one of the best football history for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Tagovailoa's five touchdown passes set a record in Iron Bowl, and his six touchdowns in total (one in the race) were the largest number of any players in Alabama's football history. .
"It's just playing football for me," Tagovailoa said after the match. "I just had fun, doing what I'm doing since I was little."
There has never been anyone like Tua. There has never been anything like it in Alabama. Already.
The No. 1 Crimson Tide outscored its 12 opponents this season by at least 20 points. This has never been done. In the history of college football.
Tua carried Alabama early with his hardness to run, then buried Auburn in the third quarter with this barrage of impossible passes that will win the Iron Bowl 's greatest performance in the history of the series.
If there was a question to enter the Iron Bowl (and there was none in my mind), the Heisman trophy is that of Tua. Oklahoma's quarterback, Kyler Murray, has also been brilliant, but against the lower defenses of the Big 12s.
Tua should be No. 1 in Heisman votes, and Murray second. Then, with a little luck, both players can meet on the field in the semi-finals of the college football game.
Winner or loser in the SEC Championship game, Alabama appears to be a lockout for the college football playoffs after his convincing second half against Auburn.
It was Tua's Iron Bowl, as he has been doing since his famous touchdown pass to win the national title last season. And now, it's Georgia again in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz stadium.
Alabama is another excellent genre since Tua replaced quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second half of the College Football Playoff national championship game. Tua is at its best when the pressure is at its maximum.
He has proven it now again and again.
"It never gets bored in the game when things do not go as well," said Alabama coach Nick Saban. "He always answers as you want."
Things did not go well for Alabama in the first half of this Iron Bowl. Alabama led Auburn 17-14 at the break, and it looked like the Tigers had a chance to break through to start the third quarter. That's when the artist went to work. The Alabama quarterback was close to perfection in the third quarter of his first Iron Bowl, 9 out of 10, scoring 176 yards.
"We did not run as we wanted in the first half, and we arrived at halftime and we solved the problem," said Tagovailoa.
The Alabama offensive in the first period: 36 games for 186 yards.
Alabama offense in the second half: 23 games for 314 yards.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn must have known about it, which earned him a strange choice in the final two minutes of the first half.
Auburn took the swing, the ball and three stops with 2:31 to make the second quarter. The Tigers had just forced Alabama to sign a rare three-and-one, which prevented Tua from being first for the first and third.
The Bryant-Denny stadium was silent and felt a little shocked by a assist for a touchdown Auburn. Instead of allowing starting quarterback Jarrett Stidham to try his luck in the end zone, Malzahn claimed a double-save and receiver Ryan Davis found Malik Miller open for a daring score.
But Malzahn lacked confidence in Stidham and his offense when it mattered most. With an influential artist like Tua on the sideline, it was like throwing the sponge even before getting a punch in the face.
One of the best we've ever seen came out for a fight in the third quarter. It was just another focus for TKO Tua.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He is on Twitter @ JoeGoodmanJr.
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