Alabama coach Nick Saban says he intends to play both of his star quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, when the top-ranked Crimson Tide open the season Saturday against Louisville (8 p.m. ET, ABC).
Tagovailoa and Hurts have played well in practice and have received equal reps, Saban said last week.
Hurts, a junior, is 26-2 as a starter, but Tagovailoa came off the bench as a true freshman to rally Alabama to victory in last season’s national championship game.
“I think we have two guys that are weapons and they’ve both played well, so the plan is to play both guys in the game,” Saban told ESPN’s Chris Fowler in an interview that will air on College Gameday on Saturday. “So the only issue is who plays first, and we’ll decide that when the time comes.”
Saban had said previously that he was considering playing both quarterbacks in the opener.
“Just like every position, there’s good competition at quarterback, and nobody’s backing away from that competition,” Saban told reporters on Aug. 21. “As much as anybody, the other kids on the team will let us know which one of those guys gives us the best chance to win. The good thing is that we’ve won with both.”
In his Gameday interview, Saban wasn’t specific about how the process will work in determining how his quarterbacks’ playing time will be shared.
“I really don’t want either one of the guys to go out there and play and look over their shoulder and worry about the next guy,” Saban said. “So it’ll be, really, just … you’re gonna play this much and then the next guy’s gonna play and we’ll kinda go from there.”