Tua Tagovailoa and the Alabama record book

We all know the Alabama record book is filled with Tua Tagovailoa’s name. This will not be an exhaustive list here, but it’s just some of the impressive feats.

Tagovailoa has the record for most career passing touchdowns (87) and most career touchdowns (96). He is now third in career interception percentage, his 1.61% slotting in between Greg McElroy’s 1.51% and Jake Coker’s 1.76%. Tagovailoa finishes his career with a 69.3% completion percentage, setting a new school record and easily passing AJ McCarron and Jake Coker, who were tied for first at 66.9%. Tagovailoa’s career 199.4 passer rating sets a school and NCAA record (technically, Tagovailoa fell 16 pass attempts shy of qualifying according to Sports Reference, but I’m counting and you can’t stop me).

He easily set the single season touchdown record in 2018 with 48 touchdowns (43 passing, 5 rushing), and he broke the single season yardage record previously held by Blake Sims (and Tagovailoa would have broken it even if you subtracted his 190 rushing yards). For good measure, Tagovailoa set the NCAA passer rating (so, obviously, he set the school record as well).

Unfortunately, Tagovailoa won’t have a shot at beating those numbers this year; and his season ended having played in just nine games. Still, he now has another new record. Tagovailoa completed 71.4% of his passes this season, which is now the best mark in school history, topping Greg McElroy’s 70.9% in 2010.

Tagovailoa also ended the year with a record 206.93 passer rating. That breaks the school record he set in 2018 (199.44); and it could potentially break the NCAA record, depending on how Jalen Hurts (209.14) and Joe Burrow (202.67) do the rest of the way.

Additionally, Tagovailoa accounted for 35 touchdowns (33 passing, 2 rushing). That number ties him for third on the single season list with Blake Sims, just one touchdown shy of second place Jalen Hurts. Sims scored his 35 touchdowns in 14 games; Hurts scored his 36 in 15 games. Tagovailoa scored his in nine games.

We all know how good Tagovailoa was for Alabama, but sometimes it’s still jaw-dropping when you look at the numbers.