TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sunday nights this fall, Tua Tagovailoa will be at his desk, iPad in front of him, notepad to his right, ready to dive in. The bruises and stiffness from Saturday have been worked through in the training room and a “stretch-and-stride” workout, and back home after dinner it’s time to exercise the mind.

There probably will be a bag of dill pickle-flavored sunflower seeds to keep him company, but otherwise this is some quality alone time devoted to the next defense the Alabama quarterback will face.

Upon accessing the download of the next opponent, Tua’s first goal is simply to get a broad-strokes read — how the defensive coordinator thinks, what the personnel looks like, favored alignments, things like that. Sunday night is overview night, with the grinding over the details of specific plays and situations set to begin Monday and continue throughout the week.

There will be notes. There always are notes. Tua is a note taker, in class and in football, the act of writing facilitating the importation of information to his brain.

The position of the notepad is noteworthy. The most prominent lefty quarterback in football is really a righty — he does everything but throw with his right hand. His father, Galu, himself a left-hander, was determined to make his oldest son a southpaw from age 4 or 5.

“I couldn’t touch the ball with my right hand,” Tua said. “Only my left.”

So he will take notes with his right hand while envisioning tossing bombs with his left. When the guy who last year authored the most efficient passing season in the history of FBS watched film, all he saw were touchdowns waiting to happen.

“Last year,” he said, “I always wanted that shot.”

The deep shot. The long ball. The hero play. Sitting in an office on the Alabama campus on a quiet July afternoon, Tua's dark eyes gleamed talking about those adrenaline-rush bombs.

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View photos Tua Tagovailoa (13) of the Alabama Crimson Tide attempts a pass against the Clemson Tigers in the CFP title game on Jan. 7. (Getty) More

They are the throws that have made Tua a riveting, must-watch talent. From the stunning bomb to beat Georgia and win the national championship his freshman year to his 43 touchdown passes on just 355 attempts as a sophomore, the Hawaii native has thrived playing gunslinger football. He is the current FBS record-holder for highest career TD percentage, with 12.5 percent of his passes resulting in six points, and his 11.2 yards per attempt in 2018 were exceeded by only the man who beat him out for the Heisman Trophy, Kyler Murray.

And now, somewhat antithetically, it may be time for him to try something a little different.

It may be time for Mr. Big Play to occasionally accept throwing the ball away or checking down to a mundane, five-yard gain. If this season is going to end the way he deeply desires, it may be time for Tua Tagovailoa to embrace the occasional in-game defeat in the quest for end-game victory.

Tua and his lavishly gifted set of receivers were so good in 2018 that they pushed an immovable object, Mount Saban, into a new frame of mind. Alabama legend-in-residence Nick Saban has won six national championships in largely the same fashion: dominant defense, a game-controlling running game and enough passing to keep defenses honest. In 2018, Alabama became a true passing powerhouse — throwing the ball early and often and occasionally with abandon.

The result was an onslaught of big plays. Tua had at least one completion of 25 yards or longer in all 15 games last year, and had at least one longer than 40 yards in 12 of 15 games. Tua’s ability to not just envision the big play but then make it happen — his touch on deep balls is truly remarkable — altered the well-established Saban paradigm.

Simply put, a fairly conservative coach let his deep-ball freak flag fly. Vertical shots were not only allowed but encouraged.

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