On the eve of a day that might very well define Tua Tagovailoa’s career, there’s still doubt over the moment that will encapsulate his stellar sophomore season.

Saturday night, the Alabama quarterback will take center stage inside the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. He’ll do so alongside fellow Heisman finalists Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins, who, like him, boast meritorious resumes.

All three quarterbacks will have their highlights cycled throughout various big screens over hours of pomp and ceremony. Through this point in their sterling seasons, each has compiled his fair share heroic displays.



However, the narrative of this particular award argues that the collection of those feats is frivolous to one distinct moment of excellence. Both Murray and Haskins have had their “Heisman moments.”

Murray’s came late in the fourth quarter of the Big 12 Championship game as the Oklahoma quarterback floated in a perfectly-placed fade route to tight end Grant Calcaterra for a touchdown to ice the Sooners’ 39-27 victory over Texas. Haskins’ moment also occurred last week as the Ohio State quarterback struck the famous Heisman pose following his fifth touchdown against Northwestern during the Buckeye’s 45-24 win over the Wildcats in the Big Ten title game.

Tagovailoa's lasting moment from last week's SEC Championship Game came as he hobbled off the field after having his ankle stepped on by offensive lineman Jonah Williams in the fourth quarter.

“Tua’s the best football player in the country,” Alabama running back Damien Harris argued after the title game. “I don’t think he needs a Heisman moment. That’s some made-up thing, criteria, that people have invented to try to get people an award if they necessarily deserve it or not.”

It’s not that Tagovailoa hasn’t produced his own strokes of brilliance. He’s had many of those. There was his no-look circus throw to Jerry Jeudy in Alabama’s season-opener against Louisville and his 44-yard touchdown run on a bum knee during a 29-0 blowout over LSU in Baton Rouge, La. Tagovailoa also broke Alabama’s single-game touchdown record with six against rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

Although, for whatever reason, none of those were deemed worthy of the elusive “Heisman-moment” status.

Perhaps it’s because none of those plays matched the desperation and drama seen during Tagovailoa’s game-winning 41-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith in overtime of last season’s national championship game. If that’s the case, the sophomore quarterback was doomed from the start.

While Tagovailoa’s introduction to the spotlight was steeped in tense moments, his sophomore season has been anything but. Through 13 games, Tagovailoa has attempted just eight fourth-quarter passes as his machine-like precision made way for a record 12 straight wins of 20 or more points to begin the year.

Even if Tagovailoa was needed late in games, the easygoing Hawaiian has a way of repelling any sense of tension.

“He’s got a very unique personality,” said Tim Tebow, a former Heisman winner at Florida turned ESPN analyst. “He’s a different dude, man. He’s a different guy to where he cares about it, but it’s not a high and low… He rises to the occasion. I don’t mean that he doesn’t care, it’s just that his heart rate doesn’t go up, and that’s very unique, and that’s special. I think that’s why you’ve been able to see him have that calmness.”