The first moment of drama in Alabama's season arrived early in the second half of its latest rout. With 11:54 left in the third quarter of a 39-10 victory over Missouri, time stopped and so did everything else -- the Crimson Tide's hyperkinetic offense, the stream of points and the pulse inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama's sensational sophomore quarterback, was down after sliding to the turf at the end of a nine-yard scramble.

Tagovailoa would later jog off the field with a slight limp, favoring his right knee he sprained in the Tide's Oct. 6 demolition of Arkansas. He then veered toward a crimson sideline medical tent, ducking inside it and remaining there for what seemed like an eternity.

In reality, it was 19 minutes in real time, and for the duration the anxiety was palpable. Tagovailoa's parents, wearing looks of concern, were spotted visiting their son as he was being evaluated.

"You wonder what's going on and if Tua is going to be all right and the well-being for him," said center Ross Pierschbacher.

Even when the Killers' "Mr. Brightside" blared from the loudspeakers during a timeout later in the quarter, fans mumbled along to the lyrics with little enthusiasm, perhaps failing to notice Tagovailoa return to the sideline wearing his helmet.

But while Tagovailoa was now visible alongside his teammates he was still missing in action.

Alabama coach Nick Saban later confirmed Tagovailoa aggravated the knee sprain he suffered in the win over Arkansas and was healthy enough to resume playing against Missouri. Still, Tagovailoa never reentered the victory over the Tigers and relinquished the offense to Jalen Hurts.

"Tua could have went back in the game," Saban said. "He wanted to go back in the game. I didn't think it was worth putting him back in the game. He sort of tweaked his knee a little bit -- the same one he sort of tweaked last week. We don't think there are any issues or problems with it."

Tagovailoa, according to his teammates, didn't appear upset. He remained in a good mood, even offering words of encouragement. Somehow he wasn't discouraged by the disappointing denouement to a performance that was underwhelming by his incredibly lofty standards.

More pointedly, he seemed to accept he was human.

On a night when he accounted for three touchdown passes and averaged 12 yards per attempt, Tagovailoa still didn't seem his supernatural self. He completed only 55 percent of his 22 throws. And while he has yet to have an interception blemish his stat line this season, he committed his first turnover of 2018 when he was stripped of the ball during a sack that resulted in a 12-yard loss in the first quarter.

The fumble ended the second of four first-half possessions by Alabama that didn't result in a touchdown.

On several occasions, the Tide bogged down in the red zone, forcing kicker Joseph Bulovas to make three field goals.

It was uncharacteristic inefficiency by an offense Tagovailoa captained with great precision during the first six weeks.

But the uneven production paralleled the play of a star quarterback not in top form.

Tagovailoa, who entered the game with only seven more incompletions than touchdowns, misfired on four of his first five pass attempts.

Of course, the one throw he converted was an 81-yard strike to Jerry Jeudy on the second play of the game. With only 23 seconds off the clock, Alabama had a 7-0 lead.

From that point forward, even as the Tide struggled to score at will as it had in previous games, the top-ranked team in the nation never was truly threatened.

Alabama led 30-10 at halftime and had sowed the seeds for another dominating victory.

A sense of calm permeated Bryant-Denny Stadium.

And then Tagovailoa went down early in the third quarter, causing the crowd there to fret.

All of a sudden Alabama didn't seem so invincible.

The Tide, in fact, looked mortal -- sort of like its otherworldly quarterback during those tense moments in the second half when he was hurt.

"You don't want to see that -- your starting quarterback go down," Jeudy said. "But I know Tua. He's a soldier. He'll come back real fast, real good."

That is certainly the hope in these parts, where it had been drama free until approximately 8:12 p.m. -- the moment when time stopped in Tuscaloosa as Tagovailoa remained seated on the turf.

Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin