’Bama’s Tagovailoa cheered in Hawaii

UCF backup QB heads to Nebraska

HONOLULU — Hawaii may be thought of more as the land of surf and sand but football is also a big part of the culture and the state has churned out some pretty incredible players.

After the College Football Playoff national title game, fans are adding another name to the list: Tua Tagovailoa.

The Hawaii native and freshman Alabama QB came off the bench in the second half of Monday night’s game to lead the Crimson Tide to a 26-23 overtime win over Georgia.

In turn, Hawaii fans roared to life, taking to social media as local news outlets sent mobile alerts about one of the biggest TD passes in the history of Alabama — and Hawaii — football.

“It was surreal, it was so unexpected because we pretty much thought Alabama lost,” said Honolulu resident Brandon Lee, who was driving home when friends started texting him to let him know that Tagovailoa was in the game.

Lee raced to a friend’s house to watch the entire second half.

“When it happened, we were just kind of in disbelief ...

“I think that’s one of the unique qualities about Hawaii, is that whenever you see a local person shine, on a national stage especially, we all have this certain pride that we feel and especially when they do it with humility and class like he did last night,” Lee said.

NEBRASKA: UCF backup quarterback Noah Vedral is following coach Scott Frost to Nebraska. The sophomore grew up in Wahoo, Neb.

NOTRE DAME: Notre Dame is promoting linebackers coach Clark Lea to defensive coordinator, replacing Mike Elko, who left for Texas A&M last week.

MISSOURI: QB Drew Lock is returning to school for his senior season. He had been considering entering this year’s NFL draft. In 2017, Lock broke the school and SEC season records for TD passes with 44.