Tua suffers hip dislocation, will miss rest of the season

STARKVILLE, MISS. >> Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will miss the rest of the season with a hip injury he suffered late in the first half of the Crimson Tide’s 38-7 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.

Tagovailoa was injured while being dragged down late in the first half, with No. 4 Alabama ahead 35-7.

He had been nursing an ankle injury and Alabama was considering holding him out of this game.

Tagovailoa was flown by helicopter to the St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama. Hours later the school announced he sustained a dislocated right hip.

The junior needed surgery four weeks ago for a high ankle sprain on his right leg that caused him to miss a game and a half. Alabama coach Nick Saban told ESPN at halftime the plan was to remove Tagovailoa before the series when the quarterback was injured, but it was decided to let him play one more possession to get some work in the two-minute drill.

Tagovailoa was tackled from behind by Bulldogs linebacker Leo Lewis. Tagovailoa’s helmet came off and he stayed down on the ground for several minutes as Alabama medical staff attended to him. He needed help getting to his feet and was carted off the field with 3:01 left in the second quarter.

“I don’t think it’s related to any other injury that he has,” Saban said. “It’s kind of a freak thing that you seldom see.

“We can second guess ourselves all we want. I really don’t make decisions based on players getting hurt.”

Tagovailoa was 14 of 18 for 256 yards and two touchdown passes against Mississippi State, giving him 31 TD passes on the season. He was replaced in the second half by Mac Jones.

The Crimson Tide (9-1, 6-1 SEC) were coming off a 46-41 loss to LSU that nudged them out of College Football Playoff position to fifth in the latest selection committee rankings. Now Alabama is facing the possibility of trying to impress the committee without Tagovailoa, a potential top-10 selection in the NFL draft.