Jacob Myers | NCAA.com | September 1, 2018 Tua Tagovailoa starts at QB for Alabama, throws circus touchdown pass on opening drive Our top 5 college QBs may surprise you. Share Tua Tagovailoa wasted little time proving why he won the most hotly-contested quarterback battle in the country. After entering the game on the opening drive for the Alabama Crimson Tide as its starting quarterback (instead of last year's starter, Jalen Hurts), Tagovailoa produced one of the top highlights of the first weekend with a spinning touchdown pass off his back foot: Tua Tagovailoa picking up where he left off for Bama pic.twitter.com/fEaAcHpxUd — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 2, 2018 After moving to his right, the sophomore spun away from a defender, somehow maintaining his balance, and threw a strike to wideout Jerry Jeudy. Tagovailoa burst onto the scene last year when the true freshman entered the national championship in the second half and won Offensive MVP while leading Alabama to a title win over Georgia. The opening drive of Saturday’s game in Tampa, Florida, against Louisville went seven plays for 65 yards and a score while taking just 3:05. RELATED: 15 under-the-radar players in college football Tagovailoa completed all four passes on that drive for 60 yards and gave coach Nick Saban justification for making him the starter. Teams with the most College Football Playoff wins and appearances These are the college football programs with the most College Football Playoff wins and appearances since the format began in 2014. READ MORE College football preview for 2022 season: Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer makes predictions for next season Bleacher Report college football senior writer Adam Kramer joins NCAA Digital's Michella Chester to take a look at what fans can expect ahead of the 2022 season. READ MORE The 12 freshmen expected to have biggest impact for potential men's NCAA tournament teams Two incoming Duke freshmen headline Andy Katz's rankings of the most important freshmen next season. READ MORE