Alabama coach Nick Saban has won six national championships in college football, five with the Crimson Tide thanks to Monday night's memorable 26-23 overtime win over Georgia. Chances are, his latest would not have been possible without his boldest move to date: replacing starting quarterback Jalen Hurts with true freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who hadn't played many meaningful snaps all season, to start the second half down 13-0. 

Depending on how you looked at the decision, it was either necessary or desperate. And, actually, it was probably a little bit of both. Either way, the change at quarterback is known one way now: genius. 

Hurts, the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year selection in 2016 and 25-2 as a starter, simply wasn't moving the ball. Alabama had 89 yards of offense in the first half with Hurts going just 3-of-8 for 21 yards through the air. In particular, there was no downfield passing game. It wasn't all Hurts' fault, of course. Georgia's defensive line was getting excellent penetration and shutting down everything Alabama threw at them. Still, the Crimson Tide needed a spark.

Here's how they got it. 

Tagovailoa's scramble: Tagovailoa provided Alabama with that much-needed spark -- although not at first. Alabama's first possession out of halftime gained seven yards and went three-and-out. The freshman completed one pass for two yards and was sacked. Still, Saban stuck with his replacement. On the second drive, that confidence began paying dividends by way of a seven-play scoring drive that gave Alabama its first touchdown of the night and pulled it to within a touchdown of the Bulldogs. 

Specifically, Tagovailoa used his legs on a scramble to keep the chains moving on a third-and-7. The Georgia defense appeared to have Tagovailoa dead to rights, but he evaded a would-be tackle, cut back across the field and got the desperately needed first down. That allowed him to complete his next four passes, leading to the touchdown. 

His arm strength helped, too: One area in which Tagovailoa has an edge on Hurts is in arm strength to push the ball vertically. Once the freshman came in, the Crimson Tide had more completions down the field. Not all of the passes should have been thrown, of course. Part of playing a true freshman is that he's going to make true freshman mistakes (more on that later). But Tagovailoa clearly has confidence in his arm, which showed up in each of his touchdown passes. His second of the night, to receiver Calvin Ridley, showed off his ability to go through reads and then make a strong throw on the run. 

The walk-off touchdown: No throw is going to cement Tagovailoa's lore more than his 41-yard walk-off in overtime, and why would any? This is the type of throw that kids pretend to make in their backyards. Interestingly enough, the score was preceded by an awful 16-yard sack in which the freshman held on to the ball for far too long. Those are the types of plays in which he needs to throw the ball away and live to fight another down. But Tagovailoa followed it up with a dime down the field after throwing off Alabama's secondary just enough with his eyes. It was a veteran move. 

Overall -- and not to take shine off of his performance -- but Tagovailoa was uneven. You'd expect that from a true freshman being thrust into this type of position against an elite defense in the national championship. He made excellent throws. He made bad throws. He wowed with his legs and he took sacks he shouldn't have. Still, he finished with nearly 200 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in one half of football. He showed up when his team absolutely needed him. Because of that, among many other reasons, the Crimson Tide are the 2017-18 national champs. 

And Saban is a mastermind (but you already knew that).