FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Oklahoma's Kyler Murray and Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa have struck up a friendship over the past several weeks, which shouldn't be surprising considering how much time the quarterbacks have spent alongside one another in that span.
They were in Atlanta together at a college football awards show, where Tagovailoa took home the Maxwell Award. They were in New York a few days later for the Heisman Trophy presentation, where Murray claimed the top prize.
So maybe it's fitting that they will both be center stage again — this time, at Saturday's Orange Bowl, where a berth in the College Football Playoff championship game awaits one of them. Murray and the fourth-ranked Sooners (12-1) will meet with Tagovailoa and the top-ranked Crimson Tide (13-0), with the new friends set to become foes for a few hours.
"You know, it's football. We all understand the level of respect we have for each other," Tagovailoa said Wednesday. "We understand it's just competition. Off the field, it's a lot different. But on the field, you've got to go out there. It's your job. You've got to compete for your team, for the university, for the state."
The quarterbacks were supposed to share the spotlight Wednesday morning at a media availability, but Murray was a late cancellation because of an undisclosed illness, albeit one that doesn't seem to worry the Sooners too much. Offensive coordinator Cale Gundy didn't even know Murray was sick until he got into the car that took the Sooners to the interview site and realized Murray wasn't along for the ride.
Tagovailoa was walking without a limp Wednesday and declared his surgically repaired right ankle to be at about 80 to 85 percent. But now it's Murray whose health status seems to be an issue, at least on some level.
"Not worried one bit," Sooners offensive lineman Ben Powers said.
Murray and Tagovailoa are the two most decorated players in the nation this year, and finding separation between them is difficult.
