Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa tweets support for fellow quarterback Jalen Hurts

— -- Tua Tagovailoa is sticking up for fellow Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Tagovailoa, a freshman, replaced Hurts in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T, throwing for three second-half touchdowns in the overtime win over Georgia. Hurts is a two-year starter and former SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

On Wednesday, Tagovailoa sent out this tweet:

Hurts responded:

Hurts completed just three passes for 21 yards during the title game before he was benched.

The true sophomore has thrown for 4,926 yards, 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in two seasons as the starter, compiling a 26-2 record over that time. He also has rushed for 1,809 yards and 21 touchdowns and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2016.

Tagovailoa had appeared in eight games as a backup before coming out to start the second half in Atlanta. The lefty from Hawaii was ESPN's top-rated dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2017.

On Tuesday after beating Georgia, Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked about his quarterback situation moving forward.

"Look, we have two good quarterbacks on our team, no doubt," he said. "I think that we haven't really made a decision about that, and it's not imperative we make one right now. We've got two fine young men who really respect each other and have worked hard to help each other all year long."