Alabama and USC won't meet on the field until early September, but the Crimson Tide recorded a big win against the Trojans on the recruiting trail.
Tua Tagovailoa, the nation's No. 100 prospect and No. 6 dual-threat quarterback, announced his commitment to Alabama on Monday night over USC, Hawaii, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and UCLA.
The 6-foot, 215-pound lefty said the Trojans were his clear leader in early March, but that all changed after an SEC trip that included stops at Auburn, Alabama and Ole Miss.
Tagovailoa and his family raved about the visit with the Crimson Tide, and Alabama immediately became the team to beat. This commitment allows Alabama to bounce back at the quarterback position after former commitment Jake Fromm, the nation's No. 102 prospect, flipped his verbal pledge to Georgia. In fact, after Fromm's decommitment, Tagovailoa was the first quarterback Alabama offered.
If Tagovailoa's commitment sticks and he signs with Alabama, this will be the second time in three years that Alabama has pulled one of the West region's top quarterbacks across the country. In the 2015 class, the Crimson Tide signed California's Blake Barnett, the nation's No. 1 pocket passer and No. 14 overall prospect.
Tagovailoa is the ninth commitment for Alabama in the 2017 class, and all eight of the high school prospects are members of the ESPN 300. Tagovailoa joins running back Najee Harris, the nation's No. 4 overall prospect, as huge wins in the West region for Alabama. With Tagovailoa, Alabama adds a talented quarterback to its 2017 recruiting class, already ranked as No. 2 in the country.
For USC, it's back to the drawing board at quarterback, as the Trojans earlier lost out to Texas A&M for Tate Martell's commitment and now must either work to flip Tagovailoa away from Alabama or move on to another quarterback target.
The Trojans recently checked in on ESPN 300 quarterback Jack Sears, and all three uncommitted quarterbacks in the ESPN 300 -- Sears, Chase Garbers and Tyler Lytle -- live in Southern California.