ORLANDO, Fla. _ Tua Tagovailoa's first touchdown pass wasn't as memorable as his last one but it wasn't any less important.
After months of anticipation, the talented sophomore quarterback earned his first career start at Alabama when he took the field against Louisville in the Camping World Kickoff Saturday at Camping World Stadium.
Tagovailoa drove the Crimson Tide 65 yards on seven plays, capped off by a nifty 11-yard pass the lefty lofted into the waiting arms of Jerry Jeudy on the right side of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.
It was the first touchdown of the season and the first since Tagovailoa connected with DeVonta Smith for the game-winning 41-yard touchdown in overtime to defeat Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game back in January.
Tagovailoa would account for three total touchdowns as No. 1 Alabama (1-0) defeated Louisville, 50-7, in easy fashion in front of an announced crowd of 57,280.
Speculation surrounding the identity of Alabama's starting quarterback was the fodder of message boards and media for months with most believing the youngster would unseat incumbent Jalen Hurts for the job when the team kicked things off Saturday.
On the third possession of the game, Alabama drove from its own 45-yard line deep into Louisville (0-1) territory before Tagovailoa scrambled to his left while avoiding Cardinals defenders before finding the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0 with a little over four minutes left in the first quarter.
Louisville, meanwhile, struggled to get anything going offensively.
Jawon Pass, who took over the starting quarterback duties after the departure of Lamar Jackson, put together and uneven performance early on.
Hurts would find his way into the lineup midway through the second quarter with Alabama leading 21-0 but the offense struggled to get anything going as the Tide was forced to punt on back-to-back drives.
Tagovailoa returned to the lineup after a 31-yard punt return by Jaylen Waddle gave Alabama the football at the Louisville 25-yard line with just 27 seconds left in the first half.
He wasted little time finding the end zone again, this time connecting with Jeudy again for 25-yard touchdown strike on the left side to push the lead to 28-0 at the half.
The two touchdown passes equaled the most for an opening day starting quarterback during the Nick Saban era at Alabama. AJ McCarron (2012) and John Parker Wilson (2008) both previously accomplished the feat.
Alabama picked up right where it left off in the first half, taking its first possession in the third quarter and driving the ball downfield 49 yards before Josh Jacobs rounded the corner on the right side and raced 18 yards for a touchdown. It was his sixth career rushing touchdown.
Louisville put together its best drive of the game on the next possession thanks to Pass, who connected with junior Seth Dawkins on a 47-yard reception that gave the Cardinals their deepest march into Crimson Tide territory of the night at the 11-yard line.
Pass found Kemari Averett streaking down the back of the end zone for the score, which cut the lead to 34-7 with 6:27 in the third quarter.
Jacobs quickly erased any thoughts of a Louisville comeback when he took the kickoff and raced 77 yards downfield for a touchdown that took all of 11 seconds and pushed the lead to 41-7.
Tagovailoa finished the night 12-for-16 for 227 yards with the two touchdown passes. He added another 26 yards rushing and a nine-yard touchdown run.
Hurts was 5-for-9 for 70 yards but Alabama only managed three points when he was in at quarterback.
