Tua proved himself very well all year long, every chance he got. There were those that said "yeah, but he accomplished all that when the other team was already beaten." in spite of the fact that he was often playing against the same defense, and immediately produced when Hurts did not.

Then, the beaten team in the national title game was Alabama. In the first half, the offense couldn't move the ball, which was typical of Jalen Hurts vs good defenses. Tua comes in the 2nd half and totally turns the game around. In case you didn't notice, the entire team, defense included, played better with him in the game because they knew that, now, they had a chance to win this game.

In fact, Tagovailoa was better during the season than Jalen Hurts and Jarrett Stidham.

Only 2 interceptions, and threw a td pass every 7 attempts. 175 qb rating. LINK

Hurts threw a td about every 15 attempts. 150.2 qb rating. LINK

Stidham threw a td about every 20.5 attempts. Qb rating of 151. LINK

So you can claim that Tua's accomplishments during the season were because he wasn't under pressure, or you can claim that his accomplishments were only in a half of football, but you can't claim both.