Four hours before he was awarded the Heisman Trophy, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray sat in a New York hotel ballroom in close proximity to the iconic bronze statue and the man who was his closest competition for it, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.

Murray, though, glanced several times at Tagovailoa’s left ankle in seeming amazement.

His interest was undoubtedly piqued by the fact that just the day before in a media session at the New York Stock Exchange, Tagovailoa had arrived on a scooter that elevated his boot-encased injured left ankle while he propelled his way across the room with his right foot.

Then, just over 24 hours later, sans the boot and without necessity of the scooter, Tagovailoa was walking smoothly, confidently, on his own and climbing up the steps of the stage to pose with Murray and the trophy.

Murray’s expression seemed to say “wow!” — as in “how?” — with the realization he might not have seen the last of Tagovailoa. This, no doubt, as thoughts fast-forward toward the College Football Playoff semifinal that unfolds today in Miami.

Now, four weeks after suffering the injury against Georgia in the SEC championship game that likely cost Tagovailoa the Heisman, and three weeks after the scooter was shelved, they are scheduled to meet in the Orange Bowl, adversaries once more, this time on the field.

While Tagovailoa, who says he is 80 to 85 percent healed, has sought to avoid talk of avenging the second-place Heisman finish, it was immediately embraced by some of his Crimson Tide teammates and coaches as soon as the vote was announced Dec. 8.

“Dec 29 it’s up” posted Crimson Tide defensive end Isaiah D. Buggs on his @BigPooh_91 Twitter account. Likewise with assistant coach Brent Kay, whose post on @CoachBrentKay was, “#Dec.29.”

It would not be the first time a quarterback or his team has used a runner-up Heisman finish to help fuel the drive for a national title.

Most notable was 2015, when Vince Young of Texas finished behind USC’s Reggie Bush in the voting but went on to lead the Longhorns to an epic 41-38 Bowl Championship Series national title a month later. Bush’s Heisman was later vacated in the wake of NCAA sanctions.

Meanwhile, Murray and Tagovailoa have known since Dec. 2, when the CFP pairings were announced and Heisman balloting was ending, that they had become the prime protagonists of this expanding drama.

And beyond the small talk and smiles, you could see them taking inventory of each other on the postseason awards tour. That’s where Murray also won the Davey O’Brien Award, while Tagovailoa, who received the most points of any second-place Heisman finisher, was awarded the Maxwell and Walter Camp awards.

They have been the best of rivals, commendably respectful and highly complimentary of each other throughout. The Tagovailoa family even extending lei to Murray at the Heisman ceremonies.

But today’s matchup — and what it means on the path toward a national championship — has never been far in the background.

Early on, Alabama put its considerable resources behind trying to get Tagovailoa ready for the CFP. He traveled from Atlanta, the site of ESPN’s national football awards show, to New York in a private plane receiving treatment en route. Soon after the Heisman announcement he was back on the plane headed to Tuscaloosa, trainers at his side.

In New York he skipped much of the usual sightseeing traditionally afforded the finalists to get treatment in his hotel room. The Crimson Tide sent their top trainer, associate athletic director for sports medicine Jeff Allen, along to oversee things.

“I wouldn’t be able to explain it and I don’t think I should go into detail,” Tagovailoa told reporters of his treatment regimen.

No need to say that it has all been pointing toward today.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.