Alabama quarterback Bryce Young wins Heisman Trophy

NEW YORK — Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, edging out Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, each of whom were named finalists for the award.

Young is the first quarterback in Alabama program history to win the Heisman Trophy and the fourth overall player, joining Mark Ingram (2009), Derrick Henry (2015) and DeVonta Smith (2020). He claimed the award just one year after DeVonta Smith, making Alabama the third school in modern history to win consecutive Heisman Trophies (Oklahoma in 2017-18, USC in 2004-05).

“There’s been such a great legacy at the University of Alabama,
and there’s such a rich quarterback history, from all the guys that have been there,” Young said before the Heisman ceremony, when asked what it would mean to be the first Alabama quarterback to win. ““Just to hear that history and just to hear what (other quarterbacks have) meant to the program and meant to all the coaches and people that they’ve encountered, that’s something I don’t take lightly at all.”

Young won the Heisman Trophy in just his first year as Alabama’s starting quarterback. A sophomore, Young is just 20 years old, making him the sixth-youngest player to ever take home the distinction, trailing only Lamar Jackson, Jameis Winston, Mark Ingram, Rashaan Salaam and Archie Griffin.

Young has led Alabama to a 12-1 record in 2021, including an SEC Championship title against the Georgia Bulldogs. In the Crimson Tide’s 41-24 victory over the favored Bulldogs, Young completed 26 of his 44 passing attempts for 421 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and no interceptions; meanwhile, he added three carries for 40 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. With the win, Young also helped Alabama earn the No. 1 overall spot in the College Football Playoff rankings, setting up the Crimson Tide for a Dec. 31 Orange Bowl matchup against No. 4 Cincinnati.

“I mean, it’s always a dream (to win the Heisman Trophy),” Young said on Friday in New York. “The award speaks for itself, you always know about it, so it’s a dream. But ironically, when you’re actually a college football player and it’s actually a possibility, that’s probably when I thought about it the least. For me, it was all about winning and all about doing whatever was best for the team.”

Young has completed 68% of his passes in 2021, good for 4,322 passing yards, 43 touchdowns and just four interceptions, and he’s added three rushing touchdowns to his season total.

The Heisman Trophy is just the latest in a slew of awards for the Alabama signal caller, who was also the winner of the Maxwell Award and the AP’s National Player of the Year award.

“I take a lot of pride in doing what I can to make those guys proud and continue the history and continue that legacy of Alabama quarterbacks,” Young said, hours before he became the first quarterback in program history to win the Heisman Trophy.

His breakout campaign came just one year after hardly seeing the field as a freshman. Young was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, and he was ranked the No. 1 quarterback in the 2020 class via the On3 Consensus, but he only appeared as a backup in a handful of games last year. Mac Jones, Alabama’s starting quarterback, instead led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. On Friday, one day before Young won the Heisman Trophy himself, he credited Jones for his leadership, which Young said prepared him and taught him about the program standard.