Bryce Young: Redzone execution, interception was 'inexcusable'

Saturday, Oct. 9 will go down in history books as a day that turned the 2021 college football season on its head, with shootouts and come-from-behind victories galore, with upsets aplenty and records being broken, with heated rivalries and highlight-reel plays — and yet somehow, everything that transpired still seems to pale in comparison to unranked Texas A&M upsetting Bryce Young No. 1 Alabama, 41-38.

Among the many shocking storylines of the Aggies’ signature win was the fact that Nick Saban lost his first-ever game to a former assistant in Jimbo Fisher, dropping to 24-1` on his career. Meanwhile, Young saw Alabama’s 100-game win streak against unranked opponents end abruptly, a streak that dated back to 2007. And of course, perhaps the most shocking part, it was Texas A&M of all schools — the same Aggies that lost to both No. 13 Arkansas and unranked Mississippi State — that upended the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.

Young, Alabama’s quarterback, was critical of his team’s performance in the loss yesterday, despite playing a solid game himself. The sophomore from Pasadena, California completed 28 of his 48 pass attempts for 369 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and one crucial interception, and he shouldered the blame for their struggles in the redzone.

“I’ve just got to do a better job of making better decisions, better reads and better plays,” Young said, when asked of the Alabama redzone mishaps on Saturday. “That’s something we talk about a lot, and it’s inexcusable. Whenever we are in the redzone, one, you definitely can’t turn it over. And [two], you definitely want to score a touchdown. We didn’t do that enough today. At the end of the day, that’s my fault. That falls on me. There’s a lot of stuff that I could have done differently, so I’m going to keep working.”

On paper, Young and the Alabama Crimson Tide offense were successful in the redzone, converting on five of six trips to the Texas A&M doorstep. However, a closer read shows just how critical those possessions could have been — three of those five successful trips ended with points, but only three resulted in kicks., as Alabama kicker Will Reichard kicked field goals from the four-yard line, the nine-yard line and the 20-yard line. When all is said and done, as Young alluded, those are opportunities in which the Crimson Tide offense needed to convert; had just one of those trips gone differently, the outcome of this game would have been much different.

Young also shouldered the blame for a first-half interception, one that haunted Alabama all throughout the game. On the Crimson Tide’s third possession of the game, Young had a pass intercepted by Demani Richardson at the Aggies’ three-yard line, which took away yet another redzone opportunity.