Bryce Young: The Heisman Trophy wasn't the goal, there's another trophy that holds that honor

Many might think that winning college football’s highest individual honor was one of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young‘s goals coming into the season. He spoke with reporters after winning college football’s most coveted individual honor. The calm and cool Californian noted how much he appreciated winning the Heisman Trophy, but there’s one more coveted piece of hardware that’s been in his sights all along.

“Yeah, a hundred percent. This is a huge honor, a huge blessing. This is something that’s surreal to accomplish and I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Young said.

While he appreciated winning the Heisman and respects the importance of the accomplishment, he’s got his eyes set on winning the 2022 College Football Playoff.

“But at the end of the day this wasn’t the goal, and the goal is not completed yet. For us it’s just giving it our all for — we have really a one-game season. We have to do everything we can do to prepare. We have to work harder than we have before,” the California native said. “It’s going to take everything for us to be successful in this next game, and that’s what we need to do. This is a huge blessing. This is something I’m going to be grateful for forever, but this isn’t the end goal, and there’s a lot more for me individually to work on and for us as a team to accomplish.”

In winning the award, Bryce Young became the fourth Alabama player to win the Heisman Trophy, with all of them winning it under head coach Nick Saban.

If Young and the Alabama offense can come close to playing like they did against Georgia, lookout

If Young and the Crimson Tide can keep playing like they did against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, they’re going to be an incredibly tough team to beat in the College Football Playoffs. That was some of their best football of the 2021 season, so maybe it’s a tough ask for them to repeat that.

But if they can come anything close to that level, it could be time for the Alabama program to search for new ring sizes for national championship rings. Nick Saban has already won six national titles for the Crimson Tide. Bryce Young will see if he can deliver number seven for the legendary coach and further etch both of their places into college football immortality.

Young and Alabama will face Cincinnati in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. EST from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.