Nick Saban: Bryce Young 'has it together'

For Nick Saban, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young represents many firsts in his tenure with the Crimson Tide.

Despite being just a sophomore and entering the season having only played sparing garbage-time minutes last season, Young soaked in Alabama’s national title run, learning on the fly from Mac Jones, the NFL-bound quarterback from whom he learned the ropes. Saban has commended Young time and time again for his learnings last year, and it’s not hard to understand why. Young managed to step in as Alabama’s starting quarterback despite having never started, and he didn’t just do it well — he was the best at it. Young, now 20, managed to win the Heisman Trophy in his first and only full season under center.

Now, Young has the chance to put the icing on the cake that was the 2021 season, should he lead Alabama to a national championship win over Georgia on Monday. The job isn’t finished yet — but still, Young earned more praise from Saban.

“Bryce is kind of a unique guy. He sort of has it together,” Saban said of Young. “If you have a guy that doesn’t have it together, you have to spend a lot of time trying to help him get it together. In Bryce’s case, most of the time it’s not a lot of, ‘you need to do this and you need to do that.’ There are very few occasions during the course of the season when he sort of gets out of sorts. He’s an easy guy to talk to, he does everything the right way, so it’s really about reinforcing him for doing the right things. And I’m sure he’s his biggest critic, so he’s always trying to find a better way like we all are. He knows that he can always improve, but he’s very much focused on that. Nobody really has to tell him that.”

Bryce Young: Alabama has to ‘earn the outcome’ in Georgia rematch

Alabama had no problem taking care of business in the SEC Championship against Georgia, but it won’t be as easy to beat the Bulldogs the second time around, according to Bryce Young.

Georgia jumped out to an early-game lead against the Crimson Tide, and Young once trailed 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. But after two quick touchdowns, Alabama quickly found itself in the driver’s seat and never once ceded its momentum against Georgia. The Crimson Tide, despite entering that game as 6.5-point underdogs, ended up emerging as SEC Champions with a 41-24 victory. Young finished the game with 26 completions in 44 attempts, good for 421 passing yards and three touchdowns, while adding another 40 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

Young may have made it look easy against Georgia in the SEC Championship game, but make no mistake: Alabama will have to earn it this time, Young said.

“For us, it’s all about — really what he’s talking about and we understand is that what we’ve done in the past, obviously it’s good to watch the film, it’s good to learn from that, but we don’t start with any more points because of anything that’s happened with the past,” Young said, acknowledging Alabama’s SEC Championship win but exercising caution and showing no complacency. “Anything in the past is exactly that, in the past. You don’t get any carry-over.”

Fair point from Young, especially considering the Georgia team that Alabama will soon face. Georgia may no longer be undefeated, and the Bulldogs might not have the same reputation that they once had after a perfect sweep of the regular season. However, Georgia certainly has a chip on its shoulder after falling to Alabama, and the Bulldogs certainly proved their worth in the Orange Bowl, routing Michigan by a 34-11 final.

“It’s going to be a new game, and we have to earn the outcome that we want,” Young said. “It’s really just been knowing that whatever’s happened in the past doesn’t entitle you to anything at all. You learn from it, but we have to understand we’re playing a completely different game. We have to understand that we have to earn that for 60 minutes.”

Georgia is once again favored over Young and the Crimson Tide, but this time, it’s not by as much as the 6.5-point SEC Championship spread. Georgia is favored by 2.5 points, but it’s been quite some time since the Bulldogs have beaten the Crimson Tide. The last time came in Tuscaloosa, back in 2007, when Georgia pulled off a 26-23 victory, but Alabama has won seven-straight matchups since then.

For now, all Young and Alabama can do is prepare as if they have a blank slate — not as if they have a seven-game win streak — and perhaps the Crimson Tide will take home their second national title in as many years.

“Again, it starts with preparation and day by day putting ourselves in the position to be successful when the game starts. But we understand it’s different,” Young said. “We have to earn it. Anything that happened in the past, learn from it but it’s in the past. It’s on us to work day in, day out and to earn the outcome that we want.”