Lane Kiffin on Bryce Young: ‘He’s put on his Superman cape a number of times’

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin knows that if he wants to beat Nick Saban’s Alabama team for the first time in his career this weekend, a good place to start is slowing down quarterback Bryce Young. Kiffin spoke about Young’s heroics so far this season and his importance to the Crimson Tide offense.

“Well like I’ve said, he’s put on his Superman cape a number of times this year and brought them back in games and taken over games, he’s an ultra-elite passer that’s very hard to get down,” Kiffin said.

Young has been under duress quite a bit this season and lacks the talent at the wide receiver possession compared to last season, but despite this has willed the Crimson Tide to a top-five offense in the conference and a top-10 team in the country.

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“And I was kind of eluding to, you think back of the old Alabama teams prior to the last few quarterbacks, not elite, first round, Heisman candidate or Heisman winner type of quarterback,” Kiffin said. “So it changes the game because at any point when teams have done well against them he can bring them right back.”

Quarterbacks like Young, Mac Jones, and Tua Tagovailoa have definitely raised the bar at the quarterback position for the Crimson Tide, which made a report ask if former Alabama quarterbacks like Blake Sims would take homage to Kiffin’s statement.

“He might, but Blake didn’t win a Heisman Trophy, so this is a very very elite player and that’s why he was the best player in the country last year,” Kiffin said. “And then they have the best defensive player in the country on the same team, at a spot that it’s not like he’s at corner or something where you can just throw the other way.”

Kiffin was referring to edge rusher Will Anderson, who if also stopped along with Young would definitely give the Rebels a strong shot of pulling off a victory in Oxford this weekend against the Crimson Tide.

Javion Cohen explains how Alabama can play better around Bryce Young

Alabama‘s last three weeks have been one of their worst stretches in recent history, losing two of their last three games with their most recent overtime loss to LSU making their National Championship hopes as slim as they’ve been in quite some time. The Crimson Tide have struggled in various areas lately, and one that head coach Nick Saban has pointed out is their ability as an offense to play better around quarterback Bryce Young. This week, offensive lineman Javion Cohen explained what it’s going to take for the Crimson Tide offense to play better around their former Heisman Trophy winner.

“I think it just takes us getting on the same page with each other, putting more effort forth, and more trust in each other, and focusing on our game plan more each week,” Cohen said.

Young sustained an injury to his throwing shoulder that caused him to miss some time for Alabama, and had been under duress since his return to the lineup against Tennessee. Young has been sacked five times in their last three games, and was hurried nine times against the Vols and 10 times in their last game versus LSU.

The Crimson Tide have also been lacking a running game since Young’s return to the lineup, putting together their three worst rushing yard totals of the season in their last three matchups, their worst being a 29-yard day on the ground against Mississippi State.

There’s no question that on both sides of the ball the Crimson Tide have some areas to improve upon, but more consistent play around their star quarterback could be just what Alabama needs to finish their last three games of the season strong.