Bryce Young Lights Up the Vols in Highlight Reel Performance
Bryce Young put on the kind of show against the Tennessee Volunteers that Alabama fans have been looking for as he completed 72% of his passes for 371 yards and two touchdowns and added 42 yards and two more scores on the ground.
Scrambling is an easy way to excite a fan base, and for good reason. Young has the ability to make defenders look absolutely ridiculous as he scrambles for easy yardage. Through the first seven weeks of the season, fans have gotten glimpses, but Saturday, Young put his skills nearly on full display.
"I thought his consistency in performance was really good," head coach Nick Saban said. "I thought the way he controlled the game, especially on third down - you know, we struggled to run the ball early, which kind of put us in some third and not great, manageable situations."
"Bryce made some critical third-down scrambles that kept drives alive," Saban said.
Young converted four of Alabama's 15 third-down conversions with his legs, including both of his touchdowns.
Of course, scrambling is always secondary to being an effective thrower of the football, but we've seen that Young has already categorized himself as one of the best passers in college football through the first half of the season. To finally add that flavor of excitement to his game could prove to be the difference between him and the field when the Heisman Trophy votes are cast.
Think back to Tua Tagovailoa falling short to Kyler Murray in 2018 or even Trevor Lawrence being the runner-up to DeVonta Smith instead of Mac Jones. College football fans and the award voters want to be entertained by electric plays and few feats in football stand up to a quarterback slithering upfield with stick skills better suited for a tailback.
Young may not be the best quarterback to play at Alabama just yet, and a Heisman Trophy won't escalate him in the eyes of fans the way a national championship would, but he's well on his way to being the most exciting to play the position in crimson.