In wake of the Iron Bowl victory and the conclusion of the Alabama Football 2022 regular season, the inevitable is quickly approaching. Despite not giving any clear decisions, we may have seen Bryce Young in crimson and white for the last time.
A look back at Alabama Football’s greatest quarterback of all time: Bryce Young
With the most recent college football playoff rankings released with the Crimson Tide at 6, sneaking into the playoff with two losses seems more and more like a far-fetched dream. At this point, it looks like the last game of the season will be just a bowl game.
While he has not given any indication of his intention of playing in the bowl game, it seems logical that he may choose to skip it to prepare for the NFL Draft and not risk injury. Thus, now is an appropriate time to look back on his career with the Crimson Tide.
Bryce Young left high school as one of the most highly touted quarterback recruits in the country. Coming all the way from California from powerhouse high school Mater Dei, Bryce had a year to adjust to college football learning behind Mac Jones.
After Mac Jones led Alabama Football to a national championship in the chaotic 2020 season, he handed the reigns to the Crimson Tide offense to Bryce. Bryce took over at quarterback for his sophomore and junior seasons.
In his sophomore season, Bryce’s magic started to show. He led the team to a nearly perfect regular season (save a last-second field goal loss at Texas A&M), and on to an SEC Championship victory over UGA. Bryce Young picked apart the historically talented UGA defense with ease in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Exploiting UGA’s holes with his best receivers, Young led the Tide to a 41-24 victory over the top-ranked Dawgs.
Young then led the charge against Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff semifinal game. With the help of the run game, Young led the team to another dominating victory 27-6. Young then took his team to the National Championship game in Indianapolis for the second year in as many years with the team. However, without his two best receivers by the end of the game, Young could not overcome the strength of the UGA defense without any help from his young receiver core. By no fault of Bryce Young, the Tide lost the National Championship game.
The most marked thing about the 2021 regular season was how many times Bryce Young did the impossible and nearly singlehandedly won games for the Tide. For example, Alabama Football does not escape the Swamp against Florida early on without the performance of Bryce Young. The LSU and Arkansas games last season laid out similar stories.
No one will ever forget his magic in the 2021 Iron Bowl… down seven in Jordan-Hare with less than a minute to go. Bryce smiled as he led his team right down the field to a tie game, then pulled even more magic out of his hat in the four overtimes to get the victory.
Young did it all in 2021, with a very young offensive line that struggled with pass protection. He did, however, have two star receivers that helped tremendously, until injuries plagued them both late in the season.
Fast forward to 2022.
Young looks to finish what they started in 2021. Young wanted a National Championship with himself as the starting quarterback. 2022 brought a better offensive line and more protection but fewer receivers to help him out.
Bryce Young is the reason the Tide escaped a scare from Texas early on. Bryce Young is the reason they had any chance at beating Tennessee. Bryce Young is the reason they had any chance at beating LSU. Bryce Young is the reason they beat Ole Miss.
Bryce Young led his team to a 10-2 regular season- two plays away from being 12-0 and being guaranteed another playoff appearance. On the other hand, without Bryce Young, the Alabama Football team would likely be 7-5 or worse in 2021 and 2022. It took a generational talent at quarterback to win the games he did.
Young became second all-time for total passing yards, the first player in Alabama history to record 3000 passing yards in multiple seasons, and second in total touchdowns responsible for. While Tua Tagovailoa still holds the top spot in touchdowns, Tagovailoa had far more weapons. His four receivers all went on to be first-round draft picks. This season, Bryce Young has done it all himself, with arguably more passes dropped than any other quarterback in college.
He waved goodbye to the fans after his final Iron Bowl and received a roar of cheers. The Tide’s love for Bryce Young is evident.
What Bryce Young has done with his time with the Crimson Tide is remarkable. Bryce Young is the greatest quarterback in Alabama Football history.