Alabama Quarterback Bryce Young Wins Heisman Trophy
In front of a cheering crowd at the Lincoln Center in New York City, Alabama sophomore quarterback Bryce Young hoisted the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night.
He's is the Crimson Tide's fourth Heisman Trophy winner, all since 2009, and the first quarterback in program history to earn the award.
Young won in a landslide over finalists Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett.
With 684 first-place votes, Young won all six regions and finished with 2,311 votes. Hutchinson was second with 78 first-place votes and 954 points.
Pickett placed third with 28 first-place votes and 631 points and Stroud placed fourth with 12 first-place votes and 399 points.
Although he placed fifth, Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr. had the third-most first-place votes with 31. He had 325 total points.
"This is amazing," Young said to start his acceptance speech. "First and foremost, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him, I couldn't be here and through Him, all things are possible. I'd like to thank my dad for always being there for me. From day one, you've always been on my side. You've always been a supporter and not just a father, but a best friend to me. For that, I'm eternally grateful.
"My mom for always having my back and always supporting me. It's not always easy. I'm always running around and you've always had my back and always supported me and for that, I am forever grateful. I'd like to thank the rest of my family also and everyone out there that's supported me. I'm super grateful."
Young the turned his attention to the Crimson Tide.
"I'd like to thank my teammates — my o-line for protecting me and allowing me to win an award like this," Young said. "My receivers, running backs, defense — everyone on the team. Not anyone can win an award like this. It goes as an individual award, but it's a team award. I couldn't do it without any of those guys.
"I'd like to thank coach [Nick] Saban. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for your guidance and putting me into positions to be successful and for the rest of the team to be successful. It really means a lot. I'd like to thank coach [Bill] O'Brien, our offensive coordinator. He's had a lot of success in the past and he could've came in and just told me what to do and, you know, just said 'Sit down and listen', but he always included me in decisions and always included me in stuff and that means a lot as a quarterback and always gave me a lot of confidence."
Young finished his speech by thanking his high school coaches at Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California. The Monarchs are the only high school program with three Heisman winners, Matt Leinart and John Huarte being the others. Mater Dei had bene tied with Wilson in Dallas, Texas, which claims Davey O'Brien (1938) and Tim Brown (1987).
Following a 2020 season that saw former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones lead the team to a College Football Playoff national championship and with Jones finishing as a Heisman finalist himself, Young picked up right where last year's team left off at the quarterback position.
Despite being just a sophomore, Young led Alabama through its 13 games with the poise of a player with far more experience.
In the last game of the regular season against Auburn, Young had his Heisman moment when he conducted a 97-yard touchdown with 1:35 left to play in the fourth quarter to tie the game and send it into overtime. Four extra periods later, it was Young who found wide receiver John Metchie III for the final successful two-point conversion to give Alabama it's 11th win of the season.
At the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 4 in Atlanta, Young secured his spot as Heisman Trophy winner with a 461-yard, four-touchdown performance against what as widely considered to be the best defense in college football this season. Young completed 26-of-44 passes for 421 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown off of three carries against Georgia.
"Bryce is kind of the calm in the midst of chaos, I would say," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "I think it comes from his great preparation. He's very confident, he has a presence about him, he impacts the players around him in a very positive way and I think when he goes into the game he kind of trusts that things are going to work for him because of the work that he's put in, the preparation that he's made and the confidence he has in the people around him."
On the season, Young completed 314-of-462 passes for 4,322 yards and 43 touchdowns. He also has three rushing touchdowns and has only four interceptions through the Crimson Tide's first 13 games.
The 43 touchdowns tied Tua Tagovailoa (2018) for the most in a single season at Alabama.
Young and the Crimson Tide still have at least one game left to play. On Dec. 31, No. 1 Alabama will face No. 4 Cincinnati at the Cotton Bowl in the College Football Playoff.
Regardless of whether or not Alabama advances to the CFP National Championship Game or not, Young will likely break both Tagovailoa's single-season touchdown record as well as Jones' single-season passing yards record.
With Jones totaling exactly 4,500 passing yards in 2020, Young needs just 179 yards to set another record.
"You know for me, I've always been someone who's been labeled as not the prototype," Young said. "Being an African-American quarterback and being undersized and not being that prototype, I've always been ruled out as that kind of guy that people would a lot of times tell me that I wasn't going to be able to make it. And for me, it's always been about not really proving to anyone but proving to myself what I could accomplish.
"I always push myself to work the hardest, I try my best to do all I can to maximize what I can do and thanks to the people around me and the grace of God, I've been able to make it here."
Dating back to 1935, the Heisman Trophy is given annually to the most outstanding player in college football. According to the award's website, "The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. The winners of the trophy epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work."
The award is named in honor of John Heisman, who played center, tackle, guard and end at Brown University in 1887-88 and then the University of Pennsylvania from 1889-91. After graduating with his law degree, Heisman coached college football until his retirement in 1927. He passed away in 1936 at the age of 66, just one year after the first Heisman Trophy had been awarded to Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger.
Despite not having a player win the award prior to 2009, Alabama football now boasts more Heisman Trophy winners than any other program in the Southeastern Conference. Only four schools in the nation have won the award more times, with Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame each boasting seven winners and USC with six.
Alabama Heisman Trophy Winners
2009: Mark Ingram, RB
2015: Derrick Henry, RB
2020: DeVonta Smith, WR
2021: Bryce Young, QB
