Byron Young Leads Alabama Defense By Example in Win over Ole Miss

Young wants the Crimson Tide's mentality to be just as routine as the same pregame meal that the team eats week-in and week-out.

Author:
Joey Blackwell
Publish date:
Nov 12, 2022 9:59 PM EST

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Alabama Crimson Tide

OXFORD, Miss. — Saturday started like any other day for Alabama defensive lineman Byron Young. In fact, it was a little bit too routine for the 6-foot-3, 292-pound senior.

"We actually eat the same thing for breakfast every week," Young said about the Crimson Tide's game day routine. "Every pregame meal every single week is the same, so it's been the same since I got here and it'll be the same I'm sure until Coach [Nick Saban] leaves."

Young, a Mississippi native, admitted that he didn't eat breakfast, but a pregame meal of lasagna, steak and eggs maintained his routine.

While the food that the big defensive lineman consumed on Saturday might have been the same thing he's eaten every game day over his four years at Alabama, his performance in his team's 30-24 win over the Ole Miss Rebels was far from regular.

Against the Rebels, Young was a force to be reckoned with. Over the course of the game, Young finished tied for first on the team in total tackles with 11, including six solo and two sacks. Young was also credited with a pass breakup, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble late in the second quarter that set the Crimson Tide offense up for a game-changing touchdown just before halftime.

"Byron played great," Saban said after the game. "Mississippi guy, so I'm sure he was fired up for the game but I thought he played great. But he's played really well for us all year and he's a good leader on the team. It means a lot to him and glad to see him doing well."

With Alabama up 30-24 and just 2:23 left on the game clock, Ole Miss began its final drive down the field. After just four plays, the Rebels had driven all the way down to the 14-yard line of the Crimson Tide, poised to hand Alabama yet another loss that would occur in the final minute of play.

However, Young had different plans.

On 2nd and 10, Young forced Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart to scramble up the middle, tackling him for no gain on the play. On 3rd down, it was Young again — this time for a sack of Dart that resulted in a 4th and 16 situation.

Ole Miss was unable to convert, and the Alabama offense came back out onto the field to kneel out the game.

"It was emotional because it was a big spot in the game," Young said. "I go out and try to play the same, go out to try to do my job and do everything the coaches need from me, so that's all I was trying to do tonight."

While Young might have tried to downplay the importance of his role on the final drive, Crimson Tide defensive back Jordan Battle didn't even think about shortchanging his teammate.

"We love Byron, man," Battle said. "He's a leader on this team. He comes with the energy — makes sure we're standing up even when we're down in the game. Just makes sure that we're playing for 60 minutes and the play he made at the end, we love him for that and we knew he had the talent to make that play. We just congratulated him when he made it."

Alabama's win comes off of a loss at LSU that essentially put an end to Alabama's hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff. With the Tigers' win over Arkansas on Saturday as well as the Crimson Tide's win over the Rebels, LSU clinched the SEC West and will be headed to Atlanta — marking the first time since 2019 that Alabama will not be playing in the SEC Championship Game.

Following last week's loss to the Tigers, Saban began to instruct the players on pride in performance and how no one else should determine the team's identity other than themselves. Saban reiterated that message following the win at Ole Miss.

"They have a lot of pride with the standard of what Alabama is and they were challenged to play to that standard, to take it personal, to understand that they're responsible for the identity that they create by how they play on the field," Saban said. "It shouldn't be anybody else that makes that determination for them. They took it personally and I think they showed it in the game tonight."

With Young serving as a leader on the Alabama defense, it was crucial that he bought into Saban's message heading into the game against the Rebels. Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, Young didn't just buy into the message, but he also practiced what he and his head coach preached.

While Young grew up an LSU fan despite growing up in the state of Mississippi, the defensive lineman took both the loss to the Tigers as well as the attitude of the Rebels personally.

"It became personal to all of us because we've seen what people have been saying," Young said. "We've seen people write us off. We feel like really just for ourselves, we gotta show ourselves who we are. We gotta show ourselves that we are what we say we are, so I think that was the biggest thing for us."

Game-ready mentality has been a struggle for Alabama throughout the course of the season. However, the regaining of the Crimson Tide standard will be up to players like Young and their leadership on the team.

And that game day readiness all starts with making that mentality routine, just like steak, eggs and lasagna.