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Alabama Quarterback Bryce Young Wins the Heisman Trophy in a Voting Landslide

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Football

Bryce Young, University of Alabama sophomore quarterback, was announced as the recipient of the 87th Heisman Memorial Trophy Saturday, live at the Lincoln Center in New York. It marks the second straight year that a Crimson Tide football player has captured college football's most prestigious award.

Young made history at the evening award show, becoming the first Crimson Tide quarterback to garner the highest individual honor in collegiate sports and the fourth Crimson Tide player overall. He joins former Tide recipients DeVonta Smith (2020), Derrick Henry (2015) and Mark Ingram (2009).

It marks just the fifth instance a school has had back-to-back Heisman Memorial Trophy winners.

Moreover, the Tide signal caller is just the fifth sophomore to haul in the distinguished prize, sharing that record with Sam Bradford, Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram and Tim Tebow.

Young tallied 684 first-place votes, the 10th most all-time, and 2,311 total points. He surpassed defensive end Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan (954), quarterback Kenny Picket of Pittsburgh (631) and quarterback C.J. Stroud of Ohio State (399). Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr. finished fifth in the final standings (325).

"I'd like to thank my teammates, my offensive line for protecting me, allowing me to win an award like this," Young said. "My receivers and running backs, defense for getting me the ball back, everyone on the team. You know, whenever you can win an award like this, it goes as an individual award, but it's a team award because I couldn't do it without any of those guys."

Bryce Young
Quarterback, Sophomore

  • Completing 68.0 percent of his passes (314-462) for 4,322 yards with 43 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions
  • Second nationally and first in the conference for passing touchdowns
  • Third nationally in points responsible for (284), while ranking fifth in the country in passing efficiency (175.5)
  • Guided the Alabama offense to the No. 2 third-down conversion percentage in the nation (53.6 percent), completing 70.8 percent of his third-down pass attempts (80-113) for 1,329 yards and 14 touchdowns

Young has set a handful of records as the Crimson Tide's signal caller since the season opener. His four touchdown passes against then-No. 14/16 Miami on Sept. 4 was the most touchdown passes by any Alabama quarterback in their debut as a starter, passing Mac Jones and Joe Namath, who recorded three touchdown passes in 2019 and 1962, respectively. Moreover, with his four touchdown passes, Young tied Tua Tagovailoa (2019 – vs. Duke) and Bo Wallace (Ole Miss – 2014 vs. Boise State) for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game record for most touchdown passes in a game.

Young became the only player in Alabama history to record seven touchdown passes in his first two career starts, completing four touchdown passes against then-No. 14/16 Miami on Sept. 4 and three touchdown passes against Mercer on Sept. 11.

The sophomore became just the second player in Alabama history to throw 10 touchdown passes through his first three career starts, tacking on three touchdown passes at then-No. 11/9 Florida on Sept. 18 to join Mac Jones.

Against Southern Miss on Sept. 25, Young set a school record for the best completion percentage in a single game (minimum of 20 completions) at the time, completing 20-of-22 (.909) passes against the Golden Eagles. In that same matchup, he tied for the second-most touchdown passes in a single game in school history with five.

Young completed 7-of-7 passing attempts in the first quarter against then-No. 12/12 Ole Miss on Oct. 2, the second straight season a Crimson Tide quarterback completed all passes against the Rebels in the opening frame.

Against Tennessee on Oct. 23, Young became the first quarterback in Alabama history to throw for 350-plus yards, while also scoring two touchdowns rushing.

Young tied his own career high from earlier this season for the second-most touchdown passes in a game with five against New Mexico State on Nov. 13, recording all five of those scores in the first half. He also set the school record for best completion percentage in a single game (with a minimum of 20 completions), completing 21-of-23 (.913) passes against the Aggies. In the contest against NMSU, Young completed 13-of-13 passes (183 yards) to start the game. Those 13 straight completions tied for sixth all-time in consecutive completions in Alabama history, while it is the most consecutive completions by any quarterback to begin a game in program history.

The sophomore followed up his dominant performance against NMSU with another five-touchdown game against then-No. 21/21/22 Arkansas on Nov. 20. In addition to the five scores, Young set the Alabama record for passing yards in a game with 559, surpassing the previous 52-year-old mark at UA set by Scott Hunter who threw for 484 yards in 1969. The 559 yards were the second-most in Southeastern Conference history, trailing only K.J. Costello's 623 against LSU last season.

Against then-No. 1/1/1 Georgia on Dec. 4, he set an SEC Championship Game record for passing yards (421) and total offense (461).

Since 1935, 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.