It wasn’t pretty, but No. 1 Alabama escaped Austin with a 20-19 road win over unranked Texas on Saturday, thanks to plentiful penalties, drops, and other self-inflicted errors.
Those mistakes allowed the Longhorns to stay in the game all the way to the end, despite losing highly touted freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers to a shoulder injury early in the game.
Bama turned to their Heisman-winning quarterback in their hour of need, and like he usually does in the biggest moments, Bryce Young delivered.
Young’s final stat line wasn’t spectacular (27/39, 213 yards, TD), but it was what he did with the game on the line that should remind NFL scouts that he should be one of the first quarterbacks off the board in next year’s draft.
After six straight punts, Alabama’s first possession of the fourth quarter was Young’s cue to take over the game. Young engineered an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that gave the lead back to the Crimson Tide, finishing it off with a cross-body touchdown pass to Jahmyr Gibbs for the score.
Making BIG PLAYS!!! 👏👏@_bryce_young @Jahmyr_Gibbs1
📺: @CFBonFOX
pic.twitter.com/rStkrSN6Mh— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 10, 2022
The Tide would need another hero drive from Young, though, after the Longhorns took the lead back with a 49-yard field goal in the final minutes. The defending Heisman Trophy winner rose to the occasion yet again, taking over with 1:29 remaining in the game, and marching his offense right back down the field. Young hit Gibbs again for a 20-yard gain, then shook an unblocked blitzter before taking off on a 20-yard scramble to help set up what would prove to be the game-winning field goal with just 10 seconds left.
WHAT A PLAY BRYCE YOUNG 😤
cc: @AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/LZgACXQlmI
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 10, 2022
Some scouts will find reasons to believe Young won’t be able to replicate these kinds of moments and performances at the next level, likely pointing to his lack of ideal size (6-0, 195) as evidence that the NFL game will bee too much for a passer of that stature.
They would be wise to go back to the film, though, and see what Young does in the clutch moments, when the game is on the line. Last year’s Iron Bowl tape should help, too.
For three quarters, Alabama played like anything but the best team in the nation.
It didn’t matter, because Bryce Young is their quarterback.
