![]() ![]() The four finalists were the kind of clean-cut, no-drama, humble young adults to make any college football fan smile. Said ESPN commentator Holly Rowe of the fourth-and-7 completion Young had at Auburn with 38 seconds to go that set up the TD toss that forced OT: "Fourth-and-7, and he's smiling." Such efforts when a loss in either game would have ended reigning national champ Alabama's chances to return to the College Football Playoff couldn't help but impress undecided voters, of whom there were many this year heading into the final weeks of the season. Then again, few players at Bama or anywhere else have saved their best for last more so than Young, who not only orchestrated a remarkable Tide comeback in a four-overtime win at Auburn - forcing overtime with a 28-yard touchdown pass with but 24 seconds on the clock - but then torched the seemingly impenetrable Georgia defense for a whopping 421 passing yards (a record for the SEC title game) and three touchdowns, plus one rushing score, to shock the Bulldogs in Atlanta. Recent Tide signal callers Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa were also considered serious candidates at certain times but failed to cart home the 45-pound bronze trophy. ![]() That's right: Former Bama quarterbacks Bart Starr, Joe Namath and Kenny "Snake" Stabler may all be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but none of them won the Heisman as collegians. Remarkably, though the Tide have now had four Heisman winners total at three positions under incomparable coach Nick Saban - Young, Smith and running backs Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry - Young is Alabama's first winner at quarterback. Indeed, just as Smith gained unstoppable momentum late in the 2020 season, Young blew away the competition down the stretch this time around after inspiring comeback wins at Auburn and against top-ranked Georgia in last weekend's Southeasern Conference championship game.ĪP photo by John Bazemore / Alabama quarterback Bryce Young looks for a receiver during the SEC title game against Georgia on Dec. On Saturday night, in the moments just after Young won the 2021 Heisman Trophy in a similar rout over fellow finalists Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan (second), Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh (third) and CJ Stroud of Ohio State, Smith appeared on a video screen and said: "Little did they know then that pass was from one Heisman Trophy winner to another." ![]() Rolling to his right, Crimson Tide reserve quarterback Bryce Young threw back across his body to DeVonta Smith, who caught the ball between two defenders and scored.Ī television announcer that day said of Young's laser: "He threw into a window that wasn't even there." It seemed like nothing more than a garbage-time touchdown pass at the time, deep into Alabama's 63-3 rout of Kentucky in November 2020. ![]()
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