His championship hat turned backward and shirt draped over his shoulder pads, Bryce Young savored his walk through the tunnel to Alabama’s locker room.
Hugs and high fives were punctuated by a Crimson Tide fan shouting from behind the barricade after the 41-24 SEC title-game whipping of Georgia.
“HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER,” the man screamed. “HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER.”
And he’s probably right.
The preceding few hours all but assured the Alabama quarterback will claim the school’s second straight Heisman Trophy and fourth overall. A wide-open race had Young as a loose favorite entering conference championship weekend but a second quarter for the ages seemed to end any doubt.
Young and receiver Jameson Williams chopped and diced Georgia’s top-ranked defense in ways it hasn’t experienced this season. Alabama’s 246 first-half passing yardage bettered all but two of the previous 12 opponents’ full-game totals as a 10-point deficit turned into a three-score win.
Young finished 26-for-44 with 421 passing yards, three touchdowns and another on the ground. His yardage total nosed out Mac Jones’ 418 from last December to set a new SEC Championship Game record. Add in his 40 rushing yards and Young broke Auburn’s Jason Campbell’s record for total offense with 461.
That resumé should get a few more entries in the next seven days thanks in part to what happened Saturday.
But like last week’s escape at Auburn, things weren’t trending that direction early against Georgia.
Young was just 4-for-9 in the first quarter with 38 yards. Former walk-on Stetson Bennett was an efficient 9-for-12 with 131 yards after throwing a touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter to put the Bulldogs up 10-0.
Everything changed three plays later.
Facing what felt like a pivotal third-and-two from the Georgia 33, a busted coverage left Williams all alone in the secondary. Catching the ball near midfield, the Ohio State transfer hit another gear to get the angle and eventually a 67-yard touchdown.
It was the second of nine straight Young completions that netted 198 yards and helped break the game wide open.
“We had a bust on that play specifically where we left a guy wide open,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It wasn’t anything they did different, same route they ran on Auburn, but we played it a different way and didn’t play it correctly. Gave a play up there. It was more than that play obviously. They hit us several times man to man. They hit us several times zone.”
Young hit John Metchie for a 40-yarder on the next drive before Williams grabbed another on the next snap for 23. Young’s creativity came through two plays later when scrambling from the pocket only to lateral to Brian Robinson for a 13-yard gain. He hit Metchie two plays after that for a 13-yard touchdown and Alabama would never trail again.
Kirby Smart said they needed to do a better job of putting pressure on Young. The fact Young wasn’t sacked once against a Georgia defense No. 4 nationally in that category a week after Auburn had seven could be the most notable number of the night.
Nick Saban several times in his postgame comments commended the pass protection and the schemes they cooked up this week to combat Georgia’s aggressive front. It just took some time.
“I think sometimes when you start a game, the speed of the game gets you a little bit,” Saban said. “The speed of their defense, maybe a couple of times their backs got outside of us because it probably happened a little faster than what we practiced and what we’re used to. I think once you sort of get used to the speed of the game, like their pass rush and all that, I think you start operating a little bit better. Our efficiency got much better on the offensive line as well as on defense.”
Young’s 11-yard touchdown run was among the signature moments just before halftime. It gave Alabama its final lead of the game in an early knockout blow when paired with the quick strike to open the second half. It came after a moment that Alabama will have to overcome in the playoff since top target John Metchie left the game with what appeared to be a season-ending knee injury.
The 55-yard third-quarter shot to Williams less than two minutes into the second half made it 31-17 against a team that allowed just 6.9 points a game before Saturday. It left a stadium easily 80% occupied with Bulldog fans in stunned silence.
“Some of the plays we gave,” Smart said, “were gifts.”
The touchdown play accounted for 55 of the 83 third-quarter yards as Georgia locked things up in a relative sense after that. Saban, however, said some of Young’s biggest moments came when navigating the final clock-killing drive in the fourth quarter when Georgia wasn’t yet totally dead.
A 24-yard pass to Slade Bolden in third-and-five with 7:08 left was among his more significant non-scoring plays. Bolden had a season-high five catches (three for first downs) with 54 yards.
Traeshon Holden added two key second-half catches while Jahleel Billingsley had his first multi-catch game since the Ole Miss win in early October.
It ended a night that began with doubt and ended with celebratory hugs and one enthusiastically vocal fan outside a happy Alabama locker room.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.