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The last one out of a jubilant Alabama locker room, Nick Saban walked slowly out of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium corridor nodding his head like a proud father.
He was proud of his football team. Despite some un-Alabama-like moments this season, he is proud of the way his football team has fought to get to this point. He is proud of the way his football team has rallied around a sophomore quarterback.
In Alabama's SEC championship game dissection of Georgia, there was a dynamic that was good, that poised, and that man, Bryce Young.
It's easy to forget that Young is only a sophomore and only in his first year as the starting quarterback after playing backup to Mac Jones a year ago.
"He's very calm, has a great disposition about what he's doing, doesn't get frustrated too easily, but also doesn't get too excited very easily," said Alabama's coach. It's rare for a guy who's in his first year as a starter and playing against a defense as good as Georgia's to have that combination.
It doesn't matter who we're playing or what the situation is, he always is. The other thing is that he does a great job preparing for the game, every game, and that's the kind of thing that wears off on everyone else. I think you saw that.
Young torched a Georgia defense that was thought to be untorchable, as the rest of the college football world watched. He ran for a score and passed for 423 yards. His
Kirby Smart was a believer. There's something to be said for watching someone do something to your defense that nobody else had done all season.
I've seen a lot of good ones. Young was sacked seven times in a four-overtime win against auburn, but he was not sacked a single time on Saturday.
Smart watched that tape and Georgia did some things to pressure Young. Young and his offensive line got the best of a Georgia front seven that had been dominant against everybody this season.
The defense gave up four touchdown to Alabama after allowing just seven in the previous 12 games.
He was elite at getting the ball to the players that were open. He knew where the ball was. A lot of quarterbacks wouldn't keep their eyes downfield with the rush. We could run them down if they looked at the rush and tried to flee. He did a great job tonight. He made a lot of plays.
Young has done that all season long, be it his 28-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Corey Brooks to force overtime against auburn or the times this season when Alabama was sputtering on offense and he did just enough.
AP Photo/John Bazemore
"He has that way about him that the other guys fall in line even when we've had our struggles, and that's why he's never too big for him," he said.
Young, who has thrown 43 touchdown passes and just four turnovers this season, was almost nonchalant on Saturday when asked about anything he had done to lead Alabama to its sixth SEC championship in the past eight years. He wanted to talk about his teammates.
Young said that they all answered the bell. We all understood what was at stake. We all knew that we needed to step up. When our back's against the wall, we understand that we have to get our spark and start moving.
I'm happy we started.
Young led a 24 point second quarter for the Tide with one big play after another, whether he was hitting deep balls with precision, scrambling and making plays with his legs or even flipping option pitches to Brian Robinson Jr.
"He's grown a lot and has a knack for making those plays, but what's really impressive is that he's not careless and takes care of the football."
Young was able to wrestle the ball back from a Georgia defender when he fumbled the ball after taking off and running. John Metchie III, one of Young's top receivers, was lost in the first half to a torn knee cap. It didn't matter. Williams had seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdown.
Alabama carved apart the Georgia secondary with big plays, and the offensive line took it on the chin a week ago, but came back with something to prove.
The offensive line did a good job of allowing us to get the ball down the field and our receivers being able to work in the passing game, which we knew was going to be something that was really important in this game," said Alabama coach Nick Saban. It really started up front.
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The way Alabama put Young in a position to find the holes in Georgia's defense was something nobody else had been able to do this season, according to a long-time defensive coach.
"Doug Marrone and Bill O'Brien showed their value tonight, the value of having NFL experience," the defensive assistant said. They identified protection and blocked the pressures.
Young has been taught well. He attacked Georgia the way nobody else had this year when Georgia lined up.
Young didn't sound too surprised that the rest of the country didn't see Alabama's beatdown of Georgia coming.
Young said that they have faith and confidence in the coaching staff. I don't think we blinked or wavered.
With Metchie likely lost for the season, Alabama will have to dive deeper into its depth chart, especially at receiver, during the College Football Playoff.
The added value of having a player like Young is that he makes everyone around him better.
... A good quarterback can make a receiver look good, and those guys have to run good routes and do things the right way to get open," said the Alabama coach. I think his faith, trust, and confidence in those guys have helped them a lot.
The best may be yet to come for Alabama.
Not to mention the first award for an Alabama quarterback.
