Josh Heupel, Nick Saban break down what makes Bryce Young special

Since he is currently the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, it is no surprise that coaches across the country have kind things to say about Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.

This week, both his coach, Nick Saban, and opposing head coach Josh Heupel of Tennessee spoke positively about the redshirt freshman signal caller in Tuscaloosa on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference.

“Bryce has played really well,” Saban said. “I think he’s had really good poise. He does a really good job of preparing for games and understands exactly what he needs to do to execute the plan. He’s been really efficient and effective. He’s been accurate with the ball.”

Young is 156-for-224 with 2,082 yards, 24 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He leads the Power Five in touchdown passes, and his completion percentage of 69.6% is in the top 10 amongst the top-five conference quarterbacks. 

While Alabama is always stocked with talent and their version of a re-load is very different than the vast majority of teams across the country, there were still expected growing pains trying to replace a large chunk of one of the best offenses ever last year.

“We’ve got a lot of new players on offense, so it’s been a little bit of a work in progress for us to sort of get where we want to go,” Saban added. “He has done a really good job in his part of it, and I’m really pleased with how he’s handled the situations even playing in some really tough places on the road, and he’s gotten better and better at that. So I’m really pleased with how he’s started his season, and I’m really pleased with the progress he’s made throughout.”

In Alabama’s close victory over Florida and loss at Texas A&M, Young played relatively well. Last weekend in Starkville, he had one of his best games of the year, going 20-for-28 with 348 yards and four touchdowns with a final passer rating of 223.0.

Heupel’s defense in for a challenge with Young

On Saturday, Young and Co. host a Tennessee defense which put on one of their better performances against a very good Ole Miss offense last weekend. Heupel’s passing defense is currently in the bottom half of the SEC, right around Ole Miss and Mississippi State passing defenses that Young was able to shred.

“He’s smart, competitive, accurate with the football,” Heupel said. “Obviously, he’s got dynamic playmakers around him, from the wide receivers to the tight ends to the running backs. Offensive line does a great job in protection, but you can tell that he understands what his pre-snap read is, where he needs to go with the ball once he sees the post-snap movement from the defense.”

Alabama is replacing a few offensive linemen that left for the NFL, but the offensive line has done a decent job of protecting their quarterback, and Young does not panic when the pocket falters. 

Tennessee-Alabama, the annual “Third Saturday in October” matchup, kicks off at 6 p.m. CT from Tuscaloosa. Saban’s team is a 25-point favorite, and Tennessee has not beaten Alabama in 14 years.