Alabama quarterback Bryce Young wins the Fort Worth-based Davey O’Brien Award
Mac Jones became the first quarterback out of Alabama to win the Fort Worth-based Davey O’Brien Award in 2020. Now the Crimson Tide have back-to-back winners.
Alabama sophomore Bryce Young was named the 2021 winner on Thursday night as the Davey O’Brien Award kicked off The Home Depot College Football Awards show on ESPN.
It came as little surprise as Young is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday. Young, who was Jones’ backup in 2020, beat out fellow finalists Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.
Fort Worth and Tarrant County will get a first-hand look at Young later this month, too. Top-ranked Alabama will meet No. 4 Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 31, a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup.
Young will be honored during the Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner on Feb. 21 at the Fort Worth Club.
During an interview on the ESPN broadcast after winning the O’Brien Award, Young called it a “huge blessing.” He talked about how valuable it was to learn under a quarterback such as Jones in 2020 before becoming the full-time starter in 2021.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “Being able to be behind a guy like Mac Jones and see how he prepared, see how he carried himself ... that was huge for me and my development.”
Young, who is listed at 6-foot, 194 pounds, finished the regular season with 4,322 yards passing with 43 touchdowns to only four interceptions. He completed 68% of his passes (315 of 463) and also rushed for three TDs.
Young solidified his postseason award candidacy in the SEC championship game, leading Alabama past Georgia. Young threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-24 victory over the Bulldogs.
Young ranks second in both passing touchdowns (43) and total quarterback rating (88.9) in the country. He’s third in points responsible for (284) and fourth in passing yards (4,322). His 559 yards passing against Arkansas set a school record.
Alabama is the NCAA’s fourth-best scoring offense, averaging 42.5 points, and sixth in total offense, averaging 495.5 yards.
Young joins a prestigious group of quarterbacks who have won the award, including Steve Young (1983), Troy Aikman (1988) and Peyton Manning (1997). Three recent winners have gone on to be the top overall pick in the NFL Draft including Baker Mayfield (2017), Kyler Murray (2018) and Joe Burrow (2019).
Pickett and Stroud were worthy contenders for the award as well. Pickett set the ACC record for most touchdown passes with 43 and threw for 4,319 yards passing. Stroud, meanwhile, threw for 3,862 yards and 38 TDs.
But Young separated himself and the SEC has now produced the last three winners.
The O’Brien winner is selected from ballots cast by the award’s national selection committee, which includes select media members and college football experts as well as former winners. Fans also weighed in on the decision with votes recorded on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 6:23 PM.
