Young wins Heisman giving Tide four winners under Saban

Sophomore quarterback Bryce Young accepted the Heisman Trophy during the 87th annual ceremony on Saturday. This is coach Nick Saban’s fourth winner in his tenure at Alabama. (UA Media Relations)

By GRAHAM DUNN

NEW YORK – Bryce Young became the fourth player from the University of Alabama to win the coveted Heisman Memorial Trophy on Saturday during the 87th annual ceremony at the Lincoln Center.

He became the first quarterback from the Crimson Tide to win the award, garnering 684 first-place votes. He was also the second-straight player from the school to earn the award, following DeVonta Smith as last year’s winner.

Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was second in the voting while quarterback Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh was third. Young’s teammate, Will Anderson finished fifth in the voting.

“I’d like to thank my teammates, my offensive line for protecting me, allowing me to win an award like this,” Young said. “My receivers and running backs, defense for getting me the ball back, everyone on the team. You know, whenever you can win an award like this, it goes as an individual award, but it’s a team award because I couldn’t do it without any of those guys.”

Young is just the fifth sophomore to haul in the distinguished prize, sharing that record with Sam Bradford, Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram and Tim Tebow.

He joins former Tide recipients DeVonta Smith (2020), Derrick Henry (2015) and Mark Ingram (2009), all players during the Nick Saban era.

Young becomes the eighth finalist in the last 13 years after just two players represented Alabama in the 26 years where finalists were officially recognized previously, David Palmer in 1993 and Jay Barker in 1994.

It was the third major award for the quarterback this week. He also earned the Associated Press Player of the Year award followed by the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award on Thursday.