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Bama News
Although Mac Jones, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Najee Harris are in the NFL, Alabama's offense does not appear to have slowed down much in 2021. The Crimson Tide shredded Miami to the tune of 501 yards in a 44-13 victory in Atlanta on Saturday, and coach Nick Saban got a fantastic debut from sophomore starting quarterback Bryce Young, a former 5-star recruit.
Young completed 27 of 38 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns, not even needing to use his legs to pick up yardage on the ground. That type of efficiency is exactly what offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien will want, and Young did it against one of the ACC's better teams.
Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy gave his thoughts on Young's performance Tuesday during an appearance on the "Paul Finebaum Show."
“I thought Bryce was great," McElroy said. "I thought he settled in very nicely. First maybe five or six throws, just the tiniest bit erratic, didn’t look super comfortable. But as the game went along, you could tell that it was slowing down for him just a little bit. It was interesting because last year’s Alabama offense was so rhythmic. It was five yards, eight yards, 12 yards — it was just right down the field and Mac Jones almost broke rhythm and it was just so efficient with how you watched it.
"When I’m watching this year’s version of Alabama’s offense, it was really a little bit more unique in the sense that Bryce would buy time and just kind of hover around and move and use his mobility and extent plays. Then a guy would break free, and he’d hit him. There were also examples in which he stayed in rhythm as well, but I thought that his willingness to be patient, his willingness to allow things to uncover is something we really haven’t seen as much of since Jalen Hurts was playing the position back in 2016. So it’s a little different style of Alabama offense, but it’s one that I think will be very difficult to defend. I thought that Bryce was great.
Alabama did not need its run game to dominate, and the results were less lethal in that area. Brian Robinson ran for 60 yards on 12 carries, Trey Sanders posted 41 yards and one touchdown on eight carries and Jase McClellan added another 36 yards on nine carries.
McElroy said he liked what he saw from the running backs and even tight end Cameron Latu.
"I thought the running game was very solid. I was impressed by Brian Robinson. He looks lean. He looks a little bit more twitchy than what we remember him being — just that bulldozer that was straight downhill. I thought McClellan had some bright spots. I thought Trey Sanders did some nice things. We knew the receivers would be excellent. Then the emergence of Cam Latu — this guy is a true, end-of-the-line-of-scrimmage ‘Y’ tight end that is clearly proving that (Jahleel) Billingsley might not get the looks because of what has transpired during fall camp — no problem, Latu is there to take up some of that opportunity at tight end. So I thought it was a really impressive performance. They showcased a lot of weapons and a lot of versatility, and did so in a way that was really efficient. Never really felt as though they were challenged or threatened at any point in the game.”
