All the records Alabama QB Bryce Young broke in his debut vs. Miami
No Alabama football quarterback has had a better debut than Bryce Young.
Expectations were high for Bryce Young entering his first season as the starting quarterback for the reigning national champions and the Alabama signal-caller did not disappoint.
Not only did Young not disappoint, but he may also have surpassed the already-lofty expectations the former five-star recruit had upon his arrival to Tuscaloosa.
Young set a program record for most passing touchdowns in their first start with four, breaking the record held by Joe Namath and Mac Jones. Pretty good company, huh?
Bryce Young had the best debut of all time for an Alabama quarterback
Namath is a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Jones just led the Tide to the national championship, won the Davey O’Brien Award and was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Young wasn’t done there. He also set the record for most passing yards in a debut with 313.
Young also has the second-longest touchdown throw after his 94-yard touchdown to Jameson Williams put them behind A.J. McCarron‘s 99-yard score to Amari Cooper. There’s plenty of time for Young to aim for that record if Alabama is ever on the 1-yard line.
What’s even more impressive is he only needed three quarters to set these records.
Young played into the fourth quarter to finish with 344 yards on 27-of-34 passing with the four touchdowns before giving Paul Tyson time to finish things off.
Young also has the most pass yards in an Alabama starting debut.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 4, 2021
His 94-yard TD to Jameson Williams was tied for the 2nd-longest Pass TD in school history. It trails only a 99-yard TD from AJ McCarron to Amari Cooper in 2013.
Bryce Young compared to past Alabama quarterbacks in their debut
Young’s debut is so clearly better than Jones, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts and McCarron. Game logs were not available for Namath, Kenny Stabler or Bart Starr, but those numbers wouldn’t be reflective of the current state of offensive exploits in college and of the recent success of Alabama’s best quarterbacks under Saban.
- Young: 25-of-36, 345 yards, 4 TD
- Jones: 18-of-24, 249 yards, 2 TD
- Tagovailoa: 12-of-16, 227 yards, 2 TD (1 rushing TD)
- Hurts: 23-of-36, 287 yards, 2 TD
- McCarron: 14-of-23, 226 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Now, let’s see what Young has in store for an encore and if he can win a national championship like all of his predecessors listed above did. That’s the only measuring stick for Alabama quarterbacks so anything less than one national title before he leaves for the NFL will be shocking.
Next. Best college football QB's of the 21st century. dark
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.