Tide clinch a spot in SEC title game
QB Young leads No. 2 Alabama to victory over No. 21 Arkansas
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bryce Young passed for a school-record 559 yards and five touchdowns and No. 2 Alabama clinched a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game with a 42-35 victory Saturday over No. 21 Arkansas.
The Crimson Tide (10-1, 7-1) won its 15th consecutive game against the Razorbacks (7-4, 3-4), thanks largely to the Young-toJameson Williams deep connection that continues to be the ultimate offensive bailout.
Alabama set up a date with No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta on Dec. 4 after a visit to rival Auburn.
“We left a lot of points on the board where we could have put the game away,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. “And defensively, we gave up a couple of big plays but the big thing was they were like 10 of 19 on third and fourth down so when we had opportunities to get off the field we didn’t get off the field.”
This one wasn’t settled until Arkansas’s onside kick went out of bounds with 1:02 left.
The Razorbacks had stayed alive with Raheim Sanders’ 17-yard touchdown catch from K.J. Jefferson, but took nearly five minutes to get there.
Young completed 31 of 40 passes to keep himself squarely in the Heisman Trophy conversation, hitting Williams for a perfect strike for a 79-yarder in double coverage and flipping the ball to Christian Leary for another touchdown when he appeared set to run.
It was the second-most passing yards in the SEC, behind Mississippi State’s K.J. Costello, who threw for 623 yards against LSU last season. Young shattered the school mark of 484 passing yards set by Scott Hunter against Auburn in 1969, surpassing it with 11 minutes to play.
Williams caught eight passes for 190 yards with touchdowns of 79, 32 and 40 yards.
“I just feel like we execute the play as called very well, so that just happens,” Williams said of the deep hookups.
John Metchie also gained 173 yards on 10 catches with a touchdown. Alabama’s Brian Robinson ran for 122 yards on 27 carries.
The clincher was Young’s 40-yarder to Williams in the end zone on third and 10. It was reviewed to see if Williams had possession as he came down, and replay officials upheld the call to the relief of the BryantDenny stadium crowd.
That left Jefferson and Arkansas needing two scores in the final 5:39, but it could only deliver one.