Brian Kelly hasn’t yet faced a Bryce Young offense. The LSU coach was leading Notre Dame when Young was a freshman on the Alabama team that beat the Irish in the 2020 Rose Bowl.
He’s seen plenty of film entering the Crimson Tide’s trip to Baton Rouge on Saturday night. And Kelly wasn’t creating bulletin board material for the Alabama quarterback ahead of the 6 p.m. CT kickoff in Tiger Stadium.
Kelly gushed praised when asked Wednesday about the challenge Young presents for the LSU defense.
“There’s no real good answer,” Kelly said on The SEC coaches teleconference. “If I had it, I certainly wouldn’t be voicing it. He is, in many instances, you can’t defend him because he’s so elusive and he wants to throw the football. He could take off so many times but he’s trying to find receivers down the field and just has a great awareness, a sense. He’s a true quarterback. He’s not a scramble around guy that’s just throwing it up there. He’s very intentional about everything he does. He’s not taking sacks.”
Young is having a complicated junior season after claiming the Heisman Trophy last fall. Injured at Arkansas in Week 5 and playing in an offense without the playmakers akin to Jameson Williams or John Metchie, Young is completing 66.1% of his 221 throws for 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.
“He’s the Heisman Trophy winner and he should be,” Kelly continued. “He’s the best player in college football.”
LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC) has the nation’s No. 35 passing defense that allows 204.3 yards a game. It’s coming off a 45-20 win over Ole Miss who threw for 287 yards — the second-highest yardage output for the No. 79 passing offense in the FBS — on Oct. 22.
Alabama’s passing offense is 34th with an average of 274.4 yards a game.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
