TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Maybe you turned off your television set by the final minutes of Alabama’s 42-13 victory over LSU this past weekend. The majority of Tiger Stadium had already emptied, as fans made way for the exits to escape the rain and get an early start on the postgame traffic.
Richard Young, on the other hand, was just getting started.
Buried in a deep Alabama backfield the redshirt freshman has to make the most of his limited opportunities. Lately, that’s been providing an exclamation point during blowout wins for the Crimson Tide.
“Honestly man, I’ll just be on the sidelines stretching and looking,” Young said when asked about waiting for his turn in games. “When my opportunity comes, I’ve just got to go. That’s just it at the end of the day. I’ve got to do my part.”
While the game was well out of reach, Young treated Alabama’s final possession against LSU like it was the deciding drive for the national championship. The 5-foot-11, 216-pound back punished a tired Tigers defense on six carries, rushing for 27 yards including an 8-yard touchdown to run to further humiliate what was left of the home crowd.
It’s nothing personal, Young’s just not going to waste an opportunity to prove himself on the field.
Despite signing with Alabama as the No. 4 running back in last year’s class, the former Rivals100 product has experienced a humble beginning to his college career.
Young redshirted his first season last year, carrying the ball nine times for 24 yards and a touchdown over three appearances. This season, he’s seen the field in four games, leading all Alabama backs with 6.33 yards per carry while rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown. The reps aren’t what most blue-chip backs expect during their second year, but you won’t catch Young complaining about his role.
“I’ve just got to wait my turn, be patient,” Young said. “When my time comes, I’m just going to do my thing on the field.”
Young would be hearing his name called more at several other programs. At Alabama, he’s currently behind junior Jam Miller and sophomore Justice Haynes, who have both been equally impressive while splitting carries with dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe.
Young realizes the talent he’s up against for playing time in Alabama’s backfield. Instead of sulking over his limited touches, he’s using the competition to fuel his game to another level.
“Justice and Jam, man, they’re top-notch,” Young said. “Phenomenal. They do everything right in practice from Day 1. I look up to them when we’re in practice. When they do something, I try to be better at what they do, so I look up to them. … When my time comes I’ve got to do the same thing they do but better.”
Haynes and Miller are tough to beat, but lately, Young has been holding his own. The redshirt freshman’s solid night against LSU came after he broke off a career-best 62-yard run during Alabama’s blowout over Missouri the game before. Now that things are slowing down for him, expect to see more of that moving forward.
“I had to find a way to understand the holes, understand being patient when I’m running the ball,” Young said. “It took time. Redshirting a year helped me a lot with everything else like that. Now, this season I’m starting to understand more of what the defense is doing.”
While several of Young’s highlights have occurred when fans might not be tuned in, his growth hasn’t gone unnoticed by Alabama’s coaching staff.
“He’s a guy that you don’t have to lead around a lot,” Alabama running backs coach Robert Gillespie said. “He understands what he’s supposed to do. He’s a good big brother to the guys that are younger than him, Kevin Riley, Daniel Hill. So even though he’s a young guy, my whole room is pretty much young, so they do a good job of just feeding off of each other, the rights and wrongs and things they can do better.”
Young is also his own hardest critic. Even on successful runs, he says he’s looking for ways to turn 10-yard gains into touchdowns and explosive plays downfield.
“When I make mistakes like that I’ve got to learn off it,” Young said. “I’ve got to build off it. When I see those big runs that I could have made, I’ve got to go and practice. I’ve got to be better in practice. I’ve got to understand and be patient when I’m running the ball more.”
Young could get a few more opportunities this weekend as Alabama hosts Mercer on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide is currently a 29-point favorite over its FCS opposition, which could see its starters leave the field early in the second half.
Once that happens, make sure to stick around and watch Young get to work.
