By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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He is the first Alabama quarterback ever with four passing scores in his initial start, breaking a record shared by Mac Jones and Joe Namath.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young entered the Crimson Tide’s season-opener against nationally-ranked Miami with not just high expectations, but historic expectations.

The last three quarterbacks before Young, Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, all have all-time legacies. Jones just set college football’s new single-season passer rating record, Tagovailoa briefly held that very same mark and has perhaps the greatest throw ever seen in a national championship game and Hurts maintains multiple Alabama records and led two teams, Alabama and Oklahoma, to the College Football Playoff. Jones, Tagavailoa and Hurts, with the Sooners, were each Heisman Trophy finalists.

Remarkably, Jones debuted with more of the same.

In a spotlight matchup of traditional powers in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in his Alabama introduction, Jones promptly threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns — all in the first three quarters. He led the Crimson Tide to nearly 450 yards of total offense in that span, including points on their first five drives. Jones finished the day 27-of-38 for 344 yards and four touchdowns. He is the first Alabama quarterback ever with four passing scores in his initial start, breaking a record shared by Jones and the legendary Joe Namath.

The sophomore from California just had a more productive first game than any Crimson Tide signal caller, his recent predecessors, all of whom are now starters in the NFL, included.

Jones completed two touchdown passes to Cameron Latu, one to John Metchie III and a 94-yard downfield heave to Jameson Williams. That touchdown, where Jones threw a perfectly timed ball from his endzone roughly 50 yards in the air to a streaking Williams, tied for the second-longest touchdown pass in Alabama history, trailing only A.J. McCarron’s 99-yard strike to Amari Cooper in the 2013 Iron Bowl.

Having one of the great passing performances ever for the Crimson Tide, Young starred on an offense replacing five first round NFL Draft picks, six of the top 37 selections overall and offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Three of Alabama’s top four pass-catchers from the year prior have moved onto the next level, most notably record-setting Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith. With all of that said, it was simply a Crimson Tide continuation for Young, Bill O’Brien and the new-look offense as Alabama scored more than 40 points for the 13th consecutive game.

The expectations stay the same in Tuscaloosa and apparently the offensive production does, too. Replacing three of the best quarterbacks college football has ever seen, Young promptly made history. He is just now getting started.