Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has already proven plenty as a sophomore—accolades for a college football player don’t get much bigger than the Heisman Trophy, which Young won earlier this year. Young has consistently been one of the most important pieces of an Alabama team that has recently gained a lot of momentum but was one of the shakiest we’ve seen from the dominant program in recent history this year. While he’s still got some room to grow from the perspective of a future NFL prospect, he’s more than holding his own given his level of experience and he’s almost the singular reason why Alabama has won some of its closer games, like the performance he put on in the overtime win against Auburn when the Crimson Tide topped the Tigers with a 24-22 road victory on Nov. 27. It wasn’t his—or the Alabama squad as a whole’s—best game, but he did put the ball in right spots in crunch time to avoid what would have been the biggest upset of the week. Now, Young has a chance to prove himself even further and put something on his resume that is even bigger than the Heisman is. Alabama is set to face the Georgia Bulldogs in the National Championship game on Monday night, and while the Crimson Tide did away with the Bulldogs pretty easily the first time, it was very much an atypical day for Georgia on defense and the holes that were exposed in that 41-24 SEC title game loss seemed to be fixed as the Bulldogs downed the Michigan Wolverines, 34-11 in the Orange Bowl. Looking at his past two performances, Young completed 17-of-28 passes for 181 yards with three touchdowns on a day in which the Crimson Tide largely relied on their run game with more than 300 rushing yards in the 27-6 Cotton Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bearcats. In the SEC Championship, Young’s stat line was through the roof as he completed 26-of-44 passes for 421 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. In both performances, Young’s accuracy, scrambling ability, and ability to make some plays with his legs were well on display as it has been all season and he rarely put the ball in harm’s way—a positive trait of his all year. It’s no secret that Young brings a lot to the table as a pure passer and he’s shown that through some adversity this season as Alabama has experienced issues from time to time within its offensive line and supporting cast. This week’s game against Georgia is more than just another SEC showdown, it’s a chance for Young to make a statement against not only one of the best defenses in the country but one that is one of the best in recent years and one that should be back at full capacity after an SEC title game fluke. If Young can put on the same type of performance on Monday that he did against Georgia the first time, it puts him in a higher category and proves he can contend with the absolute best on the biggest stage.