Before the Arkansas game, Bryce Young was asked about his upcoming 20th career start. Normally a master in coachspeak and non-answers, Young smiled and joked with a reporter.

“Wow, I’m getting old, man,” he said on Sept. 27. “Gosh, you’re aging me over here.”

His actual response explained how with each rep and situation he’s faced, the more comfortable he feels. And it’s hard to argue he’s wrong. Young has compiled a highlight reel on off-script moments this fall. He’s shaken defenders in space, thrown darts while being tackled and set career-highs in rushing yards. But with the hero ball moments have come with a consequence.

Young’s scrambling sidelined him for six quarters after he tried to throw out of a sack, spraining his AC joint off the grass in Arkansas. In his return last weekend against Tennessee, Young was hurried nine times, including one helmet-to-helmet collision Alabama submitted for review. Still, on multiple occasions, Young created and converted drive-extending passes.

Whether it be covered receivers downfield or a rusher through the offensive line, Young has been forced to abandon the pocket and create repeatedly this fall. In doing so, he’s closer to a situation when Young should just throw it away and protect himself as opposed to, as Nick Saban described it, a “bad position.” With one loss, the Tide can’t afford to lose Young down the stretch. Can he and the offense curb the risk-filled part of his play style?

“Sometimes he scrambles and runs and gets hit. … We don’t want that to happen and we need to do a better job to be sure that doesn’t happen. But can we eliminate it happening and will he ever be a guy that doesn’t do everything he can to help the team be successful and help that play have a chance to be successful? I don’t think so. I think that’s why he is what he is. It’s why he is a great player because of that. So I don’t know how to change that,” Saban said.

He threw for 455 yards on 35 completions for a pair of touchdowns as the Tide scored 49 points last Saturday. (Young said postgame his shoulder was “fine.”) As one third-quarter drive spiraled, Alabama facing third-and-goal from the 16-yard line, Young changed the protection late, spun past an untouched blitzer and juked two more orange jerseys before tossing a prayer to the end zone, drawing a pass interference flag.

It was similar to his 7-yard touchdown pass to Jahmyr Gibbs in the Texas comeback and also matched the Drew Sanders sack against the Razorbacks.

“He could have thrown the ball away (at Arkansas) before and he could have just let the guy tackle him. In either case, he probably wouldn’t have an issue. But putting himself in the awkward position of trying to throw the ball on his way down, and then landing the way he did, just try to avoid those types of circumstances and situations for any injury,” Saban said. “But again, that’s not a criticism, it’s a teaching moment that players have to learn.”

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Alabama’s rotating group of offensive linemen has allowed 10 sacks, tied for the sixth-fewest in the conference. Young has taken six of them. Junior guard Javion Cohen said Young is “very” active in adjusting blocking schemes and changing routes prior to the snap. Young will often burn the clock down to its final seconds, trying to get a defense to show its plan, ensuring the Tide’s blockers know who’s coming.

Young has said this year he’ll “keep taking what the defensive gives,” whether that be quick hitters or a chance for a deep ball. Sometimes unlocking a secondary has meant putting himself in the crosshairs, as there were a few instances against the Vols Young appeared to feign running only to pop up and find a now-uncovered target.

“The thing about great competitors,” Saban said, “and Bryce is a great competitor, is they always want to make a play. They’re going to go to the last -nth degree to make a play. But sometimes you’ve got to know when there’s no play to be made.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].