Bryce Young is all smiles.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback laughed with Alabama coach Nick Saban on the field during the Mississippi State game. He laughed when he was asked about Jayden Daniels.

But make no mistake the Alabama quarterback is as focused and determined ever. In a fun interview with ESPN that was broadcast during “College GameDay,” Young said his No. 6 Crimson Tide has learned a lot about itself since the 52-49 loss in Knoxville to Tennessee on a last-second field goal.

“That highlighted a lot of things as a team that we have to improve on,” he said. “We have a lot of urgency. When you feel the pain of defeat, you don’t want to feel it again.”

Young and the Tide made sure that emotion wasn’t on tap against Mississippi State, a game in which Alabama cruised to a 30-6 win. In that game, as pointed out previously, there was a moment on the sideline in which Young and Saban laughed during a shared a moment.

The quarterback, once again, just laughed.

“I do recall the moment,” a smiling Saban told ESPN in the piece. “He’s kind of gone through some adversity these last few weeks in dealing with injuries, so I was kind of proud of the fact that he went out and did a really good job. But I don’t want the players to smile until the game is over. So, that might have been a little bit of a mistake on my part to be smiling before the game was over.”

Young added that the mutual respect the two share as competitors is a reason the two can have such moments.

“I’ve been able to learn so much from him,” he said.

Now, Saban and Young head to Baton Rouge to face quarterback Jayden Daniels and the LSU Tigers. It isn’t the first time Young has tangled with Daniels.

“We’re both kids from southern California,” Daniels said. “I played Bryce when we were younger in little league pop warner. We beat his team a couple of times.”

The smiling Young conceded the points.

“I’m not going to lie,” Young said. “I’m an honest guy. We were never able to beat them. I used to play safety, and I wasn’t the most physical player, but I was a pretty sure tackler. The only person that has like made me miss was Jayden.”

On Saturday, it would appear Young’s smile will dissipate but only briefly.

“We’re all even more locked in than we have been,” he said. “There is an intensity and focus about the team.”

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.