It turns out the quarterback position is pretty important, huh?

You, of course, should have already known that, but if you needed a refresher on how much a team’s fortunates hinge on the quarterback, you had plenty of examples to choose from throughout the Southeastern Conference on Saturday.

Kentucky learned that lesson without Will Levis in a 24-14 loss to unranked South Carolina. Arkansas realized it without K.J. Jefferson in a 40-17 blowout defeat against No. 23 Mississippi State.

And you better believe Alabama discovered that without Bryce Young Saturday night against Texas A&M.

Unlike Kentucky and Arkansas, Alabama survived without its star quarterback and got the win but looked eminently vulnerable. The biggest question in college football this week will be whether Young, who was available but didn’t play against A&M, can start against a hot Tennessee team next week in Knoxville. Without Young under center, Alabama will be in trouble.

No one was questioning Young’s worth to this Alabama team before the A&M game, but still, fans got a good reminder of how critically important he is if the Crimson Tide is going to achieve its lofty expectations. Outside of Young and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, this is an Alabama offense devoid of big playmakers and features shaky play-calling from offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. The offensive performance we saw Saturday night under the Bryant-Denny Stadium lights might not be good enough to win an SEC championship, let alone a national one.

Alabama struggled right out of the gate against Texas A&M, punting after its first three offensive drives. That might have made punt enthusiasts Kirk Ferentz, Pat McAfee and Michael Casagrande happy, but quickly cranked up the fan anxiety in Tuscaloosa. Alabama never really looked in rhythm offensively, finishing only 5 of 14 on third-down attempts and even Will Reichard looked out of sorts with two missed field goals. The glue that kept Alabama together was gone, and you saw the consequences.

Young is like the ultimate Mr. Fix It when he’s out on the field, calmly covering up Alabama’s flaws. Without Young, you start noticing a lot more holes in the walls, clothes all over the floor and cabinets askew in the Tide house.

Jalen Milroe was good enough to beat Texas A&M — he might want to send a fruit basket to Mr. Will Anderson for the assist, but he’s obviously no Bryce Young. Three turnovers can’t happen against a good team, and he should feel fortunate that it wasn’t Alabama’s demise. It was evident Saturday that O’Brien and Co. don’t fully trust Milroe as a passer based on the calls and situations the coaching staff put him in. He’s dynamic as a runner, totaling 83 rushing yards, but he wasn’t able to do much in the passing game against the Aggies. Alabama’s leading receiver, Jermaine Burton, had three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown.

“I think he did a good job making some plays scrambling with his feet, but we had 111 yards passing, and that’s certainly not our goal,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “So, something in the passing game needs to get better, and I’m not putting it all on him. I’m just saying we need to do a better job in protection, we need to do a better job route running and we need to do a better job of being able to make good decisions in the pocket so we don’t have negative plays.”

The unspoken part from Saban was we really need Bryce back because he ameliorates all those deficiencies. Following in the footsteps of future NFL starting quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones sometimes obscures how special Young is because everyone just expects Alabama’s offense to deliver big points now. The Tide should submit Saturday’s struggles against the Aggies as part of Young’s Heisman campaign to remind voters just how valuable he is to the team and how lost the offense looks without him. He doesn’t have nearly the same caliber of offensive weapons as either of his most recent predecessors who benefited from DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Jerry Jeudy and Najee Harris, among others.

Alabama would have lost to Texas in Week 2 without Young at the helm, and it risks losing multiple games moving forward if he can’t return and play at the level we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the Heisman Trophy winner. Saban said afterwards Young wanted to get on the field at the end of the game which isn’t a bad sign but more an indicator of his competitiveness than a clue on when he’ll play next.

Up next is a red-hot Tennessee team that is the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense (46.6 points per game) and features a quarterback (Hendon Hooker) that has a strong argument as one of the nation’s best. The Volunteers are going to put up points, even against this stout Alabama defense, and the Tide will have to keep up. And what we were all reminded of Saturday is this offensively-limited Alabama team will badly need Young in order to do so.

Goodman: The sideshow is over, Tennessee Week is here

RELATED: How lipreading Alabama CB saved Tide on final play to beat Texas A&M

Most pumped fanbase: UCLA

Maybe not the most pumped fanbase based on game attendance as UCLA is a weekly Twitter target for bad crowd shots, but the program is rolling right now. After a 42-32 win over No. 11 Utah, UCLA has a real case as the Pac-12′s top team and is a dark horse College Football Playoff contender. Chip Kelly’s seat was warming up in recent years, but a 6-0 start has quieted the critics and has the tens of fans showing up to the games dreaming big.

Most panicked fanbase: Stanford

What a brutal way to lose a game, Stanford. It happened late at night so the majority of America probably didn’t see it which has been one of the reasons Stanford’s nosedive hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. The Cardinal hasn’t beaten an FBS opponent in more than a year as it has slipped into irrelevancy. David Shaw is 3-12 in his last 15 games and the good old days look long gone.

Top 5 Week 7 SEC games:

1) No. 1 Alabama at No. 8 Tennessee (2:30 p.m. CT): The most highly-anticipated Third Saturday in October in a long time. Neyland Stadium will be ROCKING.

2) No. 23 Mississippi State at No. 13 Kentucky (6:30 p.m. CT): A hot Mississippi State team against a Kentucky squad that hit a road bump without Will Levis.

3) Arkansas at No. 16 BYU (2:30 p.m. CT): The Razorbacks were one of the early darling teams but have come crashing down to earth in recent weeks. A road win over a good BYU team would do a lot to restore confidence.

4) LSU at Florida (6:00 p.m. CT): A battle between two first-year head coaches who guide OK but not very good teams. Should be a rock fight.

5) Auburn at No. 9 Ole Miss (11:00 a.m. CT): Old coach meets the new coach? Bryan Harsin Watch will be in full effect during this game ahead of Auburn’s bye.

John Talty is the sports editor and SEC Insider for Alabama Media Group. He is the bestselling author of “The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban: How Alabama’s Coach Became the Greatest Ever.”