Young garnered 684 first-place votes and 2,311 points overall, easily outdistancing second-place finisher Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan defensive lineman, 78 first-place votes, 954 points), third-place finisher Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh QB, 28 first-place votes, 631 points), and fourth-place finisher C.J. Stroud (Ohio State QB, 12 first-place votes, 399 points). Also of note was the fifth-place finisher, Young's teammate Will Anderson; the linebacker had 32.5 tackles during the season.

Young cemented his status as a serious contender for the nation's highest college football award by leading his team on a 97-yard touchdown drive against arch-rival Auburn; that touchdown tied the game, and Alabama eventually prevailed 24–22 in the fourth overtime. Young also lit up the shutdown Georgia defense for 421 yards in the SEC title game, propelling the Crimson Tide to a dominating 41–24 win. Alabama finished the season 12–1, the lone loss coming against Texas A&M.

The Heisman win was a repeat for the University of Alabama. The 2020 winner was wide receiver DeVonta Smith. It was to Smith that Bryce threw his first collegiate touchdown pass.

Bryce is the first Alabama quarterback to win the coveted Heisman award and the fourth overall from that university. The other two previous Crimson Tide winners were Mark Ingram in 2009 and Derric Henry in 2015. Alabama ranks fifth as a university in Heisman Trophy winners. Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Southern California have each won seven.

Bryce had earlier won other top national prizes the Maxwell Award, given by the Maxwell Memorial Football Club of Philadelphia to the nation's top player, and the Davey O'Brien Award, named for the famed Notre Dame quarterback and given to the nation's top signal-caller.

The Heisman Trophy is an annual award given to the college football player who is voted the top in the nation by a combination of former Heisman winners and members of the media.

Named for pioneering George Tech coach John Heisman, the award was created in 1935 at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York. (It was named the Downtown Athletic Club trophy the first year but was renamed in 1936, after Heisman's death.)

List of winners