Ty Simpson was not Alabama football's quarterback in the Crimson Tide's 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt in 2024. But the field storm still hurt.
Simpson is a Tennessee native, growing up two-and-a-half hours from Nashville, and visited Vanderbilt as a recruit. Simpson was a part of a team that had just "found our identity" after a home win against No. 1 Georgia. The Crimson Tide had just gone to FirstBank Stadium, "didn't play our best," Simpson said, and Commodores fans took advantage, flooding the field to the echoes of Nick Saban's comments calling Vanderbilt the only place in the SEC where it's not hard to play.
"Nobody likes a field storm," Simpson said.
The Crimson Tide now has its chance to respond.
An undefeated Vanderbilt , now No. 17 in the country, will face No. 11 Alabama Saturday, Oct. 4. The Commodores are the first of three regular-season revenge games for the Crimson Tide, 2024 games that ended in Nashville, Knoxville and Norman with opposing fans storming the field.
And nothing is changing for Alabama as preparation for Vanderbilt begins after a win against a top-five Georgia team , just like 2024.
"At the end of the day, we treat every team the same," Alabama defensive lineman LT Overton said. "Same mindset, same grit. We practice the same. Same practice for every team. Don't matter if it's ULM, Western Kentucky, don't matter."
The revenge mindset of games against Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma actually fueled the months leading up to the 2026 season.
"From day one, (it was) just kind of like, 'We don't want to feel like this anymore,'" Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas said.
In Alabama football history, that approach has worked.
Before the 2024 season, Alabama had had opposing fans storm the field after wins against the Crimson Tide seven times since fines for the action were implemented in 2004. Auburn rushed after wins against Alabama in 2013, 2017 and 2019, while Ole Miss (2014), Texas A&M (2021), LSU (2022) and Tennessee (2022) fans each stormed the field after wins against the Crimson Tide.
Six of the seven "response games" at Bryant-Denny Stadium against each opponent a season later ended in wins. Five of those wins were by double digits.
One ended in an Alabama loss. After falling to Ole Miss 23-17 in 2014, the Rebels traveled to Tuscaloosa and beat the Crimson Tide again, 43-37, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2015.
After Vanderbilt, Alabama will have "response games" at home against Tennessee Oct. 18, and against Oklahoma Nov. 15.
As Alabama prepares for Vanderbilt, Simpson wants his team to remember, to understand that last year happened and that the memories of the field storm aren't going anywhere.
With that comes a question, Simpson says: What is Alabama going to do about it?
The Crimson Tide is not focused on Vanderbilt. It's a team focused on themselves preparing for its next opponent, which so happens to be a Commodores team riding high.
"It's all about us," Simpson said. "Keep a chip on our shoulder. Alabama against the world. We're the man in the arena, right? No matter who we play and who it's against, we're the gladiators and that's the coliseum."
Alabama kicks off against Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football plans to exact revenge after Vanderbilt field storm
