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The Tuscaloosa News
Alabama football's Ty Simpson has arrived and might be the SEC's best QB | Goodbread
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Alabama football's Ty Simpson has arrived and might be the SEC's best QB | Goodbread
ATHENS, Ga. — As of the weekend, Heisman Trophy oddsmakers listed 11 quarterbacks in college football ahead of Ty Simpson . One of them, Georgia 's Gunner Stockton , might not be higher when odds are updated. But the Alabama football quarterback did something none of the others have ever accomplished on Saturday − he went into Sanford Stadium and beat the Bulldogs − so forgive coach Kalen DeBoer if there's nobody else he'd rather have.
Following the Crimson Tide's 24-21 win over Georgia, we now know that Alabama has itself a big-time quarterback. And no, we didn't know that already. After a decent performance in a season-opening loss to Florida State and his dismantling of lesser-talented Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin in subsequent weeks, the Crimson Tide held hope that it had something special in the fourth-year junior. But it wasn't a certainty until the Bulldogs' 33-game home win streak, dating back to October of 2019, came crashing down.
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Simpson finished 24 of 38 passes for 276 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But beyond the statistics, consider the circumstances under which he led Alabama to an upset of the third-ranked Bulldogs:
He did it without much help from his running game.
He did it without much help from Ryan Williams .
And he did it on the road, against a talented defense in just his fourth career start.
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What Georgia fans witnessed, along with a galling loss that dropped coach Kirby Smart's record against the Crimson Tide to 1-7, was the arrival of a quarterback who now must be considered among the SEC's best. Perhaps its very best, although the remaining two-thirds of the regular season will be required to stamp that claim. Simpson carved up the Georgia secondary drive after drive, amassing 111 yards in the first quarter alone and maintaining impressive command of a highly-efficient offense.
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Alabama's running backs found little room against the Georgia defensive front, but Simpson overcame that with an array of quick, short passes that allowed UA to move the chains consistently. As for Williams, the star receiver dropped a would-be touchdown pass on a perfectly-thrown deep ball from Simpson in the first quarter.
But Simpson's hand was so hot, it didn't matter.
Well-protected by the offensive line, he identified some wide-open spaces in the Georgia secondary while spreading completions to a wide assortment of pass-catchers. On his second touchdown pass, a 6-yard throw to Isaiah Horton , he rolled to his right and went through multiple reads before finding Horton wide open in the back of the Bulldogs end zone. He trusted the pocket when downfield throws were needed, scrambled at opportune moments and, apart from a few second-half hiccups, converted first downs like clockwork.
His command was evident before the snap as well. When audibling to a different play with the Georgia crowd ratcheting up the noise, Simpson didn't assume his teammates would hear the call. So he walked over to his tackles and tight ends as the play clock ran down to make sure each understood the change, then calmly returned to his position in plenty of time to receive the snap.
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It was a level of poise the setting demanded, and Simpson didn't disappoint.
Instead, he arrived.
Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football's Ty Simpson has arrived and might be SEC's best QB
