Coming into the season, it appeared as though Ty Simpson simply had to be a game manager for Alabama to compete for the SEC Title. However, after the Crimson Tide’s Week 1 loss to Florida State, their struggles to run the ball and stop the run, it became obvious that Kalen DeBoer needed much more out of his redshirt junior. And in the three starts since that loss, he’s gotten it.
Simpson was near perfect against Louisiana Monroe and Wisconsin, throwing with accuracy and anticipation to all levels of the field. But that was ULM and Wisconsin. Week 5 was when we’d learn which Ty Simpson is the real Ty Simpson, and the real Ty Simpson is the real deal.
For the second-straight year, Alabama jumped Georgia in the first half, this time scoring all 24 points it would need to secure another win over Kirby Smart before the intermission. So, let’s dig into the quarterback’s role in the SEC opener and grade Simpson’s most important performance of the year so far.
Ty Simpson has so much offensive responsibility to carry for the Crimson Tide. The run game, even with the return of Jam Miller from a fall camp dislocated collarbone, has been non-existent, producing -0.15 EPA/rush on Saturday. So, Simpson has to operate in obvious passing situations, often without the threat of play-action, and win as a true dropback passer, and in the first half, he did, especially on third downs.
Alabama converted nine of its 11 first downs in the first half and finished with a 65 percent late-down success rate. That was the difference between Simpson and Stockton, whose Dawgs converted at a 22 percent clip.
Georgia played a lot of man coverage in the first half, and Simpson torched it. The Tide has too much talent at wide receiver for any secondary to cover if Simspon is protected, and he was protected. Not sacked a single time, and only pressured on nine of his 41 dropbacks.
He was able to step into throws, especially over the middle of the field, where he was lethal, connecting on six of his seven attempts between the numbers and 10-19 yards downfield for 82 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a credit to his anticipation, his accuracy, and at times to his arm strength, which is more than passable, especially when he can hitch up and crow hop into throws to fit them into tight windows with extra velocity.
Now, Georgia does not have a dominant pass rusher on its defense this year. So, it could be more of a reflection on the Bulldogs’ defensive issues than Alabama’s offensive line improvement, but the trend of keeping Simpson clean will need to continue because he went 3-for-8 for 24 yards under pressure with his only turnover-worthy play of the game, a ball that absolutely should have been intercepted by KJ Bolden in the first quarter.
Smart came out in the second half playing much more zone and bringing fewer rushers, and it resulted in two scoreless quarters for the Alabama offense. That’s more of an indictment of the run game, but that’s the context that Simpson finds himself in, and it’s not changing, so he has to find a way to move the ball consistently.
The best way to beat two-high zone looks is to run the defense out of it, and if Alabama can’t do that the traditional way, Simpson may need to look to scramble more going forward. He scrambled just twice for 12 yards on Saturday.