The best quarterback in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night will be in crimson. That will be, of course, Alabama Crimson Tide QB, Ty Simpson. In recent weeks, multiple sources have called Tennessee's Joey Aguilar the SEC's best quarterback. Matt Melton of Roll Tide Wire made the same statement this week. Matt is a good guy who does good work. And technically, when Matt wrote that Aguilar is the "SEC's leading passer," the statement was narrowly correct. Aguilar has passed for more yards this season than any other SEC quarterback.
Aguilar has 1,680 passing yards. Ty Simpson is No. 2 for that stat with 1,678 yards. Aguilar's average passing attempt also only slightly surpasses Simpson's. The Tennessee QB averages 9.2 yards, compared to Simpson at 8.9 yards.
Aguilar is way down the SEC list in completion percentage. He has completed 64.8% of his passes, ranking him No. 9 among SEC quarterbacks. Ty Simpson is No. 3 with a success rate of 70.9%. Simpson leads the SEC in Passer Rating at 172.36. Aguilar is No. 4 at 162.67.
The best comparison of the two quarterbacks strongly favors the Alabama Crimson Tide. Ty Simpson has thrown 16 touchdown passes and just one interception. Joey Aguilar has 14 touchdown passes and five interceptions.
The two teams are not close in terms of SOS. This may be the only reason that Simpson has been pressured more frequently than Aguilar. Simpson's edge in stats is even more impressive considering he has done it against generally tougher defenses than Aguilar. If the Vols can frequently get to Simpson on Saturday night, Tennessee has a chance to win. If they do not, the Tennessee secondary will not hold up.
Ty Simpson to propel the Alabama Crimson Tide past the Vols
The Ty Simpson who struggled against Florida State has blossomed in successive weeks. A recent CBS Sports ranking of college football's best quarterbacks had Ty Simpson No. 1. Even under pressure, Simpson finds ways to make key plays. Given time to work through progressions, he carves up defenses. Describing the CBS ranking of Simpson as No. 1, David Cobb wrote, " Simpson was diabolically clutch in a game-defining fourth quarter drive during Alabama's 27-24 win at Missouri."
Note: Multiple player stats provided by cfbstats.com