You never apologize for a win, and Alabama certainly won't after a 20-9 victory over LSU on Saturday night. But every player on the team, at least on offense, knows that the way the Crimson Tide performed on that side of the ball wasn't good enough against the Tigers.
An elite performance by the Tide's defense kept this game from some incredibly tense moments down the stretch. The offense mustered only three points in the second half. For the fourth time this season, Alabama scored three or fewer points in the third quarter. For the third time, they were shut out in the third.
For whatever reason, the offensive execution has not been good enough in the second half of games. It's a troubling trend, and one that could serve to deliver a loss sooner rather than later. With an elite Oklahoma defense looming next week, Ty Simpson knows that they're going to have to play a lot better than they did against LSU.
"I'm gonna be brutally honest, that's not up to our standard," Simpson said. "Everybody knows that. Everybody on offense knows that. But that's why we have a good defense. We've got to come out next week, playing a good Oklahoma team off a bye week ... we just hold on to the little things and details."
Ty Simpson said Alabama's offense was 'not up to our standard'
You won't find anyone in the locker room or in the fanbase who disagrees with what Simpson had to say. Alabama's offense has the potential to be so much better than it was against LSU. Even if the run game is what it is, Simpson and the passing offense had the potential to put this game away long before it did.
Simpson was just a little bit off on Saturday night. His timing just off with some of his receivers. A banged-up Ryan Williams doesn't help matters. And despite what many may believe about LSU, the Tigers do have a secondary littered with NFL-level talent.
If Simpson hits an open deep ball to Germie Bernard on Alabama's first possession of the third quarter, then the Tide builds a 24-6 lead, and that would've probably been all she wrote.
On the next drive, Alabama converted a couple of first downs before Simpson was stripped and fumbled for a fourth consecutive game. Alabama only had two more real possessions, with the final possession ending the game after just one first down.
With college football's new clock rules, the margins for error on offense are a lot smaller. That was only a five-possession second half for the Crimson Tide, and Alabama missed opportunities on two of them.
That could've easily cost Alabama the game. It will in the future if the execution isn't better.
Alabama fans have all the faith in the world in Simpson to bounce back. It's going to take elite QB play moving forward to have a shot at making a run toward the National Championship.