Can Alabama QB Ty Simpson continue 'let it rip' mentality vs Indiana?
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Sure, Alabama football QB Ty Simpson was statistically better in the second half of UA’s 34-24 comeback win over Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff. But beyond the stats, he looked like the Ty Simpson who was a Heisman Trophy candidate back in October. The intangibles of confidence and poise, essential in a quarterback helming a comeback from a 17-point deficit, were evident throughout the second half.
That’s the Simpson the Crimson Tide will most definitely need when it travels to Pasadena, Calif., on Monday to begin on-site preparations for a CFP quarterfinal against Indiana in the Rose Bowl. The Hoosiers feature Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza at quarterback, but Simpson in midseason form is as good as any quarterback in the country has played.
And Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb saw it coming.
“I feel like Ty was going to be ready for that moment. That’s how it felt talking to him on the headset, that if we got that moment, he was going to make the throw and we were going to make the catch,” Grubb said.
Alabama was tied with host Oklahoma 17-17 at the half, at which point Simpson had completed 9 of 16 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. In the second half, he was 9-of-13 for 129 and another score, with a couple of dropped passes to blame for his production not being still better.
It came none too soon after Simpson struggled for much of November, as well as in an SEC Championship Game loss to Georgia.
“As far as where it came from, I think there was a mindset going into the game that was embedded in Ty. I think it was one that you saw in the Georgia game earlier in the year where there was a little bit of the ‘Let it rip’ mentality, not worrying so much about what’s going on around him or how this could affect anything else, other than just playing,” Grubb said. “… he was in the zone as far as staying locked into the game. I felt like he knew we were going to make a play. We got a couple man coverage looks that we’d been wanting that we won on, and (Lotzeir Brooks) got it all sparked when he hit that third down on a man opportunity.”
Reach Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Can Alabama QB Ty Simpson continue ‘let it rip’ mentality vs Indiana?
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos