Happy Thursday, everyone. The injury report has no surprises for Alabama this week.
Alabama Initial Availability Report: Wednesday, Oct. 22
Qua Russaw, LB — Out
Jah-Marien Latham, LB — Out
Cayden Jones, LB — Out
Jeremiah Beaman, DL — OutSouth Carolina Initial Availability Report: Wednesday, Oct. 22
Cason Henry, OL — Out
Jatavius Shivers, OL — Questionable
Monkell Goodwine, DL — Probable
Nolan Hay, OL — Probable
We should get Qua back later in the season, but this is the healthiest Alabama has been in a while.
May they stay that way headed into the bye week. For South Carolina, Cason Henry had started the last 20 consecutive games at right tackle before suffering a season ending knee injury last week. That offensive line has already been maligned, and now loses one of its best pieces.
Bottom line, this is an opponent that is down at the moment and Alabama should handle them. This may be the biggest test yet for the program.
So Alabama won all the big games. Now it has a small one.
If Alabama is truly reformed from a 2024 season where it failed to win 10 games for the first time since 2007, Saturday’s matchup with South Carolina is crucial. Every time it seemed the Crimson Tide was building momentum last year, UA squandered it against a team it should have beaten handily, whether Vanderbilt, Oklahoma or Michigan.
Even to start this season, its become even more clear than it was at the time that the Crimson Tide should have beaten Florida State. With South Carolina still a dangerous team with a dangerous quarterback in LaNorris Sellers, a one-SEC win program is suddenly a prove-it moment for UA.
After a little bit of a hiccup, these are good days for Alabama fans. The Crimson Tide are riding a six-game winning streak, including four straight over ranked teams. Quarterback Ty Simpson tops the Heisman betting leaderboard. Ryan Williams, now an aged 18, is back to catching everything thrown in his area code. Massive Kadyn Proctor has become the unlikeliest offensive weapon in recent memory.
All of this has Alabama fans, who never lack for confidence, standing a little taller these days. Head coach Kalen DeBoer, hoodie and all, has worked his way into fans’ good graces the best way possible — a string of decisive Ws. The lackluster season-opening loss to Florida State is looking more like a strange aberration, and last year’s sputtering finish is a distant, ugly memory.
The parallels between this South Carolina squad and 2024 Oklahoma are interesting. It’s a road game against an opponent with a tough defense, a big athletic QB, and a mediocre record. Last season, Jackson Arnold came into the Alabama game averaging just under 30 rushing yards per game and proceeded to rumble for 131 against the Tide. LaNorris Sellers has averaged about 15 yards a game this season thanks to getting sacked more often than a three dollar whore, but he has shown the ability to run wild and is a bear to tackle.
Kalen DeBoer is saying the right things about the matchup.
“We aren’t done with the stretch. We’re still in the stretch,” DeBoer said on the SEC coaches media teleconference. “We’re not thinking ahead to next week with the bye week. We’re in the middle of our season. We’re in the middle of the fight. This is where teams really separate themselves. Some just try and get through the back half of the year. We want to keep the pedal down and keep attacking, getting better. I feel like our guys really have understood how we have gotten to this point and the intentionality, the discipline to the process that goes into each and every week into being successful on Saturday.”
Ty Simpson is rightfully getting attention for the way he has led this team from the quarterback position. According to DeBoer, he has stayed focused on the team goals as a leader should.
“I mean, in our building he’s not bringing it up,” DeBoer said. “Our coaches aren’t bringing it up. Everyone knows, I think, that individual accolades come along when your team is successful, and especially when you’re the quarterback if you’re winning football games., and with our system revolving around a lot of what the quarterback can do, that will take care of itself if we continue to win.”
Simpson has thrown for 1,931 yards so far this season, completing 153 out of 218 passes along the way. He’s gone for 18 touchdowns through the air, alongside just one interception.
Ty did open up about the difficulty of sitting for three full seasons.
Alabama football QB Ty Simpson has made the most of a lengthy wait to get on the field, emerging as a Heisman Trophy candidate for one of the top teams in the nation. But could the Crimson Tide’s offensive star have been as successful had he been given the chance sooner?
“Who knows?,” Simpson said. “It didn’t happen. But I’m glad God’s put me here. I’m more mature, I understand things better. (I’m) letting the game come to me and not trying to do too much. Just having fun. A lot of times in my years past … (I was) just kind of miserable walking into the building, not knowing what I’m going to get into, not knowing how it’s going to go today, instead of just embracing it and understanding my role.”
I think it’s fair to say that we’re happy he stuck around.
Count South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer among those impressed with Simpson.
“I texted his dad a couple nights ago,” Beamer said on Wednesday. “I was sitting there watching their offense on tape, and some of the throws Ty [Simpson] has made this season — I mean, they’re as good as any I’ve seen in a long time. Whether it be clutch plays like that fourth down against Missouri — they’ve got great coverage — he makes a heck of a throw. Or some of the pressure he was under against Tennessee the other night, and he’s still able to sit in the pocket. Tennessee’s got great coverage on a receiver, and Ty literally put the ball where only the receiver could catch it. I mean, they’re literally perfect throws while he’s under duress. To say he’s hot right now is an understatement, and that’ll be a big challenge for us.”
Colin Gay has a cool profile on Kadyn Proctor. Can you imagine seeing that dude on a basketball court?
“Success finds people that do things the right way, that work really hard at something, that are high character,” Nolting said. “None of this is a shock or surprise. If you see his development, you would know who he was as a young person. He’s done things the right way for a long time. He’s invested a lot for a long time. And he’s starting to reap the benefits of that.”
To Zelenovich, Proctor was “shaped” by his struggle.
“(It) made him think there was still work to do,” Zelenovich said.
And as Jenkins watches Proctor with the Crimson Tide from afar, whether it’s as an NFL-bound offensive tackle or him lining up as a pass catcher, runner or a thrower, just like his ceremonial first pitch, all the former Southeast Polk basketball coach can do is chuckle.
“I would like to think catching a basketball as many times as he does, that helps him catch a football,” Jenkins said.
Enjoy this clip from Pat Surtain II and Terrion Arnold’s podcast.
We’re going to be getting great content from Saban era players for a long time.
Last, the SEC has apparently canned the crew led by referee Ken Williamson.
Auburn’s matchup with Georgia included unusually high-profile penalty calls.
Two sequences drew national attention: a late-second-quarter goal-line review that left both fan bases bereft, and a third-quarter sideline exchange in which Georgia coach Kirby Smart appeared to take a timeout before the play was ultimately reset without one being charged.
Georgia won 20-10.
Williamson, one of the conference’s longest-tenured white hats with a record of major postseason assignments, was the officiating crew chief for the game.
This is just perfect, all the way around. An incompetent crew got suspended, Auburn fans feel validated, and Hugh Freeze has an excuse. They may just give him the second chance to turn this around that he so richly deserves. It was clearly Williamson’s fault that Jackson Arnold managed only 137 passing yards on 31 tosses against the Dawgs. Leave Hugh alone and let him cook.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
