Rejoice, for this is the day we Gump. I’ve decided to allow the return of Gump day after a three-week absence where you were all a buncha’ faithless negative Nancies. So, let’s get to it, and Gump to a standard.
Oh, and please vote in the poll. We had a technical problem, but it may be sorted out now. And the more responses we can get, the better. Thanks.
Let’s begin with ESPN’s ranking of all 136 QB Starters in the country. And, lo and behold, where do we find Simpson:
8. Ty Simpson, Alabama
Total QBR:
84.2 | Pass Yds: 1,138 | Rush Yds: 86 | Total TDs: 13
In his first road start of 2025, against Florida State, Simpson was stressed and inaccurate. In his second road start, he beat Georgia, throwing for 276 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another score (and two other first downs). Projected over 13 games, he’s on pace for 3,700 passing yards, 42 combined touchdowns and, at the moment, zero interceptions. First impressions are rarely accurate.
Just as we observed in Sunday’s #Tysman piece, what Simpson is doing is far greater than the sum of his stats.
And, in a very crowded week of great QB performances, Simpson’s play netted him the Davey O’Brien player of the week, given solely to quarterback play:
FORT WORTH, Texas (Sept. 30, 2025) – Alabama junior Ty Simpson has been named the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week for his play in the Crimson Tide’s 24-21 road win over No. 5 Georgia on Saturday.
In the outing, Simpson connected on 24 of 38 passes (63.2 percent) for 276 yards. He accounted for all three Alabama touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and helped the Tide amass 397 yards of total offense and 25 first downs against the Bulldogs’ stout defense.
Simpson finished with a total quarterback rating of 90.1. He also was named the SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
That’s apt to not be the last of these awards for Simpson. And, as much as we don’t want to talk about these sorts of accolades, if the wins stack up and Ty’s play continues on its torrid pace, we’re going to keep hearing more and more about them. It’s more noise to block out, sure. But it is deserved noise. The next five weeks he has a remarkable chance to vault ‘Bama into the top three or four, and take a commanding lead for those honors: Alabama faces four ranked opponents in its next five games, and three of those teams are undefeated — ‘Bama could be the one to hand UGA, Mizzou, Vandy, and Oklahoma their first losses of the year.
CBS is even higher on Simpson, though I’m not sure how Pavia vaulted from 6th to 2nd beating Utah State at home, leaping Simpson who had that night in Athens.
5. Ty Simpson, Alabama
Suddenly, Simpson is the one rising up the Heisman Trophy odds after leading the Crimson Tide to another win against Georgia. The first-year starter is one of just three Power Four quarterbacks with at least 120 pass attempts without an interception so far this season. Under coach Kalen DeBoer, the offensive system is starting to click, and coordinator Ryan Grubb has tailored the scheme perfectly to Simpson’s strengths. Last week: 5
Individual play is nice, but all of that is background noise for now though, as this is a team learning how to tune out the rat poison. Consider this egregious psyop by Vandy’s Clark Lea, comparing ‘Bama to both the 2020 title team and DeBoer’s 2023 Huskies.
The offense resembles that group that they took to the championship game at Washington,” Lea said. “It’s got that kind of feel to it. They’re throwing the ball really well, they’ve got a great run game. You can see the influence of the coordinator in that and they present challenges.”
We can certainly quibble over “great run game,” but to Grubb’s credit, he is going to fake it until he makes it. Usually you don’t want to see a coach artificially lean into balance for its own sake. But it was critical Saturday in Athens, as both a means to occupy Georgia defenders, and in taking the air out of the ball in the second half.
Lea’s comparison is a facile one too. If anything, this team reminds you of the 2021 Crimson Tide: Outstanding third down team that relies on its passing game to do damage. A very mediocre running game that nevertheless is a critical part of the offense. A passing attack that uses a lot of run substitutes to the ‘backs and relies much more on YAC than deep shots for its explosives. A defensive line with serious deficiencies against the run that nevertheless plays just well enough to get stops and force third down stops. Duo of dynamic wideouts, each with very difference skills. Defensive backs that generally play well, but were not great tacklers and were good for one or two baffling busts a game. Ad infinitum.
It’s not a perfect fit, but that team managed to play its way to the national title one intermediate pass at a time. What about this one? That’s the rub, isn’t it? It’s going to be about who can tune out the most noise. Which staff will have their team ready for a full sixty minutes. Who’s mentally tougher. Which quarterback will make the most plays and put their mates into position to win.
One game at a time. But you can be certain that both coaches will be preaching the same general message that Lea has for his team:
“It will be about us,” Lea said. “That’s how we see it. We need to go and play our game, not get caught up in the environment. Should be a great atmosphere for college football. Not get caught up in the externals round the game, but simply focus on playing good football.”
For Alabama, there is the added task of avoiding complacency. It was a test they failed last year and right out of the gate this season.
And, boy does that defense need cleaning up on the run. Domani Jackson had his worst game in a Crimson uniform, making business decisions that were so piss poor, I could have sworn he was point shaving. And the coaches and defensive captains know how bad it was too.
They’re going to have to stop Pavia though, first. The dual-threat double-plus super senior had the game of his life last season, and much of it began on the ground:
Pavia either passed or rushed the ball on more than half of Vanderbilt’s plays in its 40-35 upset of Alabama in 2024. He was 16-of-20 passing for 252 yards and threw two touchdowns while rushing 20 times for 56 yards. Vanderbilt held onto the ball for a staggering 42:08 of the game’s 60 minutes and had seven drives of at least seven plays, including a 17-play, 75-yard TD drive in the second quarter that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock.
Those 20 carries? Seven of them were on third down — he reset the chains on five of them. Part of Vanderbilt’s otherwordly efficiency that afternoon mirrored ‘Bama’s on Saturday night: third down success. And the Tide is going to have to be a lot better prepared than they were a year ago, and a lot more fundamentally sound than they were this weekend. That begins with first-down success, and third-down assignment soundness.
DeBoer and some of ‘Bama’s leaders are certainly sounding like their heads are in the right places:
On Monday, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer spoke about last year’s team not handling success well.
“And so no different this week, right, and our success that we had on Saturday,” he said. “None of it matters. None of it carries over — the third-down stops, the third-down execution on offense, it doesn’t matter. Points don’t carry over. Every game is its own game. There’s new matchups that will be presented in this game that were different than last week.”
Overton echoed that sentiment when asked about the team’s mindset heading into the rematch.
“Same mindset we have for every team,” he said. “Going into the season, we don’t really treat anybody different. Regardless of what happened last year, it’s a new year.”
And that mindset would be what exactly?
“Honestly, just out-physical the other team,” Overton explained. “Like, every play. It’s the SEC. It’s what the SEC is all about — who’s going to out-physical who the most and who’s going to continue to do it play by play? Who’s going to give up?”
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“They’re not the same team as last year, but neither are we,” Simpson said. “They’re better, and we’re better in some ways. This a top-25 match-up. College Gameday coming in here. This is a really, really good Vanderbilt team. If not one of the biggest games of the year. We need to come in with a mentality like we have been all these past couple of games, chip on our shoulder and play Alabama against the world.”
Added Simpson: “We’re the man in the arena, right? No matter where we play and who’s it against, we’re the gladiators and that’s the Coliseum.”
There’s a lot on the line Saturday, and a lot to prove. But I think the biggest challenge may be the one ‘Bama has had difficulties mastering the last several seasons: overcoming their own headspace. It should be a great game…nd all eyes are going to be on two unexpected stars, and one nascent supervillain.
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And, finally, your moment of levity. A classic from the dawn of the internet. There has never been a more quotable one minute in history than this absolute legend.
That’s it for now. Bront has his (exceptionally pessimistic) preview of the Vandy offense up (link below), and we’ll be back later with Giving Away Money.
Have a great morning. Row Tahd, and don’t forget to tick a box on the poll below too — we really need to get this sorted out. Thanks
