Ty Simpson Shoulders Blame For Offensive Mistakes

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson had his streak of no turnovers ended on Saturday afternoon. On the Crimson Tide's opening drive of the game, he threw an interception, targeting tight end Josh Cuevas, into the hands of Vanderbilt cornerback Martel Hight.

Get our free mobile app

In addition to the interception, Simpson was sacked four times by the Commodores, stalling three Alabama drives in the redzone, where the Crimson Tide had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. The fourth sack killed an Alabama drive before it could start, with Simpson getting sacked in the shadow of his own endzone on first down. Alabama would go three-and-out on that drive.

In a 30-point performance, it felt like the Tide's offense took a step back and struggled on Saturday in the win over Vanderbilt. During his postgame conversation, Simpson shouldered the blame for the offensive miscues, despite throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns.

"Too many negative plays," he said, looking down at the stat sheet. "I took four sacks. I can't do that. I got to throw the ball away.

"Like, that's unacceptable, you know? Like, my guys worked so hard up front, and I got to have their back and not take sacks when I'm trying to make plays. I got to protect the ball, you know? Throwing interceptions, like, that's ridiculous."

He threw one interception, and it was his first of the season. But Simpson's leadership showed through in the moment, owning the mistake that led to Vanderbilt's first touchdown of the day.

"That's just bad ball on me," he said. "You know, it was a short-yardage play, right? We knew that they were gonna play one-high zone when we went short-yardage. But, you know, we talked about all week, 'Hey, corner, fall off. Corner, fall off.' And so, you know, we did a little play-action play to where it was a little flood concept, three-level stretch on the post. The corner took the post and gave it to the safety, fell off on the flood. I didn't see it, and I threw it right to him.

"It's just unacceptable on my part. I got to protect the ball in the fringe area. I can't take sacks. And I cost our team points."

He emphasized the need to get points when Alabama gets near the redzone.

"To be the best offense country, that's pretty much no excuses," he said. "I let my team down on that one, and I'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen."

That's a quarterback that many Alabama fans want leading their team. Even after a big day, Simpson took the blame for the mistakes, echoing his sentiment after the loss to Florida State in week one, where he said he would be better for the team and do whatever it takes for the Crimson Tide to win.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.