Ty Simpson Breaks Down Vanderbilt Interception, Pledges Not to Have Another

The Crimson Tide quarterback experienced his first interception of the season (and of his career) on Saturday.

Ty Simpson (15) against Vanderbilt. / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson had not thrown an interception as a collegiate player until Saturday against No. 16 Vanderbilt. The redshirt junior signal caller threw a first-quarter pick to Martel Hight on the game's opening drive.

It was a fourth-down play with one yard to go on the Commodores' 29. Conventional wisdom dictates running the football at that distance. The No. 10 Crimson Tide (4-1, 2-0 SEC) opted not to, sending Simpson back for a pass attempt. It resulted in Alabama's only turnover of the contest.

"That's just bad ball on me," Simpson said following the 30-14 victory. "It was a short-yardage play, right, we knew that they were gonna play one-high [safety] zone [in] short-yardage. We talked about it all week."

"We did a little play-action play, to where it's a little flood concept, three-level stretch," he added. "The corner took the post and gave it to the safety... I didn't see it. I threw it right to him. It's just unacceptable on my part."

Simpson didn't let the interception get to him. He finished his second SEC start with 340 yards on 23 completions and two touchdowns. He was able to distribute the ball well enough that senior Germie Bernard's scoring streak continued. That streak is now at four games; Simpson has 13 touchdown passes in 2025.

The quarterback's teammates have, naturally, not lost any faith in him. If that were the case after one turnover, it would probably be indicative of deeper problems. After all, Simpson has won four straight starts, two against ranked opponents. The locker room's support of Simpson was one of the factors in his triumph during the team's offseason quarterback competition.

"He improves every day," senior running back Jam Miller said. "If it's being a leader, becoming a better quarterback, he's just been great overall... [He's] always confident. Even if he did, say, make a bad play. He always got that positive energy going."

Simpson's offensive line thinks the sky is the limit for him. That includes left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who was once again included in the offensive game plan on Saturday.

"[He's] Heisman-level," Proctor said of Simpson. "That's what I see from him... He's poised. He keeps us all together. He keeps us tight. We're a tight-knit group. I'm [gonna] do everything that I can to protect him."

Mistakes can sometimes snowball. Whether that's because of a mindset shift, bad luck or something else, it's common in sports for one miscue to turn into another. Simpson does not expect that fate to befall him after Saturday.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen again," he said.

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