Ty Simpson's Mixed Bag in Tallahassee: Things I Noticed in Alabama's Loss to Florida State

The Alabama Crimson Tide went to Tallahassee for the 2025 season opener and were thoroughly surprised by the Seminoles, as a team that went 2-10 the year before, shocked the Crimson Tide in a 31-17 loss.

The Crimson Tide had trouble slowing down the Seminoles' running game, allowing Florida State a whopping 230 yards on the ground. The lackluster run defense served as the main storyline, but Alabama struggled offensively as well, scoring on just three drives and coming up empty on fourth down three different times.

New Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was tasked with calling plays for the new starting quarterback, redshirt junior Ty Simpson. Simpson completed 23-of-43 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns while adding 17 yards on nine carries.

"He's got to just trust his reads and just cut it loose sometimes and just let it fly, he can make the throws and just let it fly and throw on rhythm, throw on time," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said after the loss. "There might of been a time or two where they got in his face a little quick, that's going to happen, that's football, but just let it fly. Then some decision making there in certain critical moments and that's some things he's going to learn from. He's giving everything he has, but that's where, I know he's in the locker room wanting and wishing that there was some things that he would've done different, but there are other guys too. We've got to catch the ball for him once in a while. It's a full team sport, it's a whole offensive unit, that helps us move up and down the ball up and down the field. Yeah, the quarterback's the trigger man, but everyone's got to do their part to help the guy out."

Simpson gave Alabama a roller coaster performance in the season opener, making some impressive plays with his arm early and putting his body on the line throughout the game to keep Alabama's offense moving. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as accuracy and decision-making issues, combined with teammates missing assignments, kept the Crimson Tide from finding consistency and coming home with a win.

Simpson's Strong Moments

The redshirt junior's first pass of the day was a bit indicative of what the entire day would be like. Simpson found Germie Bernard on a 15-yard out route as he rolled to his right. Simpson's pass got to Bernard, but it was behind him, preventing the senior from making an even bigger play after the catch.

Most of Simpson's best success throughout the day came in targeting Bernard as the technician got himself open throughout the afternoon. Bernard was targeted 14 times and hauled in eight receptions for 146 yards as the team's most effective weapon in the season opener.

Grubb and Simpson thrived in Tallahassee with underneath routes that asked Ty to deliver the ball with accuracy. The Crimson Tide has numerous skill-position players who are capable with the ball in their hands, and getting the ball out quickly is a great way to help an inexperienced quarterback and offensive line break in new pieces.

Simpson was an effective distributor when he had stability in the pocket and saw the play develop as called. He completed three passes on the opening drive and took off and ran three times on the opening drive, showing decisiveness and an ability to keep the chains moving to open the game with a touchdown.

Simpson's Poor Decisions

The redshirt quarterback only had four plays against the Seminoles that looked like bad decisions, but four is plenty when you're fighting from behind in most of the game.

He tried to push the ball down the field to Bernard unsuccessfully on the first drive when he had Kaleb Edwards open in the flat and Ryan Williams breaking open on a backside dig route. Thankfully, his miss didn't prevent the Crimson Tide from scoring on the first drive.

Simpson missed again in the third quarter to Rico Scott as the Tide was down three scores, but his biggest decision-making error came in with a minute left in the third quarter. Simpson chose to throw to Ryan Williams on fourth-and-7 instead of using his legs to get the first down. Williams dropped the inaccurate pass and another Alabama drive was killed.

Simpson's Accuracy Issues

The Crimson Tide leaned heavily on Simpson in his first start as they had the redshirt junior deliver 43 passes in Doak-Campbell stadium. Unfortunately, Simspon threw 13 inaccurate passes, leading to incompletions, or preventing greater gains as receivers had to stop or slow down while passes arrived.

This was never on more display than on fourth-and-5 with 10:31 to play in the third quarter when Simpson did complete his pass to Kevin Riley, but the ball being high and behind him made him turn and leap in the air to receive it. Riley was tackled as he came back to the ground and stopped a yard short of the first down markers.

The Alabama quarterback must get more accurate in the short passing game if Grubb is going to continue to ask Simpson to get the ball out quickly and focus on precision to move the football.

Ty's Teammates Let Down the Alabama Quarterback

Simpson wasn't the only Alabama player to show inconsistencies. In fact, the entire offense, outside of Germie Bernard, showed areas of weakness.

Despite having more time in the pocket than Jackson Arnold, Arch Manning, Joey Aguilar and Garrett Nussmeier, according to Pro Football Focus, Simpson still struggled with pressure. The Seminoles pressured Simpson 14 times and got three sacks and two more quarterback hits to keep him off balance and cause his internal clock to speed up.

Alabama's star receiver Ryan Williams recorded three drops, and tight end Josh Cuevas chipped in with one of his own as Simpson tried to get the ball to his playmakers.

Alabama's quarterback wasn't the reason the Crimson Tide didn't win in Tallahassee but Simpson's play certainly left something to be desired. The new signal-caller didn't distribute the football accurately enough to keep the chains moving and couldn't find an explosive play to take the top off the Seminole's defense.

Simpson has two weeks until Alabama hosts Power 4 Wisconsin, making this week's practice and game against Louisiana-Monroe a great opportunity to clean up the decision-making and accuracy issues shown in Week 1.