Ty Simpson Working on 'Clean Throwaways' to Improve His Game

The Alabama quarterback is focusing on getting the ball out quicker as he prepares to face another talented defensive front.

Ty Simpson faces pressure against the Tennessee defense | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama's win over Tennessee was the first time all season that the Crimson Tide did not allow a sack against a Power Four opponent. A lot of that credit goes to the offensive line, but some of it also goes to quarterback Ty Simpson for making smart decisions with the football.

Simpson was sacked four times against Missouri and was very critical of himself following the victory about taking the sacks and holding on to the ball for too long. It became a big focus for Simpson heading into the Tennessee game and will once again be important this week going against a South Carolina front with some talented pass rushers.

"For Ty, there was two throws for sure that were clean throwaways that I thought he didn’t do the week before," Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said Monday. "I knew that was something going into the week that Ty was going to be really focused on, and we had talked about a lot, and it saved us some negative yardage hits for sure."

After his throwaway on second-and-10 with 10:02 left, Alabama's drive was extended with a pass interference on the next play. The Tide offense would go on to score on the drive with a four-yard touchdown run from Daniel Hill, putting the game away at 37-20.

However, there was another play on that same drive that was nearly a very costly mistake for Simpson and the Alabama offense. On third-and-2 from the Tennessee 11, Simpson tried to throw back across his body into traffic, and the pass was tipped and nearly intercepted.

The game showed that overall, Simpson is showing a lot of signs of improvement, but this play (and a few others) revealed that there's still room to grow.

"Honestly, probably should’ve been three throwaways," Simpson said. "That last one in the fourth quarter on the bootleg was pretty dangerous. It’s just repetitions, reps, just experience, right? I remember the first game, I probably could’ve done that a lot more. The second game, just more and more and more experience—more time scenarios, different situations. It just all adds up, adds up in the memory bank. I knew last week that they had some guys as rushers that were very good up front. Same thing this week, right? Guys that are coming off the edge very quick. My job is to get the ball out quickly, so gotta stay out of negative plays."

Simpson has made eye-popping plays all season long, and statistics he has put up (18 touchdowns to one interception) have now put the Alabama quarterback in the position to be the frontrunner for the Heisman trophy.

He was very complimentary of South Carolina's edge rushers and said his job this week is to get the ball out quickly and understand where the defenders are at all times. No. 4 Alabama will face the Gamecocks this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.