What Ryan Grubb Wants to Carry Over From Oklahoma Win to Rose Bowl

The Alabama offensive coordinator applauds the Crimson Tide's resiliency and an "all-time best" performance by quarterback Ty Simpson before facing Indiana.

Nov 15, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb watches the Crimson Tide stretch before the game with Oklahoma at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby | Gary Cosby-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Albert Einstein famously said, "Adversity introduces a man to himself," and Alabama football embodied this quote just one week ago.

The Crimson Tide took Oklahoma down 34-24 in Norman on Dec. 19 in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Alabama was once down 17-0 — tying the largest comeback win in CFP history (Georgia over Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl).

Alabama has moved on to the quarterfinal round against No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl. As the Crimson Tide continues to prepare for this battle in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year's Day, UA offensive coordinator was asked on Saturday what his unit must carry over from the comeback and to the Hoosiers.

"Their resiliency," Grubb said. "What they showed is what we felt they've been capable of all year. When the chips are down, you've got to be at your best. Play to our standard, not the circumstances. I thought that was what they did. We've preached that for quite a while. Having ways that we've got to play to our standard in practice and in games.

"When it's not perfect, we don't fall down to the circumstances and fall out of love with the game when all of a sudden you're down a couple touchdowns or something. And I just thought they played so hard."

Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson was perhaps the captain of Alabama's resilient comeback. Of course, "there wasn't a doubt" in his mind that UA could make some history Norman, as he also said after the game that "17-0 is nothing to us."

Simpson finished the game completing 18 of 29 pass attempts for 232 yards and two touchdowns. The redshirt junior's 152.0 passer rating was his highest since the team's Oct. 18 home win over Tennessee (161.6).

"Ty was, I thought, at his all-time best [in the second half aganst Oklahoma], in my opinion," Grubb said. "Just the way he was, his resiliency on the sideline, his mindset, the things he was saying in between series. There just was a belief that, if I was down there playing with Ty, I would believe we're going to get this done.

"So I think that unwavering belief, and just the guys with a really, really tough start, obviously in a football game that they knew they could move the football on, these guys had done it before and just stuck to the plan."

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