Oklahoma’s Defense Must Be ‘Technically Sound’ Against Alabama QB Ty Simpson

The Sooners will battle one of the best quarterbacks in college football on Saturday in Alabama signal caller Ty Simpson.

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson | David Leong-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s players and coaches haven’t given Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson any bulletin-board material heading into Saturday’s game.

The Sooners’ personnel arrived at the same conclusion: Simpson is one of the nation’s best quarterbacks.

“He’s been around the game, good instincts for it,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “Well-versed in what they’re trying to do and understanding what he’s trying to see. Great maturity, very decisive, great arm talent. Keeps them out of bad plays.”

Oklahoma cornerback Eli Bowen said, “He's very good at making decisions, not turning the ball over, putting the ball where it needs to be. He's one of the best quarterbacks we're gonna play this year."

Simpson is playing his first season as Alabama’s starting quarterback after Jalen Milroe held the role down in the previous two years.

The 6-2, 208-pound quarterback has thrown for 2,461 yards, 24 touchdowns and only one interception on 66.9 percent passing so far in 2025. Simpson has helped the Crimson Tide win their last nine contests after dropping their season opener to Florida State, and the redshirt junior is currently fourth in the Heisman Trophy odds at plus-800, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer doesn’t know Simpson well, but the two met one another at the Manning Passing Academy over the summer, where both of them served as instructors.

In addition to the game film that the Sooners have studied in the week leading up to Saturday’s game, Mateer has watched a handful of Alabama games this season — and every time, he has been impressed with Simpson.

“He gets them in the right check a lot,” Mateer said. “That’s part of the offense and the coaching, but he gets it done, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio is really, really good, obviously, and everybody knows that. So I’m excited to watch.”

Oklahoma’s defense has already played against a handful of quality quarterbacks — and the results have been mixed.

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OU did an exceptional job containing South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, who compiled only 125 yards and a touchdown in the Sooners’ 26-7 win. Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss threw for 315 yards and a touchdown with zero interceptions in the Rebels’ 34-26 win over Oklahoma on Oct. 25. A week later, the Sooners allowed Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar to throw for 393 yards, but they also intercepted him twice, helping OU win 33-27.

Simpson’s 24-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is the best that Oklahoma has faced in 2025. Because of that, the Sooners know that they’ll have to be at their best to cause havoc.

“Sooners, the ‘dog pound,’ whatever you want to call it, we've been getting after everyone, so keep that success going forward,” Oklahoma defensive lineman David Stone said. “Whether it's Ty Simpson or BV at quarterback, I feel like it doesn't matter who it is. We're going to do our job at a high level. He’s a hell of a quarterback.”

With three games remaining in the regular season, Oklahoma is still in the mix for the College Football Playoff. The Sooners checked into this week’s CFP rankings at No. 11, and a win against the No. 4 Crimson Tide would help them climb even higher.

OU cornerback Gentry Williams is confident that the Sooners can put together a winning game plan against Simpson and Alabama’s dynamic offense — if the moment doesn’t get too big for them.

“Doing the basics really well, that's what it's gonna take,” Williams said. “We can't outplay ourselves. We can't out complicate the game. It comes down to the details and being physical.”

Saturday’s game will begin at 2:30 p.m.