Simpson Says Bye Week Will be 'Refreshing'

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Ty Simpson's performance wasn't his best, but he helped lead Alabama to another win on the road, the Crimson Tide's third of the season. Alabama defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks, 29-22, in Columbia.

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It wasn't your typical elite performance from Simpson, completing 23-43 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 13 yards rushing on the ground. Despite the poor performance for three quarters, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer saw something from Simpson on the game-tying drive early in the fourth quarter.

"That was impressive, I think all-around, from the guys - the coaches, the coaching staff just really being patient, and taking it one play at a time," DeBoer said, "knowing that when you got to get the two-point conversion, but just trusting and believing that our guys would execute. They did. Just stack plays. Everyone did their job. We didn't have any penalties that really hurt us. We didn't have those negative plays that hurt us. Just everyone locking in, doing your job, and trusting your buddies."

Despite being the one to lead the game-tying drive, scoring the two-point conversion, and setting up Germie Bernard's game-winning touchdown, Simpson immediately praised his teammates when asked about the game.

"It's hard to win in the SEC, hard to win on the road. Just such a great, resilient win by the guys," Simpson said, "super proud of the team. Just kept fighting. Such a weird game; we always felt like we were that far, but we never had a doubt. We kept on fighting, made some plays here and there, and ended up with the win.

"Reilency. We talk about it all the time. Our motto at the beginning of the year was unbreakable, and nothing's gonna break us," Simpson said. "We knew that this was gonna be a dog fight coming in, right? And if we didn't do what we needed to do, it was gonna take us to the fourth quarter. There was no ounce of non-belief. We knew what we had to do, and we made sure to be unbreakable with everything we had. That's what we did, just super proud of these guys, and that's why I love them so much."

Simpson again was critical of his performance, but praised his teammates for their resilience and fight on the road in the SEC.

"If I would've taken every drive the way I did that last drive, we wouldn't be in that situation. Just little misses here and there, but I'm glad we got it at the end."

This team is two wins away from tying last year's total, and two wins over LSU and Oklahoma from clinching a spot in the SEC championship, regardless of the outcome of the Iron Bowl. What are the goals of this team as we move into the final month of the regular season for Alabama?

"We've got to refresh ourselves, refresh our mind, and understand that this next stretch coming up, it's gonna be tough as well. Every game in the SEC is hard, but this is gonna be refreshing. Get our mind right, get our body right, so we can go into this next stretch with one thing in mind, and that's go 1-0."

Alabama improves to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide's next game will come on Saturday, November 8, at home against the LSU Tigers.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.