Ty Simpson Bluntly Calls Out Offensive Struggles

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama offense continued its midseason struggles in the Tide's 20-9 victory over the LSU Tigers on Saturday night. The only two touchdowns Alabama scored came in the second quarter, with Daniel Hill rushing for a five-yard touchdown to cap a 75-yard drive early in the second quarter, and Ty Simpson finding Ryan Williams for a 13-yard touchdown to cap a 66-yard drive for the Crimson Tide.

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Outside of those two drives, Alabama:

Turned the ball over on downs
Punted
Made a field goal
Missed a field goal
Punted
Fumbled
Punted
Made a field goal
Ended the fourth quarter

Despite accumulating 344 yards of offense against LSU. Field goals won't cut it where Alabama wants to go, with the Crimson Tide setting its eyes on the SEC championship and the College Football Playoffs. Alabama's run game continues to struggle, with just 56 yards and an average of 2.2 yards per carry in the win over LSU.

"We only had 56 yards, so it needs to be better," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said about the Tide's run game. "And I think there's a lot of things. I think there's other things we can do to make a defense have to cover us, and we missed opportunities that would help open up the box a little bit. But we certainly, either one or two things on each play, is do a better job blocking and then do a good job of being physical with the ball in our hands, too. And then falling ahead for yards. Those extra one or two yards, three yards, that you can get by running through arm tackles and things like that, those can hurt. And so, yeah, we got to do a better job giving lanes for the running back to go hit it confidently and hit it hard. It's everything. It's an effort across the board. You know, when we run on the perimeter, let's make sure we get the blocks out there. But, yeah, we certainly gotta be better than what we were."

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson said in the postgame that it's a mental aspect that contributes to the lack of production in the run game.

"We just have to have confidence running the ball," Simpson said. "I feel like we're not very confident that we think we can run the ball very well right now, and it's all mental, really. We got the good scheme. We got the great calls, we got the great players, right? But we just have to want to, and understand that's what we need to do, right? We'll take care of it.

"I'm going to be brutally honest. That's not our standard."

Alabama ranks 114th in the country, averaging 3.6 yards per carry and just 118.9 yards per game. If you remove AK Dear's 56-yard touchdown against ULM in week two, that number drops to 3.4 yards per carry.

Just like he did in week one after Alabama lost to Florida State, Ty Simpson issued another promise to Alabama fans after the 20-9 win over Florida State.

"We're going to get it right," Simpson said. "This week of practice, it's going to be a great week, I promise you that."

If Simpson and the Tide deliver on that promise like they have the FSU promise (Alabama is 8-0 since Simpson's promise against Florida State), then Alabama will be in good shape heading into the postseason.

Alabama will face No. 12 Oklahoma on Saturday, November 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

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_.