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Alabama offense has 'got to find that confidence again,' DeBoer says

1918632_10206777287683070_1367905321192383146_nby: Charlie Potter4 hours agoCharlie_Potter

How does Alabama get Ty Simpson back in a rhythm and get him playing with the confidence he had earlier in the 2025 season? Former Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron posed that question to head coach Kalen DeBoer on The Dynasty podcast, and McCarron compared it to basketball, with players needing to see the ball go through the hoop during a slump.

How do DeBoer and the Alabama staff plan to help Simpson ahead of the 12-team playoff?

“If we want to keep it with the basketball analogy, I think we need to have other people help get him open sometimes, to get a good look,” DeBoer told The Dynasty. “And that might be schematics and things like that from what the coaches can do. And some of it might be just us, everyone doing a better job.

“I don’t care if it’s a little bit, split-second longer protection. Let’s make a catch that maybe wasn’t just a gimme for him, some of those types of things. And so, everyone, I think, is always a part of the execution and what it looks like. And when it’s clicking, it’s a beautiful thing because guys are making plays for you sometimes, too, and that’s what we just got to do.” 

Simpson has thrown for 3,268 yards, 26 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 64.3% of his passes. He ranks sixth in the SEC in passer rating (146.1), but he hasn’t had a rating over 136 since the Tide’s win over Tennessee. Against Georgia in the SEC title game, Simpson produced the worst completion percentage of his 2025 season (48.7%) and failed to connect on a deep shot (0-4). He’s now 22-of-57 on passes of 20-plus yards.

It wasn’t just Simpson that struggled against the Bulldogs, though. Alabama finished with -3 rushing yards, its fewest since the 1968 Gator Bowl against Missouri. The Crimson Tide only mustered 209 total yards in Atlanta and went 3-for-13 on third down against Georgia.

Despite its abysmal showing on offense, Alabama made the College Football Playoff field and will travel to face No. 8 Oklahoma in the first round. It will be a rematch of the November 17 game in Tuscaloosa, one that the Sooners won 23-21. The Tide doubled up OU in yards and first downs in Round 1, but three turnovers and a missed field goal were costly.

Alabama showed it can move the ball against good defenses, and with two weeks to prepare for the playoffs, the Tide gets some much-needed time to rest and recover and hopefully get some key players back from injury. The No. 9 seed’s offense could also use a morale boost.

“We’ve got to find that confidence again,” DeBoer said. “That’s what a bye we can do is you just get back to the fundamentals, the basic things and get guys working together, so they can be out there and go make plays on Saturday. But yeah, you want to find the easy things, the gimme’s, as you’re referring to, that can get that rhythm back sooner than later.”

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