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Alabama football’s second fall scrimmage was its first with a starting quarterback.
Ty Simpson, after being named as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback days after Alabama’s first scrimmage, ran the first-team offense Saturday, Aug. 16. And with a starter named, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said the Crimson Tide now has the time to start officially preparing for Florida State and the rest of the 2025 season.
“I think building a team and getting the momentum going,” DeBoer said. “When we knew, we needed to do it. That’s allowed us three weeks or prep building up our team for Florida State.”
After the first scrimmage, DeBoer said he and the Alabama coaching staff “knew we were at that point where we felt good about who should be the starter.”
Simpson was named Alabama’s starting quarterback Monday, Aug. 11 after battling for starting reps with Austin Mack and Keelon Russell. In the second fall scrimmage, DeBoer said Mack and Russell “did a great job, same as (the) last scrimmage.”
Simpson, DeBoer said, had a higher completion percentage, but not as many explosive plays, giving credit to the defense.
“Today, I thought he came out and executed the offense,” DeBoer said. “And he just continues to be steady. Finds his times to make his plays. Today, he actually used his feet again and that’s, I think, something people will probably underestimate as we go through the year of his ability to just make plays and keep plays alive. I thought he was steady. I thought he was consistent.”
Simpson has the most snaps of any quarterback on the Alabama roster, having backed up Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe for this past three seasons. Simpson has 381 career passing yards, 130 career rushing yards and three career touchdowns.
Alabama football opens the 2025 season at Florida State Aug. 30.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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