Ty Simpson began the season as a relative unknown for Alabama, a veteran player who was stuck behind Jalen Milroe over the last two seasons, who opted against transferring and won a three-way quarterback battle in the offseason. As the Crimson Tide have reasserted themselves as a national title contender since their Week 1 loss to Florida State, Simpson has thrust himself into early Heisman conversations.
A late drive in Alabama's 27–24 win at previously undefeated Missouri shows exactly why.
On fourth-and-8 from the Tigers' 38-yard line with the score at 20–17, coach Kalen DeBoer put the ball in Simpson's hands, and the QB delivered, throwing an absolute dime to Lotzeir Brooks along the sideline for a huge 29-yard gain. The pass continued a drive that threatened to stall out at third-and-24 after a first-down sack and a loss of yardage on a second-down pass.
WHAT A THROW ON FOURTH DOWN 😱 @AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/iFWu41ALbS
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 11, 2025
Four plays later, Simpson and Alabama faced another fourth down, this time at Mizzou's 2-yard line. Once again, DeBoer put his faith in the quarterback, and Simpson delivered, finding Daniel Hill in the end zone as a Tigers defender jumped in his face to try and interrupt the play.
The touchdown and ensuing extra point moved the score to 27–17, and proved to be the game-winning score as Beau Pribula and Missouri would answer with a 75-yard touchdown drive of their own on the next possession. Alabama was forced to punt on its next drive, but Crimson Tide defensive back Dijon Lee Jr. picked off Pribula to seal the victory with 37 seconds left.
At 23-for-31 for 200 yards and three touchdowns, it wasn't Simpson's gaudiest statline, but he had a potential Heisman moment with that gutsy late drive.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alabama's Ty Simpson Made Two Massive Fourth-Down Throws on Game-Winning Touchdown Drive.
