Andrea AdelsonSep 27, 2025, 11:50 PM ETClose ACC reporter. Joined ESPN.com in 2010. Graduate of the University of Florida.Follow on X
Ty Simpson converts on 3rd-and-5 to seal Alabama’s win (0:31)Ty Simpson rolls out and hits Jam Miller to seal Alabama’s win over Georgia. (0:31)
ATHENS, Ga. — Ty Simpson was the last Alabama player off the field after finishing up his postgame television interview, and as he walked toward the tunnel into the locker room, he had one last point to make to the remaining Georgia.
DeBoer said after the victory his team took “everything that was out there,” and channeled it into getting better.
“There’s two things you can do when things are coming down on you a little bit,” DeBoer said. “You can go back yourself in a corner, or you can fight. And these guys made up their minds they’re going to fight. That was where it started, and it’s just continued to continue to build. We’ve got to make sure we don’t forget what that chip on the shoulder was that got this momentum going.”
Alabama easily beat UL-Monroe and Wisconsin after the Florida State loss, but the true test of its improvement would come against the Bulldogs. Right at the start, Alabama showed an aggressiveness in the passing game, as Simpson found open receivers one after another to build a quick 14-point lead.
Then just before halftime, Alabama threw in an offensive wrinkle — a pass to 6-foot-7, 359-pound left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who bulldozed his way down to the 2-yard line for an 11-yard gain. That play set up a Simpson rushing touchdown to give Alabama a 24-14 lead. DeBoer said the play went in during fall camp, and this week in practice Proctor showed he was ready for it.
“Pretty impressive, seeing a big guy like that do what he did,” DeBoer said. “Who wants to tackle that guy?”
Georgia made its way back into the game behind its run game, rushing for 227 yards, while making second-half adjustments to hold Alabama scoreless in the second half. But there were three keys that led the Tide to the win.
Down 24-21 with 13:25 to go in the fourth quarter, Georgia went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Alabama 8-yard line. The tempo play went to Cash Jones, who was tackled for a 3-yard loss. Georgia coach Kirby Smart said afterward that specific play had been successful for them against Tennessee and earlier against Alabama. But on the fourth-down play, someone missed a key block.
Then with 1:51 left in the game, Alabama faced third-and-5 from its 43-yard line. Alabama called a pass play, which Simpson threw complete for Jam Miller to end the game. In all, Alabama ran 77 plays to 53 for Georgia and went 13-of-19 on third downs, the most third-down conversions Georgia has allowed in any game in the last 30 seasons.
“You’re gonna get punches thrown at you,” DeBoer said. “We got some tonight. What’s your response going to be? And our response was to punch back and punch back harder.”
“We didn’t play up to our standard in Week 1,” said Simpson, who went 24-of-38 for 276 yards with three total touchdowns. “We just came back as a team. We were like, ‘What are we gonna do now? Do we want to be known as the team who doesn’t finish, doesn’t sustain competitive stamina or are we going to play with a chip on our shoulder? We said it all week, ‘Us against the World.’ That’s the kind of mentality that we have to have throughout the season. It’s Alabama against everybody.”
Alabama will not celebrate the victory for long, though. Vanderbilt comes to town next week — a team that shocked the Crimson Tide a year ago.
Ty Simpson converts on 3rd-and-5 to seal Alabama’s win (0:31)Ty Simpson rolls out and hits Jam Miller to seal Alabama’s win over Georgia. (0:31)
The reason is because of lessons learned after Florida State.
Ty Simpson rolls out and hits Jam Miller to seal Alabama’s win over Georgia. (0:31)
Close ACC reporter. Joined ESPN.com in 2010. Graduate of the University of Florida.Follow on X