Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson dropped the ball early, missing a 79-yard touchdown.
On Saturday, No. 8 Alabama easily defeated Chattanooga 66–10 at home, but there were some rough patches in the convincing victory.
Coach Nick Saban made the decision to start some of his reserves late in the onslaught, as the Crimson Tide was winning handily. One of those backups was Ty Simpson, a freshman quarterback who almost had the play of his early college career before it swiftly turned into a nightmare.
With Alabama leading 52–10 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Simpson launched a strong offensive play on third-and–9 deep into Crimson Tide territory.
After breaking loose, Simpson was headed for an incredible 79-yard touchdown, but he only carried the ball for 78 of those yards.
Simpson was lucky that nobody seemed to catch his error. In the moment, the play was declared a touchdown; it was only reversed after review. After the ball was dead on the ground, no player was able to clearly collect it, so Alabama was given possession at the one.
This was somehow the second college football error in as many weeks; last Saturday against Utah, Washington linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala made the identical error while returning an interception for a possible score.
On the following play, the Crimson Tide scored; but, this time, Simpson did not carry the ball.
Even if everything went well on the field, Saban was obviously not pleased with the play when it was over.
Must I make a statement about that? When a reporter brought up the fumble during his press conference following the game, Saban inquired. “Every coach says cross the goal line and hand the ball to the official.” Even after the slip-up, Saban praised Simpson’s performance all around.
With the victory, the Crimson Tide improve to 10-1 on the year. Next week, they will go to the Iron Bowl before facing No. 1 Georgia in the SEC championship game.
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