Ty Simpson says Alabama doesn’t want to ‘piss away’ strong start to season

Nov 9, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) calls for the ball against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

This season’s initial College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. 

Expect Alabama to wind up somewhere in the top five, but don’t expect many of the Crimson Tide’s players to watch the unveiling. 

Alabama (7-1, 5-0) survived a stretch of four straight ranked games last month and has one of the best resumes in college football. However, that effort will go to waste if the Tide can’t close out its regular season with a solid month of November. 

“At the end of the day, if we don’t play up to our standard these next couple of games, then none of it matters,” quarterback Ty Simpson said. “You know what I mean? We have to take one game at a time and go 1-0, as we say. Because rankings don’t mean anything.” 

Last month, Alabama became the first team in SEC history to win four straight games against ranked teams without an open week mixed in. 

The Tide started that stretch by taking down then-No. 5 Georgia in Athens. From there, it beat then-No. 16 Vanderbilt at home before outlasting then-No. 14 Missouri on the road. The Tide capped off the run with a convincing win over then-No. 11 Tennessee before surviving an upset scare on the road at South Carolina two weeks ago. 

Now coming off its second open date, the Tide knows better than to rest on its laurels. 

“We’ve had a good September and October, and we need to make sure that we don’t piss it away and just be glad we had a good season in the front end,” Simpson said. “We need to finish it out and make sure we come ready to play and we separate ourselves these next couple of games.”

Last season, Alabama started the month of November with a blowout win at LSU before propelling itself into the driver’s seat for a spot in the College Football Playoff. However, an upset defeat at Oklahoma two weeks later ultimately saw the Tide finish ranked one spot outside the playoff in the final rankings. 

That’s why Tide players won’t care too much when the initial playoff rankings are released. 

“I’ll watch it when the time comes,” defensive lineman Tim Keenan III said. “But right now, I’ve got to watch that film on LSU.” 

Alabama’s November slate starts this weekend when it hosts LSU at 6:30 p.m. inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. From there, the Tide will host Oklahoma on Nov. 15 and Eastern Illinois on Nov. 22 before wrapping up its regular season with a trip to Auburn on Nov. 29 for the Iron Bowl. 

“We say, ‘You’re remembered for what you do in November.’ Well, these next couple games are going to be how you’re remembered,” Simpson said. “How you play when people are tired, they’re hurt. It’s a long season, we’ve got four good teams ahead of us. We need to be ready to rock and roll and understand, ‘Hey, when we come to Alabama, we pull ourselves apart in November by being resilient and being ready to go and beat anybody.”