Simpson says Georgia dialed up ‘copycat blitzes’ inspired by previous Alabama opponents

Dec 6, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) is sacked by Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Chris Cole (9) and Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Quintavius Johnson (33) during the fourth quarter during the 2025 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Alabama’s Ty Simpson was pressured more in the SEC Championship game than he was in the Crimson Tide’s first meeting with Georgia earlier this season, and the first-year starting quarterback suggested that Georgia used some tactics from previous Alabama opponents to try and affect him, especially on third down.

Simpson was asked about Georgia’s defensive pressure and what effect it had on him and the offense.

“Credit to those guys,” Simpson said. “They had some copycat blitzes from people that we’ve seen before. We picked up some, but I got to be better at just communicating in general, right? Getting on the same page with Parker [Brailsford] and O-line, but I mean, like I said, credit to those guys. Georgia’s a good defense. We’re a good offense. Just didn’t roll our way tonight.”

He mentioned “copycat blitzes”, and the two teams that immediately stick out as potential inspiration for the Georgia defense are Oklahoma and Auburn, two SEC teams that gave the Alabama offense everything they had and more.

Simpson had a multi-game fumbling streak that continued until the Eastern Illinois game, and Oklahoma was a team that used the knowledge of Simpson’s ball security troubles and offensive line inconsistency to cause chaos in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Players admitted to bringing as much pressure as they did because of what they saw on tape, and Auburn is another team that was able to get after Simpson and pressure him.

Georgia sacked Simpson three times today and forced him to make a few mistakes that led to Alabama bringing on the punt team often.

One of the most concerning stats from the SEC Championship is that Alabama went 23 minutes without a first down to start the game, and the Crimson Tide only converted on third down on three of their 13 attempts.

Simpson talked about the offense’s issues on third down and what Georgia was doing to get stops and shut down Alabama’s offense.

“They did a good job of bringing sim pressures,” Simpson said. “It’s almost like they were bringing somebody on almost every down, but we kinda knew what they were expecting to a sense of what they did in the second half of the last game. They played tight coverage. Gotta make some throws. Gotta make some catches. Gotta do the little things right. It’s pretty much football, right? So, disappointing for sure, but it is what it is.”

Alabama will play Oklahoma again in the College Football Playoff, and Oklahoma’s Brent Venables will likely get his defense ready to go after Simpson all game long. It is possible that the Crimson Tide turn things around and knock off the Sooners to get to the next round, but the blueprint of how to stop Simpson and the offense has been obtained by multiple defenses across the nation. If the offense fails to pick up blitzing Oklahoma defenders and allows Simpson to get hit multiple times, then fans will likely see a repeat of what happened last Saturday.