It was a roller coaster year for Alabama and its starting quarterback. The Crimson Tide began the season with an embarrassing upset loss to Florida State before rallying to make the SEC Championship Game. Then, they fell flat in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Thursday with the biggest postseason loss in program history, 38-3 to Indiana.
Many of those ebs and flows followed Ty Simpson’s play through his first year as the Tide’s starting QB. The redshirt junior played well enough to enter the Heisman Trophy race and first-round NFL Draft conversation, but the former faded away done the stretch and the latter looks to be off the table after Simpson threw for just 67 yards in Pasadena before a fractured rib and a coach’s decision sent him to the sidelines.