Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer drops truth nuke on Ty Simpson’s clutch 4th-down game-winner

The Alabama football team fans could finally exhale by the time the clock hit zero at Jordan-Hare. What looked like a routine blowout at 17-0 turned into another Iron Bowl anxiety test, with Auburn clawing back to tie the game 20-20 in the fourth quarter.

With a trip to the SEC title game hanging in the balance, the Alabama football team needed one more answer on offense, and Ty Simpson delivered it.

Alabama was backed into a 4th-and-2 from the Auburn 6 with 3:50 remaining, a classic “kick or go” moment. Kalen DeBoer kept the offense on the field, trusted his quarterback, and watched Simpson hit Isaiah Horton for the go-ahead touchdown. It was their third scoring connection of the night, but by far the biggest.

Afterward, DeBoer was blunt about what he saw in his quarterback in that moment. He said Simpson never flinched, pointing out that everything this team has been through all season, the close calls, the bumps, the late-game drives, had prepared him to stay calm and execute in exactly that situation. In DeBoer’s view, the pressure did not shrink Simpson, as noticed by ESPN.

Simpson returned the credit right back up the ladder. He framed the drive and the decision to go for it as a reflection of the head coach’s mentality. The toughness, the resiliency, the refusal to settle for the safe play in the biggest spot, he said, starts with DeBoer and filters through the entire locker room. For Simpson, that 4th-down strike was as much a “team win” as a personal breakthrough.

All of it came on the heels of a week where Alabama’s depth was already being tested. Before the game, reports out of Tuscaloosa noted a long injury list, including defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. and tight ends Josh Cuevas and Danny Lewis Jr. ruled out, while wideout Germie Bernard was trending toward playing. Those absences only added weight to every big snap in a rivalry that already lives on thin margins.

In the end, though, the story of this Iron Bowl will be simple for Alabama fans to remember. On 4th-and-2, with the season on the line, Kalen DeBoer trusted Ty Simpson to win the game with his arm, and the sophomore proved his coach right. The Tide is heading to the SEC championship because their quarterback didn’t blink when it mattered most.

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