Alabama Faces Challenges and Opportunities in 2025

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00:00But look at the point spread today.

00:02Alabama Crimson Tide on the road at Doak Campbell.

00:05Lane 14, Joe.

00:07Explain it.

00:07Two and ten, Donnie.

00:09The only FBS team that Florida State beat last year was Cal,

00:13and they beat them by a hair.

00:15I bet that game, I barely covered.

00:18I was saying prayers throughout that game.

00:21They blocked a field goal from Fernando Mendoza and Jay Nott.

00:25That offense was cooking in the fourth quarter.

00:27But when you look at Florida State, you talk about a complete 360.

00:30You go 13-0 in the regular season, and you and I could debate,

00:34they should have been in the college football team.

00:35No, they were a bad football team.

00:36Stop.

00:37They should have been.

00:38They got to have Georgia show.

00:39Not a side.

00:40They covered every game, even with backup.

00:43Tate Rodemaker in 2023.

00:46But two and ten last year.

00:47They fell off a cliff.

00:49I talked to Coach Pound.

00:50You know, we agree.

00:51This team quit.

00:52After you go to Haynes King and you play out there in Ireland

00:56and you lose 24-21 with DJU and this team, they come back,

01:01they lose to Thomas Castellanos and Boston College as a 14-and-a-half point

01:05home favorite.

01:07They tossed it in.

01:08The kids quit.

01:09They averaged 89 rushing yards per game last year.

01:12They gave up a ton in run support.

01:14And the only other team that they beat outside of Cal was an FCS opponent

01:18in the month of November.

01:19That's absolutely pathetic if you're Mike Norvell.

01:21Cal, you need to find a way.

01:23I don't care what you do to cover this 13-and-a-half point number.

01:28Otherwise, he's going to be on the hot seat.

01:29Yeah, we're 13-and-a-half at FanDuel, 14 at DraftKings, 14 at BetMGM,

01:3314 at Bet365, and then out there in Vegas, really the prevailing number,

01:36Joe, is minus 14.

01:37So a two-touchdown favorite for Alabama on the road.

01:40Let's start with Alabama.

01:41Joe, what am I getting out of the quarterback position this year?

01:43Jalen Milrow's off to the NFL.

01:45We get that.

01:46Ty Simpson is there.

01:47A recruit that you expected big things from.

01:49Maybe it turns out you have a great wide receiver court.

01:52No Jan Miller today.

01:53We'll get to all of that.

01:53But give me the quarterback position and the expectations this year

01:56outside of Jalen Milrow not being back.

01:58Well, Ty Simpson, I think, is a better pocket passer

02:01and potentially fits the passing philosophy of Kalen DeBoer

02:05and what Alabama wants to do.

02:07You talk about Ty Simpson last year, limited action, 56% completion percentage,

02:12167 passing yards.

02:14He did rush eight times for 55 yards and a touchdown.

02:18But that's where you go and you say, okay, Ty Simpson's a better passer

02:21than Jalen Milrow.

02:23Is he a better runner?

02:24Because Jalen Milrow last year, Donnie, had 20 rushing touchdowns.

02:29When we talk about the two big games for Alabama, I go to two.

02:32I go to one against Georgia.

02:34Earlier in the year, Jalen Milrow abused that front seven

02:37and had four rushing touchdowns in the first half of that game.

02:40And then I go to the blowout road victory over LSU and Brian Kelly.

02:45Hey, Jalen Milrow, again, over 100 yards.

02:47Are we going to get that type of performance out of Ty Simpson?

02:51I don't see it.

02:52Now, that doesn't mean they can't win this game,

02:54but they struggled on the road last year,

02:56two and four on the road or on a neutral field site.

02:59And they lost those games, Donnie,

03:00by an average margin of defeat of 9.6 points per game.

03:05It's supposed to be a wet track today with some bad weather.

03:08I think Alabama certainly wins this game,

03:10but I'm taking the points with Florida State.

03:12Yeah, if we're also DeBoer and Grubb back together here in Tuscaloosa,

03:16is that going to make a big difference on the offense?

03:18Because the one thing that we know, they work some magic in Washington, Joe.

03:21Now back together here, opening day.

03:22It's always tough to sort of gauge what you're getting

03:25if it's a returning quarterback.

03:26We don't necessarily have that from a starting perspective.

03:28But Simpson's not just, hey, I'm 17 years old.

03:31I just got here on campus.

03:32Let me start.

03:32We should get some pretty good statistics here from them today.

03:34You should, because they averaged 236 through the air last year.

03:38And if we're talking Michael Pinnock's Washington days,

03:41we know that the Huskies threw it for 300, 330 yards per game.

03:45At one point in the regular season, Michael Pinnock,

03:48when he challenged Bo Nix, was in the area of about 340 passing yards per game.

03:52So if we believe we're going to have progression with Ty Simpson,

03:55maybe we have Alabama average this year 280.

03:58That would be a step up.

04:00But they still want to run the football

04:01and look for them to try and manhandle a defense in Florida State

04:05that gave up a buck 84 on the ground.

04:07Let's go.

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