Joel Klatt: Ty Simpson was Tom Brady-esque in CFP win vs. Oklahoma

Alabama won the kind of College Football Playoff game that can create legends, coming back from down 17-0 to beat Oklahoma. Certainly, quarterback Ty Simpson made himself into a legend, leading that comeback on the biggest stage.

Among those who took notice was Joel Klatt. He’d spend some time praising Ty Simpson on The Joel Klatt Show, even comparing the job he did of leading his team to legendary quarterback Tom Brady.

“Let me start right there because there was one guy,” Joel Klatt said. “At least, watching on TV, not being there, and I’m sure that there were more guys on the sideline and I don’t want to boil this down to one player. You guys know I tend to be quarterback-centric, but that’s where the cameras were going on Friday night. I thought Chris [Fowler] and [Kirk Herbstreit] did a nice job of talking about Ty Simpson and his leadership ability. But, it was apparent to me, that over the course of the early moments of that game, the early drives of that game, that when it wasn’t going well for Alabama, it didn’t seem to matter to Ty Simpson. I’m not saying that in a bad way, I’m saying that in a good way.”

Joel Klatt saw Ty Simpson as a steady leader during the game for Alabama. He didn’t become rattled by the deficit. In that way, his composure put him in the same vein as Tom Brady, who is remembered as one of the most clutch quarterbacks in NFL history.

“He continued and he maintained a positive attitude and leadership on the sideline. It didn’t matter what was going on. It didn’t matter that they were down 17. He continued to go up to every part of the offense, or even the entire team on the sideline and be like, ‘Alright, here we go. Let’s go.’ It felt very like Tom Brady-esque. Now, again, I hate comparing people to Tom Brady,” Klatt said. “But you got that sense from Brady, ‘Hey, one play at a time. Let’s go put a drive together. Let’s do something positive right here that can trend forward for the rest of the game.’ It felt like Ty Simpson was doing that.”

In the end, Ty Simpson would complete 18 of 29 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Both of those passing touchdowns found Lotzeir Brooks, including on a fourth down in the second quarter to start the comeback.

“I was very impressed with him when they were down 17-0,” Klatt said. “Because they were doing nothing right for the Crimson Tide. Nothing. Kalen DeBoer was going crazy because he felt the officials weren’t making some of the calls… But he’s going crazy and yet Ty Simpson just maintained this positivity and this quality leadership and this resolve that I feel like his team eventually, and he got them on board. I just wanted to call that out.”

The pressure is only going to increase on Simpson from here. Alabama is moving on to the Rose Bowl, ready to take on top-seeded Indiana.