Ty Simpson is out because he suffered a cracked/fractured rib during Alabama’s Rose Bowl College Football Playoff loss to Indiana, and that injury sidelined him for the second half.

What happened in the game?

  • Late in the first half, Simpson took a hard hit on a scramble when an Indiana defender’s helmet drove into his torso, causing a fumble.
  • He finished the half and even came back out after halftime, but after one quick drive he realized he could not effectively play through the pain.

Why he didn’t return

  • X‑rays at halftime revealed a cracked or fractured rib, which led to the decision to sit him and go with backup Austin Mack in the second half.
  • Simpson and coach Kalen DeBoer both described it as a health and “best chance to win” decision rather than a pure performance benching.

Is this why “Alabama was struggling”?

  • Reports and fan talk through the back half of the season had already speculated that Simpson was playing banged up, with his health possibly affecting his performance.
  • Simpson later acknowledged he’d been “dinged up” over the SEC grind but did not want to detail prior injuries, saying he expected to get hurt at times in that schedule.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.