Alabama fought its way to a 27-20 victory over Auburn to claim the Iron Bowl and book a spot at the SEC Championship game. However, from leading 17-0 at one point, the final score spoke more for the home team’s resilience than the Tide’s brilliance despite being a 10-2 team at the end of the night. The defense played its heart out, but the other side of the ball didn’t live up to expectations.

Josh Pate didn’t mince words when talking about the Alabama offense. On a night when the run game finally got going, the ever-reliable passing game disappointed.

“Ryan Williams has been an afterthought, just a total ghost. Teams don’t really respect your deep ball because you can’t complete it consistently enough. They know you’re not going to run the ball to beat them. And so what does that leave? It leaves a very, very limited toolbox,” he said on the Josh Pate’s College Football Show’s November 30 edition.

Ryan Williams has been a pale shadow of his former self, which made him a household name and a $1.8 million NIL valuation. He has dropped passes, lost his explosiveness, and failed to deliver in clutch situations. These persistent issues with inconsistency have reduced his role in the team, as evidenced by the 36 snaps he featured in the Auburn game. He wasn’t the primary target; in fact, he left the field without registering a single reception, the second such instance after Missouri in October. He has experienced a significant drop in his yards per carry, falling from 18.0 in 2024 to 14.9 this season.

However, it doesn’t end there. Ty Simpson has been equally responsible for Alabama’s offense losing its fear factor.

“I mean, they’re having to form and scheme their ways to first down. They got to run nine miles to get two yards on some of these third and fourth critical downs. But they’re doing it, so you’ve got to give them credit. Ty Simpson, I think it’s pretty obvious, is far less than 100%,” Pate continued. 

Ty Simpson started the season on a high, regularly featuring in the Heisman conversation. But he has failed to keep up the intensity and has been inconsistent. He combined with Isaiah Horton for three TDs, which helped save Alabama against Auburn. It shouldn’t have come down to a single receiver saving the day, especially with the diverse options Alabama has with the likes of Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard.

Moreover, the QB1 has been unable to perform in critical junctures, as Alabama went 4 for 17 on third-down conversions against Auburn. Moreover, there has been a worrying trend in Simpson’s signal-calling. In the Auburn game, he had to take timeouts on multiple occasions because they didn’t have any time to snap the ball after the QB1 changed the protection. At other times, the whole thing felt rushed.

Meanwhile, Alabama WR Isiah Horton has come out in defense of his teammate Ryan Williams against the endless barrage of criticism. It all started when Shanon Sharpe added to his list of critiques against the Sophomore.

Isiah Norton defends embattled teammate Ryan Williams after the Iron Bowl heroics

NFL HoFer Shannon Sharpe invited Isaiah Horton onto his podcast to discuss the win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Sharpe confronted Isaiah Horton about whether Ryan Williams was battling an undisclosed injury. He pointed out that the former star had been substituted in and out of the game and did not resemble the explosive wide receiver that everyone expected him to become. Horton, however, quickly shut down the speculation with a direct response.

“Yeah. No, Ryan’s fine, doing all right. He’s doing exceptionally, still working hard, and he’s fine. He’s doing well. And you know we’re going back home and ain’t nothing else to it,” Horton said.

Shannon Sharpe doubled down on his assessment of Williams after the Oklahoma game from November. Back then, he said that Williams wasn’t even the best receiver on his own team, comparing him to Isaiah Horton and Germie Bernard.

Kalen DeBoer can’t afford to have Williams with zero production against the Georgia defense. As for the WR, he just has to remember that the best moment in his career came against Kirby Smart’s team last year.