The road to the required patience for Alabama鈥檚 Ty Simpson and Georgia鈥檚 Gunner Stockton. Both have been crowned conference champions in past seasons, but this year, they enter the game with a different kind of spotlight, one that belongs to a starting quarterback in the Southeastern Conference.
Title game action is not completely uncharted waters for Stockton, who was thrown into the SEC championship against Texas after Carson Beck went down with a torn UCL. It鈥檚 new ground for Simpson, however, who sat behind for three years before stepping into the prestigious role of the Crimson Tide鈥檚 next starting signal-caller in 2025.
In an era when the can offer a fast pass to the starting lineup elsewhere, Simpson and Stockton opted to wait in line. Saturday, one of them will cap their first season as a starter with an SEC title.
Simpson鈥檚 production has been consistent with minimal turnovers since the start of the season, but a to Florida State prevented him from gaining national attention until Alabama鈥檚 success became hard to ignore. Simpson finished the regular season with 3,056 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. He added 126 rushing yards and two touchdowns on foot.
The Alabama quarterback reflected on his growth this season ahead of the biggest game of his career.
鈥淚 think it goes back all the way from Florida State to now,鈥� Simpson said on Monday. 鈥淓verything that you go through, everything that you experience, is just another thing that you can learn from. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 just appreciative of the growth in my journey of being here.鈥�
Stockton鈥檚 journey shares similarities. After two seasons under Stetson Bennett and a 2024 regular season behind Beck, Stockton鈥檚 performance in the SEC championship game turned heads and set him up for the starting nod in 2025 after Beck transferred to .
His first season leading the Bulldogs was an undeniable success. Stockton led Georgia to an 11-1 record with 2,535 yards and 20 touchdowns in the air and 403 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
But he鈥檚 0-1 against Simpson. In late September, the Bulldogs鈥� ended with a 24-21 loss to Alabama.
Stockton thinks it was a turning point in the season for the team, which went on to win the last nine games and finish the regular season as the highest-ranked SEC team in the College Football Playoff rankings and the .
鈥淎fter the Bama game, our offense and team have grown up a bunch,鈥� Stockton said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just been playing pretty good football. We came closer together.鈥�
Approaching the one-year anniversary of being thrust into the action, Stockton recalls relentless film study to stay prepared, all on the slight chance he could see time.
鈥淟ast year it was crazy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was preparing each week like I was a starter, just trying to watch a lot of film and be ready. It was hard the whole year just having to make myself watch film through each week, not playing. Then, when the time came, I was ready. I was excited just to go play with my teammates.鈥�
This year, he knows what to expect.
鈥淣ow, as the starter, it鈥檚 a different mindset of leading the team.鈥�
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