Alabama football star Ty Simpson is now getting some Heisman buzz from a former winner himself.

On this morning's ‘College Gameday', Desmond Howard, who won the Heisman while at Michigan 34 years ago, said the Crimson Tide quarterback can't be ruled out for a trip to New York in December.

“Ty Simpson is just a baller right now,” Howard said. “Alabama's quarterback Ty Simpson right now has played himself into the Heisman conversation. After the Florida State game, this kid's completed 70% of his passes, 11 touchdown passes, and he's protected the ball — no turnovers. And now they get Jam Miller back, their running back. He was the second leading rusher a year ago. Last time when these two teams played, Vandy owned the time of possession, kept the ball for over 40 minutes, and Alabama had it less than 20. If Alabama is able to run the ball, get that ground game going, I think they'll be OK because it gives them the balance that they're going to need in their offense.”

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While the first-year starter had his share of troubles in Alabama's season-opening loss to Florida State — he completed just 23 of his 43 attempts and had fewer than 6 yards per attempt — Howard is correct in his evaluation of Simpson's play since then. Over the last three games, Simpson has completed 77.4% of his passes, averaging 295 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air per game. Additionally, he has added a pair of rushing touchdowns as the Tide blew out UL Monroe and Wisconsin and upset Georgia on the road.

The job is far from done for Simpson and Alabama, though; while their path to the SEC Championship Game became much clearer with the win against Georgia, each of the Crimson Tide's next three games is against teams currently ranked in the top 20. Today, Alabama hosts Vanderbilt, which stunned ‘Bama a year ago in Nashville. A road game vs. Missouri is scheduled for next week, and a home matchup vs. rival Tennessee follows.

Alabama and Vanderbilt will kick off at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa.