Quarterbacking 101: Dissecting Blake Sims' Sugar Bowl pick

Ouch, this one hurt. Not only for Blake Sims and the Crimson Tide, but for SEC fans around the South.

This was supposed to be the lock pick of the bowl season with Alabama, a heavy favorite, playing against Ohio State’s third-team quarterback after the Buckeyes offensive coordinator left for Houston.

There’s really nowhere to point a finger, as Bama just got rolled over by the Buckeyes. Sims ended his career completing 22 of 36 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for a touchdown as well. However, he threw three interceptions that proved to be very costly.

I’m going to take a look at the worst of the three picks.

The Tide is down 34-28 with 9:53 left in the game. Sims and the offense have the ball first-and-10 at the Buckeyes 23-yard line.

Alabama lined up in a three-and-one shotgun formation here, with the running back to the boundary. The two tight ends were on the ball in the box, with O.J. Howard to the field.

I like the play call personally, and it should have been a touchdown. Sims just made the wrong read and thew it to the wrong receiver.

As Sims got the ball, he immediately rolled to the boundary as if to execute a designed quarterback run. You can see it drew the boundary corner and safety to the line of scrimmage to stop the run. They do try and recover after seeing Sims rise up to throw, but it’s too late at that point.

Sims saw the boundary corner and safety bite on the play-action, but never accounted for the field safety. If he had looked, he would have seen the slot receiver, DeAndrew White, wide open for an easy touchdown.

As I was watching the play live, I thought, “easy touchdown.” Sims just flicked his wrist as if Howard was wide open, and I assumed he was. You can see Buckeyes safety, Von Bell, jump the route and get an easy pick.

This was a huge momentum killer for the Crimson Tide and for Sims. What should have been a very easy touchdown to White turned into an extremely costly interception.