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Just a week ago, when Blake Sims threw three interceptions in the first 35 minutes against Auburn, commentators wondered whether Alabama’s senior quarterback would be benched in the Iron Bowl. In the SEC title game, Sims established his place in Alabama lore with the best statistical season in Crimson Tide history and his impact on the program goes beyond that.
After failing to reach the SEC title game last year, Alabama was in a transition this year. Since Nick Saban came to town, the Crimson Tide have run as traditional an offense as possible. While guys like AJ McCarron and Greg McElroy were more than capable of running an offense to perfection, the Tide didn’t do anything fancy.
That changed this year, with Lane Kiffin taking over the play-calling as offensive coordinator. Sims was the perfect man to run Kiffin’s attack and unlock Alabama’s offensive potential.
With Kiffin and Sims on hand, Saban finally relented to national trends, picking up the tempo and spreading out the offense. While the Tide were still methodical, ranking 101st in the nation in plays per minute per cfbmatrix.com, up 8.1 percent from a year ago.
They did run 72.7 plays per game in the regular season, though, far above the 63.5 per game from a year ago. That number put them on a level with the fastest SEC offenses this season, teams like Auburn and Mississippi State known for their up-tempo attacks.
Of course, it helps to have a weapon like Amari Cooper, allowing Sims to turn and fire at will knowing his star would be there to make the play. But Sims’ abilities, his quick decision makings, his accuracy and his running ability are what made the Alabama offense click like it did.
Will that element still be present in the Crimson Tide’s offense next year?
Jacob Coker, who battled Sims for the starting job in the preseason, doesn’t have Sims athleticism, so that threat may well be gone. With a year of seasoning on the bench, Alabama fans should hope he can keep up what Sims built this year to make sure this season’s production wasn’t a flash in the pan.
While many thought of Sims as a running quarterback, he proved that wasn’t the case. He’s a surgeon in the pocket, but his legs allow him to make defenses pay unlike past Alabama quarterbacks. Take the Tide’s final touchdown drive against Mississippi State, when Sims used his legs to set up T.J. Yeldon for a score, or even the late third quarter drive in the title game, when a third down conversion on a quarterback draw helped lead to Alabama scoring to go up 28-13.
To make a basketball analogy, Sims played like a point guard content to set up his teammates, but was more than willing to step back to drill a 3-pointer or drive to the hole. Sims might not get all of the credit, as he dished to Cooper as the finisher more often than not, but Sims’ pinpoint accuracy helped the receiver smash Alabama and SEC records.
After the SEC title game, Sims now owns the Alabama single-season passing record, with 3,250 yards on the year. He completed more than 63 percent of his passes, and had a 26-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He took the Alabama offense to heights that haven’t been seen under Saban.
For that, Sims deserves a round of applause for a performance that won’t be forgotten.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
