From zero to hero: How QB Blake Sims transformed into an Alabama star
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – When Blake Sims ran back onto the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium after going to the locker room in the third quarter Saturday to have his injured shoulder checked, the transformation was complete.
The standing ovation he received from Alabama fans confirmed it: Sims had gone from unheralded to indispensable. From half-hearted acceptance to widely acclaimed. From game manager to game changer. From short-time starter to one of the all-time best performances in school passing history.
The fifth-year senior, who spent one season at running back and two more as the invisible backup to AJ McCarron, wasn’t supposed to be the guy leading this Crimson Tide team. The plan was for Florida State transfer Jacob Coker to step into the starting role, while Sims finished his career as more of a spectator than a competitor.
Coker is five inches taller and has the kind of arm that makes pro scouts’ pulse quicken. But a funny thing happened along the way to his Crimson coronation.
Sims wouldn’t get out of the way.
“From last year to spring, he improved a lot,” said star wide receiver Amari Cooper. “Then from spring to camp, he improved even more. So we had a lot of faith in him.”
Sims simply played better than Coker throughout fall camp, leaving Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin no choice but to start him. And even then, the assumption from many was that he was merely keeping the seat warm until Coker was ready to move over and take over.
But now, after throwing for 445 yards and four touchdowns in Alabama’s 42-21 beating of Florida – the second-most passing yards in school history – Blake Sims has taken over the quarterback position and somehow become a star.
“I didn’t think it was possible,” said Sims of his shockingly prodigious performance.
The Gainesville, Ga., product’s day was made easier by throwing to the spectacular Cooper (10 catches, 201 yards, three touchdowns) and some major coverage busts by the Gators that left receivers wide open. Sims also helped Florida stay in the game with a first-half fumble that earned him a Saban screamathon on the sideline, and a deflected pass that was intercepted in the third quarter.
But he also was excellent on third down, helping the Tide convert 12 of 16 into first downs. When there were plays to be made, Sims came through time after time.
On his radio show Thursday, Saban gave Sims credit for doing what few believed he could do: "There was a time around here where I know none of our fans and most of our players probably didn't think Blake could be the quarterback, so he's disproved a lot of people in terms of the way he's played.”
Sims is completing more than 70 percent of his passes, with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s thrown deep, he’s thrown short with accuracy, he’s shown touch and velocity when needed, and he’s made good reads on where to throw. What’s not to like? “People have to respect him as a passer now,” Saban said.
Sims is a capable dual threat as well, having run for more than 100 yards and two scores. That helps keep defenses guessing. And now he has a fortuitous off week to heal his right shoulder, which he hurt being tackled on a 24-yard scramble.
Sims left the field to a huge ovation to have the shoulder checked, then came back to an even bigger roar from the fans. He entered the game and kept throwing, but afterward he held his right arm limply as his side as he ran off the field.
Alabama can rest him up in preparation for a trip to Mississippi on Oct. 4, the beginning of an SEC West grind that could be a bloody October for all seven teams in the nation’s toughest division.
Florida wishes its quarterback situation could be improved with rest and ice. But Jeff Driskel – far more touted than Sims coming out of high school – had another game Saturday that showed he’s not the guy to elevate the Gators back to where they once belonged.
Driskel was 9 of 28 with two interceptions and one touchdown, for 93 yards. Alabama is very good defensively, but that simply isn’t going to cut it at a school which counts three Heisman Trophy winners and a whole lot of other stars at quarterback in its history. Driskel’s production was hurt by a couple of dropped passes, but he was wildly inaccurate with many of his downfield throws.
The only reason Florida even scored 21 points was because of a defensive touchdown and two short fields that resulted from other Alabama turnovers. The Gators have not scored more than 21 in their last seven SEC games that ended in regulation.
“We have to go back again and evaluate where we are [offensively],” coach Will Muschamp said. “… We didn’t run the ball efficiently enough, we didn’t stay on the field on third down and we need to go back and evaluate the decisions we made going into the game and during the game.”
That’s not a vote of confidence for anyone on the offensive side of the ball, from a coach whose job security gets more slippery each week. Muschamp has tried three different offensive coordinators in his four years at Florida, from Charlie Weis to Brent Pease and now to Kurt Roper. None of them have been able to inject life into that side of the ball. If this season is Muschamp’s last as head coach of the Gators, the offensive futility will be in the first paragraph of the stories on his dismissal.
“Going into the bye week, we’re going to have to shore some things up,” Driskel said.
Although beating Florida by 21 points looks and feels great, it isn’t an all-clear sign for the Crimson Tide. Until wearing down the Gators in the third quarter, they struggled to run the ball. Alabama now is a minus-3 in turnover margin on the season, a number that is very rarely associated with Saban teams. So were the 11 penalties Saturday.
“There will come a time when we won’t be able to overcome these things,” Saban said. “But these things are all correctable.”
One thing that doesn’t need correcting: quarterback play. That was a big question coming into the season, but the transformation of Blake Sims has answered it emphatically.
