Alabama quarterback Blake Sims leaves the field following last Saturday's 59-0 rout of Texas A&M. Sims threw for three touchdowns against the Aggies and ran for another."Sweet Home Alabama" has added meaning this autumn, particularly in the case of Blake Sims.
Alabama's fifth-year senior quarterback has been sensational both passing and rushing against Southeastern Conference opposition inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. In road trips earlier this month to Ole Miss and Arkansas, however, the 6-foot, 208-pounder produced more modest aerial numbers and never got going on the ground.
The No. 4 Crimson Tide play their third SEC road game Saturday night when they visit longstanding rival Tennessee.
"I'm ready to see what we can do on the road and show everybody that we can bring it from here and still keep the same intensity," Sims said in a news conference this week.
Sims completed 16 of 27 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns last Saturday as Alabama annihilated Texas A&M 59-0, and he rushed four times for 54 yards, including a 43-yard score. He guided the Crimson Tide to 602 yards of total offense, including 506 through their first possession of the second half.
Alabama hung 645 yards on Florida in a 42-21 whipping inside Bryant-Denny on Sept. 20, the most yards ever allowed by the Gators. In between, the Crimson Tide produced a combined 623 yards against the Rebels and Razorbacks, with their 227 yards at Arkansas marking the fewest for the program since 2008.
"The big thing with Blake is that he has to understand he has to execute the system," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "When Blake does that, he plays extremely well. When Blake starts thinking he has to make all the plays, then the other guys aren't making plays. There were too many occasions in those two games where whatever the read was or whatever the execution should have been, it didn't really get done that way.
"Whether we made a play or didn't really doesn't matter, because we're still not executing the system like we need to. That was the challenge for him against Texas A&M, and he did a tremendous job of responding to it and did a really good job of executing the system."
Sims, viewed by many as an afterthought this past summer following Jacob Coker's transfer from Florida State, admitted this week to thinking too much instead of just playing. He ranks fourth nationally in pass efficiency under first-year offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, having completed 117 of 176 passes (66.5 percent) for 1,748 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions.
A member of Alabama's 2010 signing class, he was recruited by Tennessee when Kiffin coached the Volunteers in 2009. Sims said this week that he likely would have signed with the Vols had Kiffin not left for Southern Cal.
"I think I've improved in a lot of ways, and I think the team has confidence in me," Sims said. "I'm seeing defenses better before the ball is snapped. A lot of things are coming to me easier, and I'm getting the ball out of my hands a lot faster."
Sims has seven touchdown passes and one interception in SEC games at home, and he has rushed 12 times for 93 yards in those games. Against Ole Miss and Arkansas, he had two combined touchdown passes and an interception, and he rushed 14 times for 13 yards.
His 43-yard touchdown run last week helped open the floodgates to Alabama's most lopsided league rout since 1979. Will it have a carryover effect?
"Blake can run," Saban said. "He had the long touchdown run off a zone read, but a couple of other times he did it he had a minimal gain. The threat that he can do it certainly makes it more difficult for teams to play our other basic runs."
Said Sims: "Hopefully that run showed some people some things."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.