Can Blake Sims Settle In As Alabama’s Starting Quarterback?

Alabama senior quarterback Blake Sims started and played almost the entire game Saturday against West Virginia, and did so pretty effectively. But it doesn’t seem this quarterback competition is over by any stretch of the imagination.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a Tide quarterback subjected to the scrutiny directed at Blake Sims and his performance. Many fans are screaming at the tops of their lungs to see what Jacob Coker can do, and we will likely see a bit of that in the next game.

Sims went into Saturday with a ton of pressure on his back and not a whole lot of experience, yet never seemed rattled and made a number of big plays during the game with both his feet and his arm. He showed great poise, solid command of the offense, and led Alabama to almost 600 yards of total offense and 33 points.

The thing that stood out to me most about Sims was his poise in the pocket. He seemed to be able to feel the rush coming and was able to make something out of nothing with his feet more than once. Seeing a Tide quarterback doing that is not something we have grown accustomed to in recent years.

That is not to say that it was a homerun for Sims. He did struggle with throwing on the run, had a tough time checking to different plays, and turned the ball over once. Another concern was the play sheet he wore on his wrist.

I have never seen an Alabama quarterback wear a play chart since Saban has been at the Capstone. It leads me to believe that Sims may be having trouble with the terminology in Kiffin’s offense. He knows the plays, knows the formations, and knows the throws, but may be having a hard time with calling the plays because of the terminology. I have no evidence other than the play sheet for this assumption, so take it with a big grain of salt.

Sims also doesn’t seem to be very comfortable with the deep ball at the moment. He certainly doesn’t have the strength in his arm that Coker has, and he didn’t take very many shots down the field. On an occasion he did, Christion Jones dropped a sure 40-plus-yard touchdown in the second half.

Reasons offered by fans as to why we never saw Coker against West Virginia ranged from a possible injury to his not grasping the offense. But something I don’t think people are taking into consideration is past experience.

In 2011, Nick Saban had a heated quarterback battle going on in fall camp between AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims. It went all the way into the first game, where both players saw action.

McCarron started the game, but they alternated every three drives. He led Alabama on two consecutive scoring drives before the offense stalled on his third drive and was forced to punt. Sims came into the game and the offense rebounded with a Trent Richardson touchdown. But then things seemed to fall apart. The next several drives with both Sims and McCarron at the helm saw one field goal, two punts, a missed field goal, and three interceptions.

After that initial game where McCarron looked far from great, he settled in as the starter and led Alabama to the 2011 and 2012 BCS National Championships.

Perhaps Saban decided that alternating quarterbacks does nothing to help your offense when it is already clicking. It could be that Saban felt Sims was playing poised and leading the offense extremely well, and didn’t want to mess it up.

Blake Sims first three drives looked much like McCarron’s, with Alabama scoring points on two of the three, including a 14-play, 95-yard scoring drive. After that Alabama scored on five on the next seven drives.

Can Sims settle into the job as the starter? It is a question that will need to be answered in coming weeks. Alabama needs to know who the No. 1 is by week four when the Gators of Florida stroll into town.