No Matter Who Plays QB, Alabama Must Get Amari Cooper the Ball Early and Often

Alabama fans probably have plenty of opinions after Saturday’s 41-0 win over Florida Atlantic—a game that was cut short due to lightning.

Blake Sims and Jake Coker both took meaningful snaps in a game for the first time this season, and each had their ups and downs. Plenty of conclusions will undoubtedly be drawn from their performances. And both will probably get another crack at it next week when Alabama hosts Southern Miss.

But there’s one aspect of the offense that is pretty crystal clear at this point, with no room for debate: Amari Cooper is a good wide receiver. Keep getting him the ball.

Cooper caught 13 passes for 189 yards and a score on Saturday, propelling the Crimson Tide to a big win against the overmatched Owls. His 13 catches tied an Alabama school record set by D.J. Hall against Tennessee in 2007.

Cooper has been a major factor in both of Alabama’s games in this young 2014 season. New offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has clearly put an emphasis on getting the ball to Cooper for multiple reasons.

Opponent	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
West Virginia	12	130	0
Florida Atlantic	13	189	1
Total	25	319	1

His plan to get Cooper involved has helped out the new quarterbacks immensely.

Cooper has been the go-to wide receiver for both Sims and Coker early on. Kiffin has set up the quarterbacks with quick screens and slants his way, throws that can help a young quarterback get into a rhythm early in a game.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Almost 75 percent of Cooper’s yards Saturday came on screens, swing passes or slants. The first play against West Virginia was a screen to Cooper. On Saturday's opening drive, Cooper came in motion on a reverse that he ran for 20 yards.

Cooper described his mentality when he catches a screen pass last week.

“When you get the ball, as soon as you catch it, you want to run full speed and react off of instinct,” he said. “You don't want to look for any defenders like that. That's what I try to do.”

He did plenty of that on Saturday. FAU defenders frequently gave Alabama’s receivers six- or eight-yard cushions, and the Crimson Tide took advantage. All Cooper had to do was make a man miss—which he did several times—and he was off to the races.

Pass type	Yards	Touchdowns	% of production
Screen/swing	112	1	59
Slant	28	0	15
Other	49	0	26

His presence gives this offense a workhorse to go through, an asset that has been vital with a new signal-caller under center.

Even following an up-and-down 2013, during which he had play through a foot injury, Cooper still brought along a lot of hype into this season. He lit up defenses his freshman year to the tune of 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. But last season, the nagging foot injury slowed him down for much of the season. Cooper finished strong with 100-plus-yard performances in Alabama’s last two games of the season.

There will be no doubting this year, though, whether Cooper is one of the elite receivers in college football. He’s touched the ball 26 times already this season for 339 yards. That pace doesn’t figure to be slowing up any time soon as Alabama continues to work Sims and Coker into its offense.

There's no debating that the game plan of utilizing Cooper as much as possible sets up Alabama for plenty of success on offense.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats come from CFBStats. All recruiting information comes from 247Sports.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.