Blake Sims' Alabama Legacy Starts or Ends with LSU Game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—Blake Sims’ last trip to Tiger Stadium was a memorable one.

He watched from the sidelines as running back T.J. Yeldon took a screen pass 28 yards for a touchdown in the final minute to take the lead on what ended up being the game-winning play.

Engulfed in the celebration, Sims jumped up on one of the Crimson Tide benches and gestured towards the LSU crowd behind him, caught squarely on a CBS camera.

And then he knew he was in trouble. Sims said Monday about the incident:

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I was just pumped...Happy that we won. I remember that year. We were on the right track to win the national championship and that was going to be my first one. I was just so happy. That stadium was like, it gets you that way. I just jumped up and started acting. I looked down and there was a camera right there in my face and I was like, ‘Man, I’m about to get in trouble.

"

But now it’s Sims’ turn to be on the field, to be the one throwing the passes instead of watching them from the sideline (and possibly drawing Nick Saban’s ire once again).

Sims has largely had a solid year in his first, and what will be his only, season as Alabama’s starting quarterback. He’s done what he’s supposed to do against lesser competition and made plays to help the Crimson Tide beat some of its better opponents. And it wasn’t Sims that lost Alabama’s game against Ole Miss.

Now, with an unforgiving schedule coming up, it’s time to see if Sims can be great.

Three of Alabama’s four November games are against teams ranked in the top 16 of the College Football Playoff rankings, including two of the top three teams. No. 16 is this week, against LSU.

Alabama quarterbacks have made names for themselves against LSU. It’s Sims’ turn now.

His Alabama legacy will either begin or end this week.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

AJ McCarron was, fair or not, labeled a game manager for much of the 2011 season. That all changed when Alabama go its second shot at LSU.

Facing each other for the second time in a season, McCarron threw for 234 yards against the country’s No. 2 defense to lead Alabama to what was then its second BCS National Championship under Saban. For the first time that year and for his career, McCarron took control of the game and dictated the game through the air.

The next year, he led the drive that culminated with the screen pass to Yeldon and is now a central part of Crimson Tide lore.

Sims can leave a similar impression this week. And he’s been looking at McCarron for inspiration:

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

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Just from watching from last time AJ played there, the way he kept his composure and stuff. I’ve been watching him...I’ve been watching him when he was there – not the LSU defense, pretty much just seeing how he kept his composure, seeing how other quarterbacks kept their composure. Maybe I can do the same thing. Knowing how loud it is, communication is going to be very big for us. We’ve got to talk. That’s the main thing we’ve got to do.

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So far, Sims’ numbers have actually been ahead of Alabama’s quarterbacks in championship seasons under Saban.

Year	Quarterback	Yards per attempt	Yards per game	Rushing yards per attempt	QB rating
2009	Greg McElroy	7.7	179.1	1.54	140.54
2011	AJ McCarron	8.0	202.6	-0.73	147.27
2012	AJ McCarron	9.3	209.5	.008	175.28
2014	Blake Sims	10.2	254.3	5.43	254.3

But he hasn’t seen a road environment like Death Valley this year. As Les Miles famously said two years ago, it is a place where opponents’ dreams go to die.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Alabama is hoping its championship dreams can withstand the trip. That starts with Sims and trying to emulate what McCarron was able to do there;

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He got the players talking a lot. Communication’s very good for him...I noticed certain times in the game that he didn’t have to say nothing because the players can look to the sideline or they can look at each other, know the hand signals very well. He kept his composure very well. That was a tight game that year. I think he did a great job, and hopefully I can go and do the same exact thing.

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Sims has been a good quarterback so far this year. Alabama needs him to elevate his play even further and be the quarterback who can lead the Crimson Tide to another title.

Sims hasn’t shown any reason why he can’t be that.

He’ll get to prove that he can starting this week, playing instead of watching.

“We know it’s going to be that one play that’s going to win us the game. We want to be the ones that win that play,” Sims said. “T.J. did it one year. O.J. (Howard) did it another year. There’s no telling who that guy could be. So it could be called at any time.”

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.