Blog: Latest Bama News 12/26/14-12-28 Weekend Edtion

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Quarterback Blake Sims is Crimson Tide’s version of a Christmas miracle-sds


The way Nick Saban tells the story it was after the A-Day Game, the final scrimmage of spring played before 73,506 fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium, when one in particular said something that stuck with the coach. It came out of the mouth of a 10-year-old boy, who probably asked what his father wouldn’t have dared but was being thought by a lot of people that April afternoon.
“Do we have a quarterback other than Blake Sims?”
It hadn’t been a particularly good showing for the fifth-year player who had spent the previous two seasons backing up AJ McCarron. He got off to a rocky start by completing just one of his first five passes, which included a couple of drops and one attempt that should have been intercepted.
The passing game finally started to look a little better in the fourth quarter, but until wide receiver Chris Black notched a last-minute 55-yard touchdown the only scoring play Sims had been involved with was when defensive lineman D.J. Pettway returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter.
His final numbers were anything but impressive: 13 of 30 attempts (43.3 percent) for 178 yards, with two interceptions.
Nevertheless, this week someone from Ohio State is playing the part of Sims during practices for the upcoming national playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), trying to mimic the dual-threat passer who had spent years on Alabama’s scout team.
It’s something that definitely isn’t lost on him.
“I’m just blessed to be in the situation that I am, blessed to be around the guys I’m playing with that made me better every day,” Sims said.
There are all sorts of great stories on the Crimson Tide football team this season, from Austin Shepherd’s foundation to Cyrus Jones shaking off last year’s struggles to become Alabama’s most solid cornerback.
But none can compare to Sims, the player who didn’t really have a position his first couple of years at the Capstone and ascended in a way that very few thought possible.
“Blake is an inspirational guy, just his personality, the way he plays, the way he competes,” Saban said. “I think a lot of players have a lot of respect for him for the perseverance that he showed here.
“He played mostly on scout team for three years, got moved to running back, got moved back to quarterback when another quarterback transferred, became a second-team quarterback. Really worked hard and won the job, and then when you look at what he accomplished based on all the perseverance that he had, where a lot of people would have transferred, gone someplace else, done something else.”
At Alabama’s recent team awards banquet Sims shared the Offensive Player of the Year distinction with wide receiver Amari Cooper, was named the Most Inspiring Player by his teammates, and then topped that with arguably the night’s highest honor, co-team captain.
For those who don’t know, Alabama considers its captains so highly that their names, footprints and handprints are cast in concrete at Denny Chimes, the heart of the Capstone campus. More than that, though, the players often don’t just vote for the most successful teammates, or the ones who led them through the spring, summer and season, but the peers who they themselves want to be like.
“I was just sitting there, nervous, my name was the last one to get called, like awwww man,” said fullback Jalston Fowler, who was named along with Sims, Cooper and safety Landon Collins.
“I was hoping to win that award. It’s something very dear to me to be voted by your teammates as the team captain.”
Sims said he didn’t expect it. There were other players who had started a lot more games and paid a lot of dues, only none quite like he did.
“It mean a lot, it lets me know that my team really believes in the words that I say, they trust me 100 percent,” the humble Sims said. “I’m just glad I can be a leader for this team and lead these guys the right way.”
Obviously it didn’t just happen overnight, even after finally winning the starting job this fall. Sims still had to overcome the doubters, the loss at Ole Miss and even the three interceptions against Auburn.
He set records, including Alabama’s single-season passing mark, was named second-team All-SEC, and should have received more consideration for national awards including the Heisman Trophy.
Along the way Sims taught both his teammates and the fans more than they’ll ever know, just by the way he went about things.
“He has a tremendous impact on everybody around him,” Saban said.
As for the 10-year-old boy, he hasn’t been back to see Saban since A-Day and is hopefully enjoying a nice Christmas somewhere. Perhaps the fan part of him will have an ever better New Year’s Day if the guy he didn’t want at quarterback can lead the Crimson Tide to another win and into the national championship game.
“He probably jumped on the bandwagon like all the rest of you did,” Saban said with a smile.
 

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Alabama’s, Ohio State’s rosters demonstrate new reality of recruiting-sds


Even though he’s from the Buckeye State, University of Alabama junior center Ryan Kelly was never much of an Ohio State fan. Being Catholic he was more of a Notre Dame guy, but when it came time to make a decision about where to play college football some of the schools he chose Alabama over included Florida, Florida State and nearby Kentucky.
So even though he considers himself a Cincinnati guy, as Kelly grew up just north of the city in West Chester and attended Lakota West High School, he’s still been getting text message from home like, “Always been your fan until this week.”
“I’ve got a couple of buddies that go to Ohio State and I know some people there,” he said. “It’s a big week for everyone from Ohio.”
While a coach having a tie to a school 600 miles away isn’t that unusual —after all Nick Saban was the Buckeyes’ defensive backs coach in 1980-81 — it’s becoming less unusual for the players as well.
Alabama actually has five players from Ohio: Kelly, senior linebacker Trey DePriest, true freshman wide receiver Derek Kief, and walk-ons Jerrod Bierbower and Brandon Moore.
Granted, the Buckeyes don’t have anyone from Alabama, or where the Sugar Bowl will be played on Jan. 1 (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), Louisiana —where the Crimson Tide has strong ties — it nevertheless demonstrates the new reality of recruiting.
Borders mean a lot less nowadays.
“Everything is so global now,” Saba said. “There is so much more exposure than there used to be. It used to be local exposure. Like when I grew up, the only team I knew anything about was West Virginia, because that’s where I grew up. That’s who I saw on TV. Things weren’t global like they are now in terms of seeing Oregon play just as much as you see Alabama play. I think young people see it that way, too.”
Just a glimpse as last year’s signing class reflects that as the Crimson Tide landed recruits from 15 states: Alabama (8), Louisiana (4), Georgia (2), Florida (2), Arkansas (1), California (1), Colorado (1), Iowa (1), Minnesota (1), North Carolina (1), Ohio (1), Oklahoma (1), South Carolina (1), Texas (1) and Virginia (1).
The Class of 2015 is shaping up to be the same way with verbal commitments from California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Washington DC, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi in addition to the usual infusion of top in-state talent.
“There are still a lot of so-called home-grown guys who want to go to school close to home, but there are also guys out there who have different goals and aspirations for what they want to do and I think those guys are all over the country,” Saban added. “The key thing in recruiting is to find out who those guys are, because those are the only guys who you are going to have a chance for and you’d better focus your energies there rather than somebody who grew up wanting to go to a certain school because that’s where they are from and they have a tie there and that’s probably what’s going to end up happening.
“Those guys exist all over the country, I don’t care if it’s Ohio, Texas, Alabama, Florida. It’s a little bit just evaluating who you are recruiting and what their goals and aspirations are. Otherwise you’re going to end up spinning your wheels quite a bit.”
Ohio State has plenty of players from around the country as well, along with a punter from Australia, Cameron Johnston.
Even though he didn’t land him, sophomore defensive back Von Bell was someone Saban recruited in Georgia, as was sophomore defensive end Joey Bosa in Florida.
Bell, a five-star prospect in 2013, even said when signing with the Buckeyes: “We’re gong to try to beat ’Bama at national championships and try to get that crystal ball. We’re going to complete that mission.”
Little did he know that those words would almost certainly be posted in every Crimson Tide locker at some point before the national semifinal, while Ohio State has plenty of insight into the Crimson Tide.
Not only did Chad Lindsay, an offensive lineman who started four games at center last season, transfer to Ohio State after reportedly visiting Michigan, Cal, Oklahoma and Louisville (he’s since given up football, and according to Urban Meyer is “finishing up his schooling”), but DePriest has maintained his hometown ties.
“Funny thing about Trey is he grew up around Braxton Miller, who was the quarterback before (getting hurt prior to) the start of the season,” senior safety Nick Perry said. “This game is going to mean a lot for him and so we’re kind of playing for him and playing for some of the guys on the team who are from Ohio.
“You can tell he really wants this game.”
 

kyallie

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Jan 17, 2010
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Shakopee Minnesota, via Birmingham Alabama

kyallie

FB Moderator
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Jan 17, 2010
201,276
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Shakopee Minnesota, via Birmingham Alabama

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