Blake Sims: By The Numbers

It seems odd that this conversation existed prior to the 2014 college football season started: "Who will start at quarterback, Blake Sims or Jake Coker?" Throughout fall camp and the first couple of weeks of the season, Sims won the starting job, and he has done nothing but impress spectators. But what do his statistics actually mean?

Blake has just been named as a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, which is the annual award given to the nation's top signal caller in college football. So what kind of credentials does Sims possess to garner such attention?

For starters, Sims is currently second in the nation in passer efficiency (minimum of 200 pass attempts), with an astounding 172.7. In comparison, Tim Tebow had a 172.5 passer efficiency during 2007, the year he won the Heisman Trophy. Passer efficiency is calculated by taking a ratio between pass yards, pass completion percentage, touchdowns, and interceptions. For Sims to be an equivalently efficient passer to Tebow is remarkable to say the least.

Sims doesn't turn the ball over, throwing just three interceptions so far, and he completes 65.5% of his passes, which ranks 14th in the country (minimum of 200 attempts). Quarterbacks can't be in the running for prestigious awards if they aren't accurate, and Sims is definitely not an exception to that statement.

Where Sims has made his money this year, however, is on third down (not literally, only figuratively). He has thrown five touchdowns and no interceptions, while piling on 548 yards on 72.4% passing. The more telling statistic, however is his yards per attempt: 9.45 yards per attempt on third down. The more third downs a team converts, the more time they have the ball and the less time the opponent has the ball. If you don't have the ball, it's difficult to score, much less win.

It's hard to score a lot of points if you can't put the ball in the end zone when your team is inside the opponent's 20 yard line. The main reason the Tide are averaging 36.5 points per game is the play of Sims in the red zone. He hasn't turned the ball over yet, and has thrown four touchdowns through the air, but he isn't just a threat to put up six points airing it out. He has also ran in three touchdowns, so defenses have been off balance all season when Alabama rolls into the red zone, and Sims is an integral part of that.

Is Blake Sims the best quarterback in the nation? That is yet to be determined. However, he has proven that he belongs in the conversation, and if he continues his progress, we could be talking about Alabama's first ever Davey O'Brien Award winner.