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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: ALABAMA v MISSOURIDecember 1, 2014Blake SimsATLANTA, GEORGIA CHUCK DUNLAP: Blake, good afternoon. Before we take questions, would you mind briefly discussing your team as you lead them against Missouri on Saturday. BLAKE SIMS: Yes, sir, I'm ready. Q. Blake, Coach Saban mentioned today that going tempo, playing fast just fits you better. Why is that a better way to play for you as a quarterback? BLAKE SIMS: I think to have reads that the coaches go through daily, just go through the reads, and I think I just play better as a whole because I'm not thinking as much and just reacting off of what people do. I think that's what I'm best at. Q. I wanted to figure out what your first impressions were of Coach Kiffin when he came in and what he's done with you specifically in the offense. BLAKE SIMS: My first impression of him was a guy that was ready to come and make Alabama the best team in the nation. He's got a great personality with everybody, and he got along with everybody and had to do what he had to do. He's been doing a great job coaching. He's on top of it and making sure I go in the game very prepared and making sure I always know that I got to do what I've got to do. Q. Have you been impressed in games with his play calls? BLAKE SIMS: I have. I have. I'm just very happy that he came here and gave us the opportunity to win games. Q. Blake, how beneficial was it going forward to win kind of a shootout game over Auburn like you did this weekend? BLAKE SIMS: It was very big for us. We were just happy as a team to be able to do what we did, and we overcame adversity, and we became as a team when we were down, and we praised each other when we did right. Q. What does a win like that with the offense playing as well as it did kind of say about the growth of what you guys have done in Lane Kiffin's offense this year? BLAKE SIMS: It's great. A lot of people didn't expect us to do good in Coach Kiffin's offense, knowing that it's the first year that he's been here, and he's done a great job coaching us and just knowing what we need to do in the game. Q. Blake, just from what you've seen of the various defensive lines, what allows them to be as productive as they've been so far this year? BLAKE SIMS: They play their role. They know what they have to do to win the game. They do the little things, and they've got a lot of pride. They watch out for one another, and they don't want to leave something on the field. Q. Blake, this is obviously the second time you'll be playing in the Georgia Dome this year. What do you remember about the West Virginia game way back at the start of the season? How nervous were you going in? What do you kind of remember about how you felt going into that? BLAKE SIMS: Just knew that I had a lot of guys that's behind me, that were willing to play for me. They love me, and my confidence has got even better from the West Virginia game. Now I just need to go out there and play my game and get the ball to the playmakers and let them make plays and trust the line, that they're going to control the line of scrimmage, and communication's going to be very big for us. Q. I guess it was in the second quarter of that game where you did start to go to the up tempo. What do you remember about that point of the West Virginia game? Did it just feel smoother? Does it seem like it's been a lot smoother ever since? BLAKE SIMS: I think that game, as a coaching staff and as players, we learned a lot about each other that game. We learned about each other's emotions. We learned about how like this team plays better under any situation, and we just tried to be better and better and work from there. Q. Any concerns at all as far as the pass rush considering Cam has had an injury. He hurt his shoulder. He hurt his ankle. Are you concerned at all that Missouri might get even more pressure just because of injury? BLAKE SIMS: No, I think Cam's a very tough guy. He's willing to leave it all on the field. He doesn't want to miss a game because he feels like he's leaving his brothers out there, and he wants to do something to make the team better. This whole week, Cam is going to do whatever he has to do to play. Q. Just to follow up, as far as your play this year, obviously, you've had your share of injuries. You've had to come back from a loss. Just how do you feel about just yourself and your season that you've had? BLAKE SIMS: I'm very happy for the way that things have been, even though we had a loss. We've had ups and downs and big games that we've won, and I'm just happy for the way that I overcame things. I'm just happy to be in this situation because I have great players around me and I have great coaches that are very legendary and that are known around the nation. I'm just so glad for the plan that God has for me, and I'm just happy that I'm where I'm at, and I really didn't see myself in this position a lot of months ago. Q. Blake, you waited a long time for this opportunity. What kind of test of patience was that for you to wait to get to this point where you're at now? BLAKE SIMS: It was a lot of hard work and dedication, making a lot of sacrifices. Pretty much really just wanted to let my team know that I'm willing to do whatever I have to do, and hopefully they're happy with the way we're playing with each other. I think everybody knows that we do whatever we've got to do to win. Q. Also for you, what kind of confidence boost was that to respond the way you did to some of those early interceptions against Auburn? BLAKE SIMS: That's just pretty much putting the past behind and you worry about the future, take one play at a time, and just pretty much letting yourself know, hey, this game is not over. You have a chance to win because there's still clock on the board. Showing the guys that you're still humble and you still want to win this game. Q. Blake, a lot of times, if quarterbacks don't win their starting job early in their career, they transfer somewhere else. What kept you at Alabama when you were backing up A.J. and weren't the starter yet? BLAKE SIMS: That's pretty much the family that we have, the bonding that we have, and even with our coaches, we have a tight communication with them. I didn't want to go nowhere and start that all over. I have brothers here at Alabama, and we're so close that I was very confident. I don't really like connect with people like that. So I didn't want to go somewhere else and end up not having that same relationship with other people. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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