BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Florida had no answer for monster performances from Alabama quarterback Blake Sims and receiver Amari Cooper.
Sims threw for 445 yards, second-most in Alabama single game history. He hit 23 of 33 passes with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Cooper caught 10 balls for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
But the talk from Florida on Sims, a fifth-year senior, was still geared more on his legs than his arm.
"He created a lot of things with his legs," Florida head coach Will Muschamp said. "That was something we knew coming into the game. They did a nice job with pocket movement. We had him hemmed up at times and he got away. We had opportunities to get him on the ground at times and we couldn't get him on the ground.
"We had to keep him contained in those situations and we didn't do a good enough job."
Florida's Keanu Neal, who scooped a 49-yard fumble and scored a touchdown to give Florida an early 14-7 lead, wasn't surprised in Sims' passing ability.
"We knew he was a great athlete," Neal said. "We knew he could throw the ball. We just had to cover the guys. We knew he was a scrambler. We knew we had to cover the receivers twice. We did that for the most part, but we let some slip away."
Along with Cooper, DeAndrew White also had six catches for 48 yards. Kenyan Drake (87 yards, touchdown) and T.J. Yeldon (37 yards) made their lone receptions count.
Florida matched star cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III on Cooper in man defense situations, but not as much in zone defense, Muschamp said. Cooper did catch a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Coker on a fade route over Hargreaves.
"We haven't (seen a receiver as good as Cooper) this year, but I'm sure we're going to face plenty more as good as him," Neal said.
"He's a great player. We could have stopped him, but it's a lack of communication on our part."
On Cooper, Muschamp said, "They moved him around a little bit more than they had before so we've just got to cover down and cover a little better in those situations."
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Sims threw for 445 yards, second-most in Alabama single game history. He hit 23 of 33 passes with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Cooper caught 10 balls for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
But the talk from Florida on Sims, a fifth-year senior, was still geared more on his legs than his arm.
"He created a lot of things with his legs," Florida head coach Will Muschamp said. "That was something we knew coming into the game. They did a nice job with pocket movement. We had him hemmed up at times and he got away. We had opportunities to get him on the ground at times and we couldn't get him on the ground.
"We had to keep him contained in those situations and we didn't do a good enough job."
Florida's Keanu Neal, who scooped a 49-yard fumble and scored a touchdown to give Florida an early 14-7 lead, wasn't surprised in Sims' passing ability.
"We knew he was a great athlete," Neal said. "We knew he could throw the ball. We just had to cover the guys. We knew he was a scrambler. We knew we had to cover the receivers twice. We did that for the most part, but we let some slip away."
Along with Cooper, DeAndrew White also had six catches for 48 yards. Kenyan Drake (87 yards, touchdown) and T.J. Yeldon (37 yards) made their lone receptions count.
Florida matched star cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III on Cooper in man defense situations, but not as much in zone defense, Muschamp said. Cooper did catch a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Coker on a fade route over Hargreaves.
"We haven't (seen a receiver as good as Cooper) this year, but I'm sure we're going to face plenty more as good as him," Neal said.
"He's a great player. We could have stopped him, but it's a lack of communication on our part."
On Cooper, Muschamp said, "They moved him around a little bit more than they had before so we've just got to cover down and cover a little better in those situations."
Continue reading...
