Bama Central

10 Years Ago Today, SI Put This Alabama Player On Its Cover: Roll Call, Dec. 23, 2024

Your daily briefing on what's going on with Alabama athletics, including how to watch the Crimson Tide.

Christopher Walsh

Alabama Crimson Tide football quarterback Blake Sims on the cover of Sports Illustrated, 2014 College Football Playoff preview
Alabama Crimson Tide football quarterback Blake Sims on the cover of Sports Illustrated, 2014 College Football Playoff preview / Sports Illustrated
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It's hard to believe it was 10 years ago that the first four-team College Football Playoff was set to begin play, with top-seeded Alabama set to square off against Ohio State, and Oregon playing Florida State. It was on this day in 2014 that Sports Illustrated announced that it was publishing four special playoff editions, with four different covers, one for each team to preview the semifinals. Starting quarterback Blake Sims represented the Crimson Tide on the double-issue cover dated Dec. 29, under the words "The Mayhem Begins."

Alabama didn't play especially well against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl semifinal. Even though it jumped out to a 20-6 lead, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban didn't like the way the game was progressing, especially defensively against the Buckeyes' offense with quarterback Cardale Jones (who had made just his second career start after being behind Braxton Miller and J. T. Barrett) , and running back Ezekial Elliot.

"We never really stopped them,” Saban said. “We got two turnovers and two red-zone stops, but I didn’t like the feel of the game then. We didn’t control the game the way we usually do.”

He was right as the Buckeyes subsequently scored 28 unanswered points and ended up winning 42-35. Ohio State rolled up 537 yards of offense against the nation's top-rated defense, and Elliott ran for a Sugar Bowl record 230 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Saban later admitted that the Crimson Tide had approached the game not too differently from a bowl, but he quickly learned from it. Alabama didn't lose another CFP semifinal until his final game at the end of the 2023 season, 27-20 in overtime to Michigan in the Rose Bowl, winning six straight times to advance to the national championship game.

Sims kept playing football until 2022, including with the CFL, with two NFL practice squads, and even the Birmingham Iron. He's currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy in Marietta, Ga.

Today’s Crimson Tide Schedule

No games scheduled until Sunday

Crimson Tide Results

Men's basketball: Alabama 81, Kent State 54

Did You Notice?

  • Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams had the play of the day among former Crimson Tide players with an 82-yard touchdown against the Chicago Bears. He finished with five receptions for 143 yards.
  • Williams' teammate Jahmyr Gibbs also had a big day with 23 carrries for 109 rushing yards and a 1-yard touchdown as the Lions stayed on target for home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs.
  • Jalen Hurts left the Eagles game in the first quarter with a concussion. Washington ended up rallying for the 36-33 victory, snapping Philadelphia's 10-game win streak.
  • Of the four former Alabama quarterbacks to start this weekend, Bryce Young had the best passer rating at 107.5. He only threw for 158 yards, but was 17-for-26 with two touchdowns and no interceptions, plus ran for 68 yards and another score while leading the Panthers to an overtime win against the Cardinals. Check out his throw on the the 18-yard touchdown pass to Panthers wide receiver David Moore:

See Also Bama in the NFL, Week 16 Tracker: Top 5 Crimson Tide Career Rushing Leaders

On This Date in Crimson Tide History:

December 23, 1926: Alabama's All-Southern conference center Gordon "Sherlock" Holmes suffered an appendicitis in El Paso, Tex., while the team was en route to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl showdown with Stanford. Sophomore Babe Pearce was tabbed to fill in for Holmes, who told doctors he was going to catch the next train to Pasadena to be with the Crimson Tide.

December 23, 1991: Trevor Releford was born in Kansas City, Mo.

Crimson Tide Quote of the Day:

“I'll never forget going to the Rose Bowl. I remember everything about it. We were on the train and Coach [Frank] Thomas was talking to three coaches and Red Heard, the athletic director at LSU. Coach Thomas said, ‘Red, this is my best football player. This is the best player on my team.' Well, shoot, I could have gone right out the top. He was getting me ready. And I was, too. I would have gone out there and killed myself for Alabama that day."

- Paul W. “Bear” Bryant

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Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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