For his standards, Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims was inefficient throwing the ball against Miami on Saturday. Part of it was the toll of injuries, offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said, but more so flaws in his delivery.
“There’s a couple technical things that he wasn’t doing right,” Patenaude said. “I don’t think he was transferring his weight well.”
Sims completed 21 of 38 passes for 194 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Several passes were well off target, often into the ground. In 16 career starts, his passing efficiency rating of 101.6 was the fourth lowest of his career. His season average is 122.9, ninth in the ACC. It didn’t help that Sims was often under pressure and for the last five drives was playing with backup center Weston Franklin after Mikey Minihan left the game with an injury.
“When you have open targets, you’ve got to make the throws,” Patenaude said. “There’s going to be times that there’s going to be guys around you, you get forced off of things, but if you get a solid look at a throw, you’ve got to make it.”
Sims still had his moments. On third-and-7 and longer, for instance, he completed eight of 12 passes for 97 yards with one interception. Six of the eight completions were converted for first downs, a high rate for third-and-long.
Patenuade said that while his delivery was off, Sims was still making the correct reads on where to go with the ball. That was one reason that Patenaude said he didn’t consider taking Sims out, even for a series or two off to collect himself. Another was that backup Jordan Yates was not fully healthy and hadn’t had a full week of practice.
“It’s frustrating to everybody that, when you’re watching it and he comes to the sideline and he’s like, Yeah, I saw it, I just missed it,” Patenaude said.
However, Patenaude suggested that he might have been more apt to take Sims out if he had been playing recklessly and not been in the flow of the game as opposed to seeing the game well but not being consistently accurate.
“He wasn’t doing great, but we were going to ride with Jeff,” Patenaude said.
Tech plays Boston College Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Daily Jackets: The AJC presents a daily look at one news item about Georgia Tech athletics to start your morning.
About the Author
