Alabama's Cooper leading nation in big plays

photo Alabama junior receiver Amari Cooper had a career-best 224 yards in last Saturday's 34-20 win at Tennessee.

THE 200 CLUBAlabama's four 200-yard receiving performances in school history:Amari Cooper 224 yards Tennessee 2014Julio Jones 221 yards Tennessee 2010David Palmer 217 yards Vanderbilt 1993Amari Cooper 201 yards Florida 2014

Early and often has been Alabama's offensive objective in getting the ball to junior receiver Amari Cooper, and that game plan is as effective as ever entering November.

Cooper has caught an eye-popping 71 passes for 1,132 yards through eight games for the No. 3 Crimson Tide, and he needs just 1 more yard to match the school's single-season mark set by Julio Jones in 2010. That accomplishment will have to wait at least eight days, because Alabama has an open date before next week's trip to LSU.

In last Saturday's 34-20 win at Tennessee, Cooper set the Alabama single-game receiving record with 224 yards.

"The guy is a great player, and when he plays fast he's hard to cover," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Obviously when you set a record, that's really something significant, but I think Coop would be the first to tell you that his teammates are doing a really good job protecting the quarterback and that the quarterback is doing a good job of getting him the ball.

"He's taking advantage of the opportunities he's had, and the guy has had a phenomenal season for us."

The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder from Miami leads the nation in gains of 20 or more yards with 19, a stat not only involving receivers but tailbacks as well. With four rushes for 14 yards this season, Cooper has 1,146 yards from scrimmage to rank 11th nationally, and his 15.28 yards per play is the highest among the top 11.

Of his 71 receptions, 49 have occurred on first down, including his 80-yard touchdown catch on Alabama's initial play from scrimmage inside Neyland Stadium.

"I just try to do the best that I can and get everything out of every ball thrown to me and see what the outcome is," Cooper said.

Saban was LSU's coach in 2001 when Josh Reed set the Southeastern Conference single-season receiving mark with 1,740 yards. Cooper is on pace for 1,840 yards in a 13-game season, but the Crimson Tide could be playing 14 or even 15 games should they qualify for the sport's inaugural four-team playoff.

His big year has been assisted by fifth-year senior quarterback Blake Sims, who threw a quick screen to Cooper on Alabama's first play from scrimmage in the opener against West Virginia and never stopped looking his way.

"Blake has gotten better every single week, and we've been able to develop some rhythm," Cooper said. "Blake is a great person, and that's what I love about him. He's very approachable, and when I see something, I can just approach him about it and talk to him about it, and he'll follow through with it."

Considering Alabama's five other scholarship receivers -- DeAndrew White, Christion Jones, Chris Black, ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster -- have combined on 47 catches for 549 yards, it would seem Sims has an obvious favorite target. That has been obvious to Crimson Tide opponents as well, though they haven't been able to do much about it.

"As long as No. 9 is getting open and as long as we are throwing him the ball, I don't think we should tell the quarterback not to throw it to him," Saban said.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com at 423-757-6524.

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