Backup quarterback Sim impressing Jaguar coaches

Quarterback Brennan Sim has been used in a backup role this season, so South Alabama fans had few opportunities to see what the junior transfer from Oregon State could do on the football field until last week's game against Fork Union.

Given extended playing time in the first half against the Blue Devils, Sim turned in one of the best performances for a USA quarterback this season, going 9 of 9 for 130 yards and directing two scoring drives, one touchdown coming on a 5-yard pass to running back Anthony Mostella.

The strong showing gives Sim some pretty impressive statistic this season. He's now completed 17 of 21 attempts for 246 yards and has convinced the Jaguars' coaching staff he deserves more playing time in the final two games.

"Brennan has really progressed well," said USA coach Joey Jones. "He's throwing the ball much better and he's making good decisions. We've kind of decided that we're going to play both of those guys (freshman Myles Gibbon and Sim) the rest of the year. We're really going to evaluate Brennan over the next two games to see where he is."

Sim was supposed to challenge for South Alabama's starting role this year before health issues set him back. He caught pneumonia during the summer and missed the majority of the preseason conditioning work.

"He was probably four weeks behind because of the pneumonia and the surgery on his lung he had to have to remove some of the infection," said Jones. "He got off to a slow start."

Sim, who spent three years in the Oregon State program, played sparingly against Hargrave and completed just 2 of 5 passes against Army Prep. He didn't play against Georgia Military, then connected on 6 of 7 passes against Louisburg.

"It's been an interesting year," said Sim. "It was tough starting the season down 20 pounds after the summer that I had. I had a little setback there, and as the season has gone on I feel like I have been able to take care of business when my opportunities have come.

"There's been a lot of good competition in practice. It hasn't been just in the games when we've gotten our competitive reps. We got a lot (of competition) in the weeks when we weren't playing other teams."

Sim thinks the competition has helped develop the quarterbacks.

"Over the season, all of the quarterbacks have gotten a lot better," he said. "It's always tough splitting time, but our goal is to be the best we can be, and I think all of us getting this experience this year is going to pay dividends in the future."

The future Sim is looking toward is 2010, when he'll have another chance to win the starting job.

"The way this year is playing out, there's going to definitely be a lot of competition in spring ball," said Sim. "We've had three guys splitting the reps fairly evenly and the thing that does is make you fine-tune your game and makes you a better player. I feel like having that heat (to perform) on you all the time helps.

"All the quarterbacks have progressed a lot this year and we're going to need to progress a lot more. It's going to be a fun and interesting battle, and whoever wins the job next year is going to have to do a lot to get that spot."

Before Sim can concentrate on spring practice, South Alabama has two games left on the schedule, starting with Saturday's 4 p.m. contest against Milford Academy at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jaguars close the season on Nov. 12 against Huntingdon College.