James Sims Season 1997

Honors & Awards

• Member of Three Nebraska National Championship Teams (1994, 1995, 1997)
• AT&T Long Run of the Week (80-yard Touchdown Run vs. Michigan State, 1995)

Career

James (Jay) Sims ended his collegiate career with 98 rushes for 683 yards and eight scores. He appeared in 29 games and averaged 7 yards a carry. He also recorded two assisted tackles on special teams.

1997 (Senior)

Sims entered his senior season tied with DeAngelo Evans as the No. 2 back behind returning starter Ahman Green. Sims appeared in nine games and finished the year seventh on the team in rushing with 125 yards on 27 carries, an average of 4.6 yards, and two scores. His longest run came in the regular-season showdown against Colorado when he darted for a 16-yard gain. Sims also had one assisted tackle on special teams. In the 1998 Orange Bowl against Tennessee, he rushed four times for 23 yards.

1996 (Junior)

Sims was listed as the Huskers' fourth I-back on the depth chart for much of the season, but he saw key playing time in several games when Green and Damon Benning went out with injuries. Sims rushed 41 times for 288 yards in 11 games (played in every game except Colorado) and averaged 7.0 yards per rush and 32.0 yards per game. He had a career-best day against Oklahoma, tying his career high with seven carries, for a personal-best 98 yards. Those yards included two fourth-quarter touchdowns of one and 22 yards. Sims also had one tackle on special teams. He was the No. 2 back alternating with Evans against Texas in the Big 12 Championship, as he carried five times for 32 yards with a long of 18. Sims carried eight times for 48 yards against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

1995 (Sophomore)

Sims finished the season with 30 carries for 270 yards, a 9.0 average per carry (best on the team among the backs) and three touchdowns. He began the season with four carries for 34 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys. On his very first carry against Michigan State, he took off on an 80-yard touchdown run, which tied for the team long on the season and was the AT&T long run of the week. The unselfish sophomore, who played behind Lawrence Phillips, Green, Clinton Childs and Benning, also went 7-47 against Arizona State, 9-55 and a touchdown against Pacific, 2-29 against Missouri and 5-25 against Iowa State. He did not see action in the Huskers' last two regular-season games. Sims had two carries for 35 yards in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, including a 32-yard run to put Nebraska on the Florida 1-yard line at the end of the game.

1994 (Redshirt)

A freshman walk-on, Sims redshirted.

1993 (Freshman)

Sims sat out the 1993 season.

West Memphis High School

Sims hails from Omaha, Neb., but graduated from and competed as a senior for West Memphis High School in Arkansas. He attended Omaha Central before that time. A 1989 graduate, Sims rushed for 860 yards as a senior. He delayed enrollment and chose to work for a few years before enrolling at Nebraska in 1993.

Personal

The son of James and Ruby Sims, James, Jr. (Jay), was born on Nov. 3, 1971, in Lepanto, Ark. He was a volunteer with the Omaha Youth Rap Sessions.

Sims' Career Statistics

Rushing
Year	G/S	Att.	Yds.	Y/C	Y/G	TDs
1994	Redshirted
1995	9/0	30	270	9.0	30.0	3
1996	11/0	41	288	7.0	32.0	3
1997	9/0	27	125	4.6	13.9	2
Totals	29/0	98	683	7.0	23.6	8

Tackles: 0 UT, 1 AT, 1 TT in 1996; 0 UT, 1 AT, 1 TT in 1997

1996 Fiesta Bowl vs. Florida: Rushing 2-35
1996 Orange Bowl vs. Virginia Tech: Rushing 8-48
1998 Orange Bowl vs. Tennessee: Rushing 4-23