By
Jeff Sallas
Well
another season of SEC football is over.
It is time to hand out this season's awards. Here is one man's opinion of the SEC this year.
First
the standings...
SEC
East
1. Tennessee: 10-1, 7-1
2. Florida: 9-2, 6-2
3. South Carolina: 8-3, 5-3
4. Georgia: 8-3, 5-3
5. Kentucky: 2-9, 1-7
6. Vandy: 2-9, 0-8
SEC
West
1. LSU: 8-3, 5-3
2. Auburn: 7-4, 5-3
3. Arkansas: 7-4, 4-4
4. Ole Miss: 7-4, 4-4
5. Bama: 6-5, 4-4
6. Miss St: 3-8, 2-6
Individual
awards in my opinion...
East
MVP: Travis Stephens, Tennessee
(1999
pick: Dusty Bonner, Kentucky | 2000
pick: Jabbar Gaffney, Florida)
Florida’s
Rex Grossman and last year’s MVP Jabbar Gaffney get strong consideration here
but Stephens is the heart and soul of the SEC Champion Volunteers. I don’t always agree with this logic but in
this case I do. While I think Grossman
is the best QB in the conference and Gaffney is one of the best WRs I think
Stephens defines MVP. He has been
labeled as “slightly undersized” but he more than makes up for it with heart
and determination. He is also clear the
best RB in the conference this year. He
is the only one to rush for over 1000 yards.
He has piled up 1,427 yards this year.
Other honorable mentions include Vol QB Casey Clausen, Vol WR Kelley
Washington, Georgia QB David Greene and South Carolina QB Phil Petty.
West
MVP: Rohan Davey/Josh Reed
(1999
pick: Shawn Alexander/Bama OL | 2000
pick Rudi Johnson, Auburn)
I
couldn’t pick one of these guys over the other so I give it to them both. This lethal combination has carried LSU to
their first SEC title game. Their best
game of the year was against Bama when both guys were absolutely on fire. Davey had over 500 yards passing and Reed
had almost 300 yards receiving. An
absolutely unbelievable performance.
They continued to shred every other team after that as well. It has been a long time coming for Rohan
Davey. The guy has been through the
tough times and injuries but finally got his shot and delivered. Reed was already awesome last year but was
even better this year. However it takes
both of these guys being on the same wavelength and they were. Right behind these guys is Eli Manning. The guy came in with all the hype and was as
good as advertised. I would look for
his name in this space next year. I
guess the only other guy I would throw kudos out to is Arkansas QB Matt
Jones. I hate to even mention a true
freshman especially a part-timer but this guy made a huge impact this year.
Best
defense: Tennessee
(1999
pick: Miss St | 2000 pick: Auburn and South Carolina)
Not
the best unit statistically but the bottom line was they made the big play
every time except for one. They shut
down LSU’s MVP combo above early in the season. They stumbled against Georgia but then regrouped against Bama and
got the crucial stops in the 4th quarter. They stopped Notre Dame at crucial times. They stopped UK before they could pull of
the upset and finally they helped contain the mighty Gators in the Swamp. Right up there with UT was the Florida
defense but they got straight up whipped by UT at home and I think UT is a bit
better against the run. Honorable
mention also goes to South Carolina however the embarrassing loss to Florida
took them out of the running. In the
West honorable mention goes to Arkansas.
Best
QB: Rex Grossman, Florida
(1999
pick: Dusty Bonner, Kentucky | 2000 pick: Rex Grossman/Jesse Palmer, Florida)
This
year the guy has this award all to himself.
He is a legitimate Heisman candidate and had one of the better seasons
in SEC history. His stats are
phenomenal. He has completed nearly 66
percent of his passes for almost 4000 yards with 34 TDs and only 12 INTs. He leads the SEC and the nation in just
about every passing category. The guy is
just awesome in the “Fun ‘n Gun” Spurrier system. The East was full of good QBs this year. Honorable mention goes to Casey Clausen,
Phil Petty and David Greene. In the
West Rohan Davey clearly stood above the rest but was not close to
Grossman. I look for Grossman in this
space next year as well...
Best
RB: Travis Stephens, Tennessee
(1999
pick: Shaun Alexander, Bama | 2000 pick: Rudi Johnson, Auburn)
See
East MVP... Honorable mention goes to
Verron Haynes at Georgia, Derek Watson at South Carolina, Labrandon Toefield at
LSU, Fred Talley at Arkansas, Joe Gunn at Ole Miss, Santonio Beard and Ahmaad
Galloway at Bama plus Dicenzo Miller at Miss St.
Best
WR: Josh Reed, LSU
(1999
pick: Ronney Daniels, Auburn | 2000 pick: Jabar Gaffney, Florida)
You
would think this award would go to Jabar Gaffney but Josh Reed just exploded to
end the season. He has set the single
season SEC receiving record this year by a long shot. He has piled up 1,680 yards receiving on 90 receptions. He leads the league in just about every WR
category. The guy has been unstoppable
down the stretch. Honorable mentions go
to Gaffney and his partner Reche Caldwell at Florida, Dante Stallworth and
Kelley Washington at UT, Terrence Edwards and Fred Gibson at Georgia, and Dan Stricker
at Vandy. In the West honorable mention
goes to Reed’s partner, freshman Michael Clayton, Chris Collins at Ole Miss,
Tim Carter at Auburn and Freddie Milons at Bama.
Best
TE: Randy McMichael, Georgia
(new
category)
How
long has this guy been at Georgia? It
seems like forever and he is just a junior.
I am not sure if this guy is the best TE in the conference but is one of
the most used. The SEC is absolutely
loaded at this position. Honorable
mention also goes to Robert Johnson at Auburn, Terry Jones Jr at Bama, Donald
Lee at Miss St, Doug Ziegler and Bill Flowers at Ole Miss, Robert Royal at LSU,
Aaron Walker at Florida, Jason Witten at Tennessee and Derek Smith at Kentucky.
Best
OL: Florida/Tennessee.
(1999
pick: Bama | 2000 pick: Florida)
I
can’t pick one of these over the other.
Florida is still a devastating pass block unit. Tennessee has been the best run-blocking
unit. Tennessee has also protected
Casey Clausen very well. It is shame
the Florida guys didn’t get to show off their run-blocking more. Both of these lines have some awesome
linemen. Honorable mention goes to
Bama. I think we will see them in this
space very soon. Their young guys
really came on as the season went along.
SEC
Coach of the year: Phil Fulmer
(1999
pick: Mike Dubose (I know) | 2000 pick: Lou Holtz)
Fulmer
did a tremendous job this year taking UT from an 8-3 team to a team contending
for the national championship. Fulmer
did a great job guarding against letdowns and overconfidence. He also really did a great job after a very
tough loss to Georgia that could have been a season-wrecker. Finally winning at Gainesville helped a lot
too. Honorable mention of course goes
to Steve Spurrier. Other honorable
mentions go to Lou Holtz, Mark Richt, Nick Saban and Houston Nutt. Holtz kept things going at South
Carolina. Richt and Saban rallied the
troops to end the season very strong after devastating losses. Houston Nutt somehow took Arkansas from
being the worst offensive team in the world at the first of the season to
7-4. I am still not sure how he did it.