The 10 Most Spectacular Plays in the SEC This Year

I promised myself I would minimize the Tebow-love, but this clip deserves a second look because of what you don't see.

You don't see a safety anywhere near Riley Cooper when Tebow tosses a touchdown to him to put the Gators out of LSU's reach in their 13-3 win in Baton Rouge.

That's because Tebow has looked the safeties off. It's like a real NFL play! It's also one of the few big plays in a snoring bog of a penalty-filled, unmemorable game.

Maybe Tebow can be an NFL quarterback someday? He's got to be better than Josh Johnson, people.

You have to laugh at the lack of "institutional objectivity" when you see this clip of Steve Spurrier's security detail applauding as the Georgia Bulldogs held off South Carolina's late bid for an upset.

Facing a fourth-and-4 on Georgia's seven with just seconds left on the clock, Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran knocked down a Stephen Garcia pass to seal the win for the Bulldogs and prevent them from starting the season 0-2..

The play may not live on visually, but the expression on Spurrier's face after he turns and sees the sheriff's applause will reside in infamy.

It took an entire night and a lot of punting, but when the Ole Miss line jumped early, allowed Dexter McCluster to get tackled for a six-yard loss and Jevan Snead to get sacked on the final drive, it was a foregone conclusion that the Suth Carolina Gamecocks wouldn't allow Ole Miss' #4 ranking to stand another night.

Snead's pass was broken up by Darian Stewart on the final drive, and the Gamecocks got their first win over a top five team in thirty years.

The game ball went to kicker Spencer Lanning, who kicked three field goals and made a touchdown saving tackle on returner Marshay Green,

There's plenty of plays to like in this video, and plenty to like about Ryan Mallett, only a redshirt sophomore but already setting Razorback records for most touchdowns in a game (five, against Georgia).

Mallett gave Florida a run for its #1 money this past weekend by tossing two long bombs to Greg Childs, and his prowess helped open up running lanes for Dennis Johnson, who put up 104 yards on the Florida run D.

He still throws some ill-advised passes, but if he has anywhere to go but up, the rest of the SEC better look out.

The Bulldogs took a 13-12 lead over #4-ranked LSU off A.J. Green's absurdly deft catch from Joe Cox in the corner of the endzone with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.

But the refs didn't like Green's conduct following the play, throwing an excessive celebration flag that forced Georgia to kick off from their own fifteen yard line.

The Tigers got good field position on the return, and, needing only a field goal, broke Charles Scott open on a long run to put the game on ice. The Bulldogs had been robbed of their chance to put on another late stand.

The ref who threw the flag was really kicking himself afterwards, according to SEC officials.

But the damage was done, as the Bulldogs slipped to 1-2 in conference play and out of SEC title contention.

This game was rife with great cat and mouse play between Tebow and Tennessee safety Eric Berry.

I wish the clip where Verne Lundquist slowed down Berry and Tebow's head-to-head impact existed somewhere, but CBS decided it was too powerful to be viewed more than once.

So though the result of the game didn't go Tennessee's way, for the briefest moment, two of the biggest talents in the SEC connected, as Tebow, staring down his receiver, dared Eric Berry to make a play.

And Berry did.

The final drive in Alabama's win over South Carolina can only be appreciated when you consider that every snap goes to the same guy: sophomore running back Mark Ingram.

Ingram, who lines up in the Wildcat formation, runs on every play and never loses his wind, on the way to putting the game on ice with a touchdown and setting an Alabama stadium record for rushing yards (no small feat, when you consider a guy by the name of Shaun Alexander also rolled Tide).

It took a goal line stand against the upstart Mississippi State Bulldogs to preserve LSU's tenuous lead over Dan Mullen's upstart unit - and this was in Baton Rouge.

Chad Jones closed a briefly open gap on Bulldogs QB Tyson Lee, who was marked less than a foot short of the goal line, and the Tigers held on to beat MSU 30-26.

The need for such late heroics raised questions about LSU's ranking, and expectations of Mullen's teams down the road, now that there might be another viable contender in the SEC West.

Man, you don't know how badly I didn't want this field goal to go in.

But it did, and Florida survived an upset scare put on by Arkansas. And in spite of the pressure from the Arkansas D-line, the multiple fumbles, and the gutsy play by the Razorbacks, the Gators survived in the Swamp and maintained their #1 ranking.

Listen to this stadium go wild, and don't tell me that's more excitement than plain old relief.

One of my favorite speeches in movies is in Kill Bill Vol. 2. David Carradine's character Bill says that Superman's alter ego Clark Kent, who is weak and wimpy and barely exists in society, is Superman's critique on humanity.

I'd say Tebow's concussion is a great critique on the violent nature of the sport. When even Superman is susceptible to remarkable instances of trauma, something needs to be done.

Wherever you stand on the issue (and this terrific article by Malcolm Gladwell asks that you stand somewhere, the Kentucky Wildcats, despite their 35-7 loss, can always say they concussed the biggest player in college football.

In one of the most oft-played videos of the season, Tebow is sacked by Wildcat Taylor Wyndham and slams his head against a lineman's knee, knocking him out cold.

Iconic for its gruesomeness, the hit held an entire nation in check as we waited to hear if Tebow would return in time for LSU.

He rose again, naturally.

Hey now! If you liked this slideshow, check out my look at eight BCS teams just outside the top ten that still have a shot and see if your favorite made the list!