Alabama QB AJ McCarron Headlines Week 3's SEC Players of the Week

Alabama beat Texas A&M 49-42 last week in what many considered to be the game of the year, and as a reward for his performance in orchestrating that win, Tide quarterback AJ McCarron has been named the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week.

Per the SEC Digital Network, McCarron completed 20 of 29 passes in the win, finishing with a career-high 394 yards and four touchdowns. After Alabama went down 14-0 at the start of the game, he led the offense on touchdown drives of 75, 80, 80 and 93 yards, helping the Tide score 28 points in the first half and take a lead into halftime.

Before a hostile crowd in College Station, McCarron improved his career record to 27-2 as a starter and 15-0 away from home, exacting revenge for one of his two career losses, which came at the hands of A&M last season.

He also beat out two head-to-head opponents—Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans—for the award, after the Aggies quarterback and receiver both enjoyed career days Saturday.

Joining McCarron on the list of Week 3 SEC superlatives are:

• Defensive POW: DE Ego Ferguson, LSU
• Special Teams POW: PR/RB Jeff Scott, Ole Miss
• Freshman POW: RB Alex Collins, Arkansas
• Offensive Line POW: C Clayton Stadnik, South Carolina
• Defensive Line POW: DE Chris Smith, Arkansas

Ferguson had eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack against Kent State, while fellow defensive end Chris Smith had three sacks for Arkansas against Southern Miss.

Collins, Smith's teammate, became the first freshman in SEC history to begin his career with three 100-yard rushing games and the first FBS player to do so since Adrian Peterson in 2004.

Scott had a 73-yard punt-return touchdown (and a career-high 164 rushing yards) against Texas, and Stadnik graded out at 82 percent, anchoring a USC line that allowed no sacks against Vanderbilt.

Congratulations to McCarron, Ferguson, Scott, Collins, Stadnik and Smith for their distinction.