2010 College Football Awards

It's been a great season.

Sort of.

For some teams, anyway.

But here are my awards for college football's best:

Best Overall: Cameron Newton, Auburn

Though he is NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS TIM TEBOW, Newton still had a hell of a season. He carried his team on his back as the QB and overall leader. He joined Tebow in the 20 rushing TD and 20 passing TD club, the only two to ever accomplish that.

Best QB: Ryan Mallet, Arkansas

Key throws, bullet throws, rainbow throws, sniper-accurate throws, whatever else there is, this guy did it. Perhaps no QB has made as clutch a play as Mallet did against LSU late in the game, allowing the Hogs to win.

Best RB: LaMichael James, Oregon

I went back and forth between him and Marcus Lattimore, but in the end, sheer volume wins. Lattimore simply didn't have the stats that James had. James could be one of the best running backs of all time. Remember, he's only a sophomore.

Best WR: AJ Green, Georgia

The Bulldogs may have sucked major balls this year, but it's not Green's fault. His highlight film consists of one handed catches, nasty jukes that would impress Percy Harvin and NFL-level moves of stiff-arms, quick, crisp routes and dependability. If not for him, UGA could be 2-10, rather than 6-6.

Best TE: DJ Williams, Arkansas

The most underrated player in the country after Drake Nevis and Jordan Todman (in my opinion) was a rock. He was always there for Mallet to dump off a quick pass as a safety valve option, then he broke a tackle or two after almost every other catch. He's also an excellent blocker.

Best OL: Lee Ziemba, Auburn

Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, Cam Newton has had some help? And maybe Michael Dyer needed someone to block for him? That someone would be Ziemba, a senior left tackle that has had a fantastic senior season. Without him...how good would Newton really be?

Best DL: Drake Nevis, LSU

This was the toughest one of all. Nick Fairley of Auburn, Da'Quan Bowers of Clemson, Jared Crick of Nebraska and Cameron Heyward at Ohio State deserve a lot of credit for their outstanding seasons. But big players make big plays in big games. How about the game Nevis had against Alabama? If you watched that game, you'll understand this pick.

Best LB: Kelvin Sheppard, LSU

I know, I know, all the SEC picks have to be annoying by now. But look at what he did as a senior. He anchored a brutal LSU defense that nearly beat Auburn, and might have with one more stop. The Tigers' middle linebacker was rock-solid in hostile environments—such as Auburn and Florida—and made seven-plus tackles in each game.

Best DB: Prince Akamura, Nebraska

Florida's Janoris Jenkins and LSU's Patrick Peterson have legitimate arguments, but I have to go with Akamura because of the stats he has. Or, more accurately, doesn't have—because almost everybody avoided throwing in his direction. When they did, though, only 12-of-43 passes were completed to the intended receiver.

Best Punter: Chas Henry, Florida

Henry was Florida's best offensive weapon. Seriously. He averaged 47 yards a punt with barely five yards per return. He had a 75 and a 67 yarder. All of these categories led the country. But how about him bouncing back—he missed a tying FG against Mississippi State, to come back and beat Georgia after the kicker Caleb Sturgis went out. His heart alone would have won it.

Best Kicker: Dan Bailey, Oklahoma State

Bailey was Mr. Dependable inside of 50 yards, including eight from beyond 40. He missed only four-of-28 kicks all season. His biggest might have been the game winner against Texas A&M from 40-yards out.

Best Kick Returner: Andre Debose, Florida

He had two kick return TD's and was 26 yards away from a third—in only eight games. He averaged an astounding 29.1 yards per kick return as well. Imagine how good Florida could have been if Steve Addazio had used his brain when he made the Gators' offensive gameplan.

Best Punt Returner: Patrick Peterson, LSU

Peterson basically won the defensive Heisman, but since he didn't get mentioned by me as a lock down corner, he'll get it as a dynamic punt returner. Who could forget his TD return against West Virginia when he gave the Heisman pose? What about the one in the first game of the year against North Carolina? Two of the most spectacular plays I've ever seen.

Best First Year Starter: Darron Thomas, QB, Oregon

Remember all the talk about how Oregon was screwed without Jeremiah Masoli? What happened to that? I'll tell you what happened: Thomas decided he didn't like it, so he played like a dark horse Heisman candidate and led Oregon into the BCS Championship game against Auburn.

Most Underrated: Jordan Todman, Running Back, Connecticut

He plays on a horrible team that sucked off every member of the Fiesta Bowl selection committee to get them in the game. That doesn't mean he's not a fantastic running back. If Oklahoma blows him off as a threat, they very well may lose.

"Where the Hell Did He Come From?": Trey Burton, QB, Florida

Nobody knew about this kid coming into spring practice. Then he ripped off a 77-yard run in the spring game. I'm not sure if anybody realized that run was a preview of the show he would put on in 2010. It was probably when he scored six TD's against Kentucky that I realized Florida had found a playmaker. His clutch 53-yard TD run against Georgia only reaffirmed that.

"SuperSenior": Ahmad Black, Safety, Florida

I would have given Kelvin Sheppard a thought on this one, but he already got one award. That left it between Jake Locker, Josh Bynes and Black. I had to go with Black not because he's a Gator, but because if he wasn't the dominating headhunting/ ball hawking presence in the secondary that he is, Florida could be 3-9.

Offensive Freshman of the Year: Marcus Lattimore, Running Back, South Carolina

I tried, Georgia fans, to give this to Aaron Murray. But there's nothing that Murray did as well or as often as Lattimore. Lattimore was an outstanding running back all season, but especially when it mattered most. He was about 90 percent responsible for the 36-14 win over Florida. The fact that the Gamecocks could rely on a freshman so much and so often made this pick a lock.

Defensive Freshman of the Year: Junior Onyeali, Defensive End, Arizona State

You might not have ever heard of him. Well, it's time to now. This guy was the leader of a defense that averaged 120 yards per game—that's 17th in the country. He totaled 6.5 sacks and was everywhere in the stunner over Arizona.

Coach of the Year: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State

From 5-7 to being 40 yards away from beating the SEC Champion, and losing in double OT to another BCS bowl bound team. Yeah, I'll buy it. Mullen's Dawgs went 8-4 this year, and nearly knocked off Auburn and Arkansas. He took what was once a nothing of a program to a dark horse 2010 SEC Champion contender to a legitimate threat to do so in 2011.