A Year In Review, SEC Awards Are Handed out

Now that the 2008 college football regular season has ended I've decided to take a look back on what is the South Eastern Conference.

Defensive player of year: Eric Berry of the Tennessee Volunteers. In 12 games this year Berry has seven interceptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Those two TD might be more than the Vols offense this year. I'll have to check on that and get back to you.

Those seven INT ties him with three others for the NCAA lead. Berry also recorded over 70 tackles this year, and that is from the corner back position.

Even though Tennessee was very disappointing this year that only makes what Berry did all the more impressive. The Vols defense was constantly on field and they still managed to have an upper tier defense this year. Eric Berry was a bright spot on a bad team.

Offensive Player of the Year: Andre Smith of the Alabama Crimson Tide. There was plenty of deserving players to pick from here, like Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Knowshon Moreno, and Charles Scott. However, it's time to give the lineman some love. 

Smith is a 6-4, 340 pound left tackle who has started every game in his Crimson Tide career. He is a unanimous All SEC first teamer and is projected to be a top 10 pick when he decides to go to the NFL.

Above all Smith won this award because of what he means to Alabama. The focal point of Bama's offense is running the ball and primarily to the left side where Smith plays. He has helped Glen Coffee to a 1300 yard season and freshman Mark Ingram to nearly 700 yards rushing.

He may not be flashy or exciting but he gets the job done better than anyone.

Freshman of the Year: Julio Jones of the Alabama Crimson Tide. This award clearly came down to two of the most hyped and exciting players of the SEC with A.J. Green of Georgia being the other. Jones gets the edge because of his team's success.

Jones finished the regular season with 46 receptions for 723 yards and four TD. To put those stats in perspective, his 723 yards accounted for nearly 40 percent of quarterback's John Parker Wilson's passing yards.

For a team that lost it top two receivers from a year ago, Jones stepped up big for a freshman.

Most Valuable Player: Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. This one was pretty easy. Tebow is without question the heart and sole of the Gators and not just by his stats. I mean sure he is in the running for another Heisman Trophy and has nearly 40 touchdowns this year but it is his leadership ability that separates him from the pack.

After the Ole Miss loss he declared to the nation that no team would play harder than the Gators for the rest of the season and he wasn't lying. It's one thing to say that, it's another to do it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Tebow can somehow manage to win a second Heisman Trophy and National Championship then he may go down as one of the top five players to every play college football.

Underachiever of the Year (team): Auburn Tigers. To be completely honest there was a lot of teams I could've put here, Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee were all in the mix. Who says the Big 12 isn't tougher after these four schools layed an egg?

Auburn was a top 10 preseason team that finished 5-7. I think that says it all.  

Overachiever of the Year (team): Alabama Crimson Tide. They were ranked 24th in the preseason polls and picked to finished third in their own division. Now they are ranked  number one in all the polls and have a chance to finish the season as National Champions.

Not bad for a team that went 7-6 last season.

Ole Miss did have a great year as well. They finished 8-4 with some impressive wins over LSU and Florida, both on the road. Watch out for Ole Miss next year.  

Game of the Year:  Alabama at LSU. Not a whole lot of games to pick from this year compared to last. Remember last year we had Florida at LSU, Arkansas at LSU, LSU at Kentucky, Auburn at Florida, Auburn at LSU, etc.

However, not only did this game feature the number one team in the country in overtime, it also featured an outside story. Something to do with Nick Saban I think.

Hopefully the game of the year will be this Saturday in Georgia.