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Who's the best quarterback in the SEC?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:40:38 EDT

Who’s the best quarterback in the SEC?

There are all sorts of variables to consider when you set out to answer that question, but the best place to start is how a guy has fared against SEC competition.

That said, we've pulled out the numbers of the SEC starting quarterbacks in league games. Only the quarterbacks who started more than half the games are included, which eliminates Kentucky’s Mike Hartline.

Vanderbilt’s Larry Smith was injured in the fifth game, and Mackenzi Adams finished the season for the Commodores.

A few things of interest when you’re looking at these numbers:

Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton, South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia and LSU’s Jordan Jefferson have all gone against both the Alabama and Florida defenses, the top two ranked defenses in the country.

Florida’s Tim Tebow has eight rushing touchdowns to lead all quarterbacks and has also rushed for 532 yards in SEC games. That said, only Auburn’s Chris Todd (four), Mississippi State’s Tyson Lee (three) and Smith (two) have thrown fewer touchdowns this season in SEC games than Tebow’s seven.

Georgia’s Joe Cox has thrown the most touchdowns (17), but he’s also thrown the second most interceptions (11). Ole Miss’ Jevan Snead has thrown the most interceptions (12).

The best touchdown-to-interception ratios belong to Mallett, Alabama’s Greg McElroy and Crompton, in that order. Mallett has 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. McElroy has nine touchdowns and three interceptions, and Crompton has 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. All three players still have one more SEC game remaining this week.

Mallett, who has 1,962 yards passing against SEC defenses, should surpass the 2,000-yard mark Saturday against LSU.

Of the guys who’ve played at least seven games, Snead has the lowest completion percentage (51.5).

So, who’s the best quarterback in the SEC? Make up your own mind, but here are the hard numbers (Quarterbacks are listed in order of passing yardage in SEC play):

Top QBs in SEC play

Name	Games	Yards	TD	Int	Pct.	Rush TD
Ryan Mallett, Arkansas	7	1,962	15	4	52.4	2
Stephen Garcia, S. Carolina	8	1,919	10	5	54.9	4
Joe Cox, Georgia	8	1,806	17	11	55.8	0
Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee	7	1,466	13	5	56.3	1
Jevan Snead, Ole Miss	7	1,330	7	12	51.5	1
Tim Tebow, Florida	8	1,305	7	4	64.8	8
Jordan Jefferson, LSU	7	1,285	7	3	61.3	1
Greg McElroy, Alabama	7	1,266	9	3	57.8	0
Chris Todd, Auburn	7	1,114	4	4	54.9	0
Tyson Lee, Miss. State	7	702	3	10	53.6	1
Larry Smith, Vanderbilt	5	534	2	4	42.2	1

SEC Super Seniors

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:45:25 EDT

We roll out our Super Seniors All-SEC team today.

With the final regular-season games being played this week, this is our tribute to the top seniors in the league.

And, no, I didn’t forget about Alabama’s Terrence Cody. He’s a very good player and obviously had the memorable blocked kicks against Tennessee. But both Malcolm Sheppard and Dan Williams had better seasons on defense and are also every-down players.

OFFENSE

QB Tim Tebow, Florida

RB Anthony Dixon, Mississippi State

RB Dexter McCluster, Ole Miss

WR Shay Hodge, Ole Miss

WR Brandon LaFell, LSU

TE Richard Dickson, LSU

OL Mike Johnson, Alabama

OL John Jerry, Ole Miss

OL Chris Scott, Tennessee

OL Mitch Petrus, Arkansas

C Daverin Geralds, Ole Miss

DEFENSE

DE Jermaine Cunningham, Florida

DE Antonio Coleman, Auburn

DT Malcolm Sheppard, Arkansas

DT Dan Williams, Tennessee

LB Eric Norwood, South Carolina

LB Brandon Spikes, Florida

LB Rico McCoy, Tennessee

DB Javier Arenas, Alabama

DB Myron Lewis, Vanderbilt

DB Walter McFadden, Auburn

DB Kendrick Lewis, Ole Miss

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK Leigh Tiffin, Alabama

P Brett Upson, Vanderbilt

KR Brandon James, Florida

PR Javier Arenas, Alabama

Video: Who did Rolando McClain make mad?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:01:05 EDT

ESPN SEC blogger Chris Low on Rolando McClain getting snubbed by the national awards.

Lunchtime links: Florida's Jones is out

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:00:35 EDT

Some SEC links to munch on the day before Turkey Day:

Florida linebacker A.J. Jones is out for this weekend's Florida State game with an MCL sprain.

Despite new faces in key places, Alabama's offense has been even better in 2009.

Auburn's players are still motivated by last season's 36-0 Iron Bowl beatdown by Alabama.

Ole Miss offensive tackle Bradley Sowell cools some of the critics with his play last week against LSU.

Georgia's Mark Richt: "We're not dead yet."

The Vols welcome back freshman safety Janzen Jackson with open arms.

It's a two-man race on who's the top player in the state of Mississippi - Dexter McCluster or Anthony Dixon - writes Rick Cleveland of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

Arkansas could be growing up at just the right time, according to offensive coordinator Paul Petrino.

LSU looking for running back help

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:44:30 EDT

LSU coach Les Miles said Wednesday that there was some consideration being given to taking the redshirt off of true freshman running back Michael Ford and playing him Saturday against Arkansas.

The Tigers are down to just Stevan Ridley at tailback after Keiland Williams broke his ankle last week in the Ole Miss game. Richard Murphy had already been lost in the Vanderbilt game, and starter Charles Scott went down in the Alabama game with a broken collarbone.

Ridley scored one of the Tigers' two touchdowns in the Alabama game. He started the season playing primarily on special teams, but has a ton of ability.

Ford is a 5-foot-10, 190-pound freshman from Leesville, La. He was one of the top running back prospects in the country last year and rushed for nearly 3,000 yards as a senior in high school.

Miles said the Tigers may also look at getting freshman Russell Shepard more involved in the Wildcat package as a way to help their running game, which is ranked 11th in the SEC.

Juniors who could be saying farewell

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:29:11 EDT

This is always an emotional time for seniors as they prepare to play in their final home game.

But the reality is that this final week of the regular season will also see several top juniors and/or third-year sophomores bidding farewell before leaving early for the NFL draft.

Here’s a look at the top 10 underclassmen most likely to turn pro:

1. Tennessee safety Eric Berry

2. Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap

3. Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain

4. Florida cornerback Joe Haden

5. Florida tight end Aaron Hernandez

6. Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran

7. Mississippi State defensive end Pernell McPhee

8. Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett

9. LSU safety Chad Jones

10. Georgia safety Reshad Jones

Alabama intent on defending its turf

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:15:46 EDT

The landscape was already changing in the eternal Alabama-Auburn tug of war even before last season’s game.

That’s assuming you want to call it a game.

Either way, we were reminded just how much it had changed last November when Alabama pummeled Auburn 36-0 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the most lopsided Iron Bowl in 46 years.

The Crimson Tide snapped a six-game losing streak to the Tigers and capped their first unbeaten regular season since 1994.

It was a statement heard in every corner of the state -- from Fairhope, to Fort Payne, to Phenix City.

Alabama was serious about defending its turf.

And just in case anybody forgot during the offseason, Nick Saban offered a subtle reminder when he and the Alabama players accepted the Iron Bowl trophy at halftime of a basketball game last March.

Saban took the microphone, thanked his team, thanked the fans and said very matter of factly, “This is an honor for the University of Alabama and everybody associated with the university that we have this trophy in our possession for this year and many years to come.”

The Alabama fans roared, and they’ve been roaring ever since.

The Crimson Tide (11-0, 7-0) are working on a second straight unbeaten regular season -- something that hasn’t been done in the SEC since Bear Bryant led Alabama to unbeaten seasons in 1973 and 1974.

The road to 12-0 for a second straight year goes through Auburn on Friday, yet another chance for Alabama to remind everybody who’s boss in this state when it comes to football.

Really, it was one of the first orders of business for Saban when he took this job, to re-establish Alabama as the preeminent football program in the state.

On the field and on the recruiting trail.

When you look at the Crimson Tide’s recruiting the last couple of years, it’s safe to say they’ve done that. Their last two classes have been ranked in the top two in the country.

And on the field, keeping that Iron Bowl trophy at the Capstone for “many years to come” is the first thing any coach at Alabama needs to do.

Holding onto the No. 2 spot this week in the BCS standings, Alabama obviously has bigger goals in mind than merely holding onto state bragging rights.

But nothing would undo the momentum this program has generated under Saban any quicker than stumbling now to Auburn, especially with so much at stake for the Crimson Tide.

Throw in this being Gene Chizik’s first season at Auburn, and a loss by Alabama is magnified that much more.

It gives Auburn validity. It gives Chizik validity. It gives all those recruits in the state who hadn’t really given much consideration to the Tigers a reason to reconsider.

The only thing Alabama is interested in is giving that Iron Bowl trophy a home … for good.

SEC television schedule for this week

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:54:22 EDT

FRIDAY

Alabama at Auburn, 2:30 p.m. ET, CBS

SATURDAY

Clemson at South Carolina, noon ET, ESPN
Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 12:21 p.m. ET, SEC Network/ESPN Regional
Florida State at Florida, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS
Arkansas at LSU, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Tennessee at Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Georgia at Georgia Tech, 8 p.m. ET, ABC

Tebow, Peek earn academic honors

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:39:58 EDT

For the second year in a row, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has been named the Academic All-America of the Year.

Tebow has a 3.66 GPA as a family, youth and communication studies major.

He wasn't the only one from the SEC being honored for his academics.

Alabama tight end Colin Peek was also named to the first team, while Alabama offensive guard Barrett Jones was named to the second team. Peek has a 3.79 GPA in finance, and Jones has a 4.0 in management.

What to watch in the SEC: Week 13

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:17:53 EDT

Rivalry week is upon us in the SEC, and with Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday and Alabama and Auburn playing on Friday, we’ll take an earlier look than normal at what to watch this week in the SEC.

Here’s how Week 13 shapes up:

1. Keeping an eye on each other: Both Alabama and Florida face tough rivalry games, which makes it anything but ideal to think about anything other than what’s right in front of you. Still, how far away will the Gators be from the Crimson Tide’s mind, and how far away will the Crimson Tide be from the Gators’ minds? These two teams have been on a collision course now for this entire month. With the big showdown looming next week, the key is for both teams to block out that game and play winning football this week against two teams that would love nothing more than to ruin their seasons.

2. Ingram vs. Tate: Who’s the best running back in the state of Alabama? Looks like we’re going to find out. Auburn’s Ben Tate is already on record (sort of) as saying that he is. The truth is that both he and Alabama’s Mark Ingram have had outstanding seasons. Both are alike in that they’re power runners and thrive on contact. Tate’s a little bit bigger, but Ingram’s probably more explosive through the hole. Ingram heads into this game as the front-runner in the Heisman Trophy race. But if he’s out-dueled by Tate, it will be interesting to see how much that hurts his chances. This is a nationally televised game the day after Thanksgiving, and everybody will be watching.

3. Winning on the Plains: Alabama last won at Auburn in 2001, a 31-7 victory during Dennis Franchione’s first season as the Crimson Tide’s coach. But for Nick Saban, he’s still looking for his first win on the Plains. He’s 0-4 at Auburn as a head coach. His first Alabama team lost 17-10 in 2007 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And at LSU, he lost in 2000, 2002 and 2004. That 2004 loss (10-9) came when LSU was ranked No. 5 nationally and had won 10 straight games dating back to the previous national championship season.

4. Tebow’s farewell: He’s scored an SEC-record 54 touchdowns and been the most visible player in all of college football the last two years. Tim Tebow plays his final home game on Saturday in the Swamp against Florida State. He’s part of a senior class that’s gone 46-6 at Florida with two national championships and two SEC championships. As loathed as he is around the league by opposing fans, Tebow is beloved by the Gator Nation. While this will be his finale as a player, he’s hinted that he might return to Florida some day as a coach.

5. Les is more: It’s going to take a while for LSU coach Les Miles to crawl out from under that end-of-game disaster last weekend against Ole Miss. There are some on the Bayou who think it won’t ever completely go away. Then again, they forget pretty quickly in the SEC when you’re winning big. Miles was winning big a couple of years ago when he won the BCS national championship. But since that game to end the 2007 season, the Tigers are just 7-8 against SEC foes. The last thing Miles needs is for that mark to slip to 7-9 this Saturday against Arkansas. A win over the Hogs certainly wouldn’t fix everything. But a loss to the Hogs would take an already difficult situation and make it unbearable.

6. Jackson’s impact: After having the attempted armed robbery charges against him dismissed this week, Tennessee freshman safety Janzen Jackson will jump right back into the starting lineup against Kentucky. The whole ordeal was embarrassing for Tennessee, but the most damaging thing on the field for the Vols was not having Jackson in the lineup. He’s missed the last three games, including the Memphis game for an earlier suspension. Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin feels like Jackson is as important to what the Vols do defensively as Eric Berry, and it’s pretty obvious the last few weeks that Tennessee hasn’t been nearly as good without him on the field. Jackson will be a big key in helping to keep Kentucky’s Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke contained.

7. Defenseless Dogs: Nobody has a short memory in the Georgia camp this week. The Bulldogs were shredded last season by Georgia Tech to the tune of 409 rushing yards in a 45-42 loss in Athens. They get another shot at Paul Johnson’s option offense this Saturday in Atlanta, although there’s not a lot of proof that the Bulldogs are any better equipped to stop the Yellow Jackets. Despite its struggles on defense, Georgia is actually ranked third in the SEC in rushing defense. What’s killing the Georgia defense is its inability to keep teams from scoring. If you eliminate Tennessee Tech and Vanderbilt this season, the Bulldogs are giving up an average of 31.4 points per game.

8. Turning it over in bunches: Georgia is 119^th nationally in turnover ratio. The only team worse is Miami (Ohio). The Bulldogs are minus-18, which includes just eight takeaways and 26 giveaways. David Hale, who covers Georgia for The Macon Telegraph, did some research and discovered that the Bulldogs’ turnover ratio this season is the 11^th worst of any FBS team over the last decade. You knew it was bad, but that’s really putting it into perspective. Of the 10 teams that were worse than Georgia this decade, nobody finished with more than four wins. The Bulldogs have six heading into Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech.

9. McCluster’s race to 1,000: Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster needs 97 yards this weekend against Mississippi State to get to 1,000 yards rushing for the season. That’s always an impressive milestone in the SEC. But when you consider that McCluster didn’t even have 200 yards heading into the Arkansas game on Oct. 24, it reinforces what an incredible second half of the season the 170-pound senior from Largo, Fla., has enjoyed. He’s been the Player of the Year in the SEC the second half of the season and is averaging 184.7 yards rushing against the last four SEC defenses that he’s faced.

10. Ending droughts: Kentucky has lost 24 straight football games to Tennessee, the longest active losing streak in the country among teams that play every year. South Carolina has lost 10 of its last 12 meetings with Clemson and 16 of the last 21 games in the series. It’s difficult to call either one a rivalry at this point. Tennessee has dominated Kentucky, and Clemson has dominated South Carolina. Is this the year the Wildcats and Gamecocks finally quit becoming the punching bag in the game their fans care most about? We find out on Saturday.