SB Nation - Eric Berry

7-5 > 89-27: Lane Kiffin's Plan Apparently Involves Robbing Tennessee Volunteers Fans of Math Skills and Manners

T Kyle King — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:19:02 -0000

Last October, when the Georgia Bulldogs lost to the Tennessee Volunteers, I was strongly critical of the Red and Black for their poor performance against a team of questionable quality. This drew quite a bit of criticism from Big Orange fans who apparently missed my point, which I thought would have been made quite clear by the apportionment of my word count to particular subjects, but time passed, I gave the Vols their due (albeit only their due and no more), and the storm blew over . . . or so I thought.

Earlier today, I received the following e-mail from a member of the Vol faithful, whose name I have omitted but who confirms the correctness of the axiom "a fish rots from the head down" by being buttholier-than-thou:

Dear, Mr. King, I went back and read your article on the complete and utter ass whipping we gave your team in October. In case you don't remember, it was 45-19 and the renaissance of Jonathan Crompton began that day. If you will, let's revisit some gems from that article...

"the Vols are a terrible football team. Simply stated, they suck."

"They aren’t going to beat anyone all year who’s any good."

"They aren't going to look competent offensively against anyone that's the least bit decent."

And, my personal favorite, "They aren't going to a bowl game."

Wow, as the season has drawn to a close, you couldn't have been more wrong.

Lane Kiffin proved you so wrong. He proved he could coach, and made you look foolish.

Not only did we destroy Georgia, we beat South Carolina, Kentucky, and almost beat Alabama.

Your theory of Kiffin not being able to coach his own talent was proven wrong when he coached up much worse talent than he was given to start with.

To add insult to injury, he has made Georgia his playground by taking commitments from several key Georgia natives including Jawuan James who Richt and Co. wanted badly.

We started 3 walk-ons, two on the the OL, and had a 1,200 yard rusher, with two walk-ons. Run that through your head. Your team's OL is too soft to even have one 1,000 yard rusher. Also, your team is one of the most penalized in the conference, if not the most. Meanwhile, Tennessee is one of the least penalized in the conference. But, hey, at least Mark Richt is a good guy.

Also, Kiffin turned the worst SEC quarterback in the last fifteen years into a guy who might get drafted. Yes, Crompton might get drafted. Not only that, we will miss him more than we will Eric Berry next year. Run that through your head for a second.

So, now that Georgia is the 3rd best team in the SEC, and possibly 4th (Would take USCe over Georgia everyday), what do you have to say 'bout Lane Kiffin?

Is he still a clown who won't win with the talent he's recruiting?

Don't even bring up the NCAA allegations because you are stupid if you think we'll actually get penalized.

So, the Lane Train keeps on rollin', and Georgia, well....I don't know what you would call Georgia's program. Slow motion, maybe? Stuck in mud? I don't know, I know Bud Foster played Mark Richt like a fiddle to get more money, and Kirby Smart turned down the job.

You'll have graduate assistants possibly calling plays in your bowl game, but hey, Mark Richt is a good man. Who cares about a football coach, right?

P.S. I wonder if Marlon Brown regrets his decision?

Frankly, I was a bit at a loss to know how to respond to that bilious screed, partly because I am a big believer in the idea of being magnanimous in victory and defiant in defeat, and partly because there is some serious cognitive dissonance going on there.

I mean, maybe we didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher because we had, y’know, three running backs splitting time in the backfield? Just a thought. As for the gentleman’s willingness to take the South Carolina Gamecocks "over Georgia everyday," that choice would have served him well only on fourteen of the 62 days on which the Classic City Canines and the Palmetto State Poultry actually have met on the gridiron, including just one of the most recent eight. I’m not sure that even the most rabid South Carolina partisan would claim the ‘Dawgs were fourth in the Eastern Division behind the ‘Cocks, inasmuch as the two teams finished with identical overall records, Georgia had a better conference record, the Red and Black won the head-to-head meeting, and (arguably) the Big Chickens’ best win was over the Clemson Tigers, a team that lost twice to the Bulldogs’ most accomplished victim, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Methinks my not-so-humble correspondent is getting a tad too much of his corn from a jar.

In the end, I sent back the following reply, from which my correspondent’s name once again has been omitted:

Dear ______,

Congratulations on the rich full life that leaves you feeling compelled to revisit two-month old blog posts in order to mine the nuggets which are conducive to your point but which were ancillary to mine. As ought to have been clear, the point of my posting was to criticize Georgia, not Tennessee, and the subsequent firings of three coaches indicate the correctness of my position.

However, I congratulate you on the rousing success of going 7-5 overall and 4-4 in SEC play. I am glad to know that some fans are pleased with their teams, as I am dejected over going 7-5 overall and 4-4 in SEC play. I guess that is the sort of perspective one gains from having won an SEC championship---two, as a matter of fact---in the 21st century.

I applaud your dedication to your belief that Lane Kiffin is a good coach and Mark Richt is a bad one despite the fact that Lane Kiffin's best season produced results identical to Mark Richt's worst one. Personally, I have always been constrained by reality, and I therefore am willing to change my views when given evidence upon the basis of which to do so. For instance, I routinely have recognized Tennessee fans as the classiest among the Bulldogs' annual rivals. Now that I have heard from you, I will know better than to repeat that mistaken sentiment.

We'll look forward to seeing you in Athens next October 9. Happy holidays!

T. Kyle King

I don’t know about you, but I was a bit more in the Christmas spirit after that exchange, for it reminded me that there is something worse than being 7-5 and knowing that means you’re not good; you could be 7-5, mistakenly believe that means you’re good, and be a jerk about it. The first step in the direction of getting better is admitting there’s a problem. The second step is not being a jackass while in the process of taking the subsequent requisite steps toward improvement.

Obviously, I was mistaken when stating that Tennessee was not going to a bowl game; the Volunteers are headed for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and they deserved to receive a bid to the Outback Bowl. I do not know that I was particularly wrong about Jonathan Crompton, who ranked ninth in the league in pass efficiency rating in a year in which the SEC quarterback class was not strong, and I am far from fearful about the future prospects for an aerial attack coordinated by anyone named Kippy.

I stand by the position that a team didn’t beat anyone good when that team’s victims were Western Kentucky (0-12 in the Sun Belt), Ohio (9-4 in the MAC), Georgia (7-5), South Carolina (7-5), Memphis (2-10 in Conference USA), Vanderbilt (2-10), and Kentucky (7-5), because I think beating someone good involves defeating at least one BCS conference opponent with a winning percentage over .583, but your mileage may vary. If the guy who wrote to me is made upbeat by a record that has me declaring the doom of all that is right and good, who am I to tell him he shouldn’t be willing to settle for the mediocrity for which I will not stand? To each his own, I suppose.

Go ‘Dawgs!

SEC Power Poll All-SEC Team Ballot

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:56:05 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2009, file photo, Alabama running back Mark Ingram (22) runs past Mississippi defenders for a second quarter 36- yard touchdown run during an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss. Ingram won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Browse more photos »

No frills or arguments here, just the ballot. It's pretty straightforward and will be compiled amongst the other blogs ballots to reach an SEC blogosphere All-SEC squad. Comment and criticize our selections, please.

QB - Ryan Mallett, Arkansas

HB - Mark Ingram, Alabama

HB - Dexter McCluster, Ole Miss

FB - Tim Tebow (lololololololol), Florida

WR - Shay Hodge, Ole Miss

WR - AJ Green, Georgia

TE - Colin Peek, Alabama

OL - Ciron Black, LSU

OL - Michael Johnson, Alabama

OL - Mike Pouncey, Florida

OL - James Carpenter, Alabama

OL - Maurkice Pouncey, Florida

DE - Carlos Dunlap, Florida

DE - Antonio Coleman, Auburn

DT - Terrence Cody, Alabama

DT - Jerrell Powe, Ole Miss (why the hell not?)

LB - Eric Norwood, South Carolina

LB - Rolando McClain, Alabama

LB - Brandon Spikes, Florida

S - Eric Berry, Tennessee

S - Chad Jones, LSU

CB - Joe Haden, Florida

CB - Patrick Peterson, LSU

K - Leigh Tiffin, Alabama

P - Drew Butler, Georgia

RET - Javier Arenas, Alabama

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

View full size photo »

As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

All-SEC Ballot: Draft

Gamecock Man — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:04:08 -0000

The SEC Power Poll is hosting an All-SEC poll. Here is a draft that reflects my first impressions--let me know what you think, and we may revise a bit if necessary.

Offense

QB: Ryan Mallett (Arkansas Razorbacks)

RB: Mark Ingram (Alabama Crimson Tide)

RB: Dexter McCluster (Ole Miss Rebels)

OG: Mike Johnson (Alabama Crimson Tide)

OG: Mike Pouncey (Florida Gators)

OT: Ciron Black (LSU Tigers)

OT: John Jerry (Ole Miss Rebels)

C: Maurkice Pouncey (Florida Gators)

TE: Aaron Hernandez (Florida Gators)

WR: A.J. Green (Georgia Bulldogs)

WR: Shay Hodge (Ole Miss Rebels)

Defense

DE: Cliff Matthews (South Carolina Gamecocks)

DE: Antonio Coleman (Auburn Tigers)

DT: Terrence Cody (Alabama Crimson Tide)

DT: Malcolm Sheppard (Arkansas Razorbacks)

LB: Eric Norwood (South Carolina Gamecocks)

LB: Rolando McClain (Alabama Crimson Tide)

LB: Rennie Curran (Georgia Bulldogs)

CB: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

CB: Patrick Peterson (LSU Tigers)

S: Eric Berry (Tennessee Volunteers)

S: Joe Haden (Florida Gators)

Special Teams

PK: Blair Walsh (Georgia Bulldogs)

P: Drew Butler (Georgia Bulldogs)

RS: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

You've got some explaining to do...

Many of these choices go without questions; nobody, for instance, will disagree with me about Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain, or Eric Berry. However, I do have a few bones to pick with conventional wisdom. Here's how I see such cases:

Ryan Mallett / Tim Tebow

As most people around here know, I'm a pretty big Tebow fan. The guy has had a great career, and although his sanctimonious, humble-but-really-not attitude can get to you sometimes, overall I don't have too many problems with him as a media phenomenon. It is what is. However, while I've been as guilty as anyone when it comes to giving Tebow confidence by inertia, I've come to believe it has to stop somewhere: Mallett was just better this year.

By the way, Ryan, if you're reading this, go to the NFL.

Dexter McCluster / Anthony Dixon

OK. I believe Anthony Dixon had a better year than McCluster at RB. However, I also believe that McCluster was one of the best and most valuable players in the SEC. I'm talking about on a par with Tebow, Ingram, you name it. So, I think we have to get him on the list somewhere. This is where I'm putting him. Unfortunately for him, McCluster was probably never used in the right way enough; this guy really was a minor Reggie-Bush-like talent.

Cliff Matthews / Carlos Dunlap

Dunlap is a jackass that showed his true colors when he signed with Florida instead of Sou...wait, when he drunkenly fell asleep at the wheel before the biggest SECCG ever. He failed his team. Despite his talent, that failure will always make him worse than Matthews in my mind.

Rennie Curran / Brandon Spikes

What can I say? I know it's surprising to see an UGA player on the defensive first team, but I think Curran is a great player. That might have something to do with his success against USC, but whatever. If this guy had a halfway decent DC, he'd be the talk of the nation. Spikes is a great player, but he's also a cog in a machine to some degree.

Well, that's a wrap on this draft. Let me know what you think.

Rock out with your mock draft out: Todd McShay

Mocking Dan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:43:16 -0000

Todd McShay, the leader of ESPN's Scout's Inc., released his on Sunday with little fanfare. The draft is Insider content, but SportsCenter put out his top five picks.

First overall, he has the Rams taking Washington junior quarterback Jake Locker. It seems obvious now that St. Louis should take either the top quarterback or Ndamukong Suh.

McShay has the Nebraska defensive tackle going second to the Buccaneers. At this point in the draft process, Suh seems like the most sure thing among prospects and would fill a need for Tampa Bay.

He fills out the top five sending safety Eric Berry to Cleveland third, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to Detroit fourth and offensive tackle Russell Okung to the Chiefs fifth.

Since this is Insider content, I probably can't talk about too much of it here. But there are few surprises in McShay's mock draft. One of them was Jason Pierre-Paul going in the first round at No. 21. The South Florida defensive end is an ESPN favorite, but that seems a little too high. It's easy to fall in love with his athleticism and size, but the production didn't match the hype this year.

There really aren't too many noteworthy picks in this mock. In fact, to ask people to pay to see a one-round mock draft is kind of an insult. Heck, I'd much prefer some of the four and five round monoliths you guys put together in FanPosts.

With that said, keep your mock drafts coming! They are probably the most popular feature of the site, and that's thanks to you readers. So, keep it up.

Talking Points: Eric Berry's long goodbye begins

Joel — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:21:13 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

10 days ago: Tennessee's Eric Berry poses with his trophy after winning the Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards in Lake Buena Vista , Fla., Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Browse more photos »

The must-read of the day belongs to Wes Rucker, who penned a sort of career-concluding feature of Eric Berry. Most notable is this bit: despite both of his parents having recently lost their jobs to the poor economy and despite the negative impact of a new NFL collective bargaining agreement on returning for his senior season, Berry maintains his decision won't be easy. Probably as in "it's not easy to say goodbye." Berry, by the way, didn't win the Lott Trophy, but Lane Kiffin's calling his trip to California for the ceremony a recruiting victory.
We'll start looking more closely at Virginia Tech shortly, but do we really need stats or extensive analysis to know that special teams is going to be key? Virginia Tech's? Excellent. Tennessee's? Not in the neighborhood of excellent. Eddie Gran, UT special teams coach? Gone to FSU.
Those Vols who were home for Christmas and bowl season last year are using the memory as motivation to get through some pretty daunting practices this week.
The Lady Vols beat Rutgers 68-54 yesterday behind Shekinna Strickland's 19 points.

Undeserving Winners Of National Awards Announced

Beergut — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:06:08 -0000

The winners of the Maxwell, O'Brien, Walter Camp, Outland, Lombardi, Nagurski, Butkus, Thorpe, and just about every other individual college award were announced yesterday at the ESPN Awards Show. Ndamukong Suh, the incomparable defensive tackle from Nebraska, won the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman, the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's best defensive player, the Lombardi Award as the nation's top lineman, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top defensive player. Suh winning all of these awards was somewhat predictable, because they were well-deserved.

What was somewhat surprising was that texas QB Colt McCoy won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top QB. McCoy isn't even the best quarterback in his own conference, forget the nation. I'm very surprised the O'Brien didn't go to Case Keenum of Houston. Keenum has led the nation's top offense all season long, passing for 5,449 yards and 43 TDs against only 9 interceptions. Compare this to McCoy, who had 3,512 yards passing and 27 TD passes with 12 interceptions, to go along with 3 fumbles, and the decision to give the award to McCoy is a head-scratcher. McCoy averaged over a turnover per game, but we're supposed to believe this is the nation's best quarterback? McCoy also won the Maxwell Award for the nation's best all-around player. The Maxwell really should have gone to C.J. Spiller of Clemson, the multi-talented RB who is equally dangerous as a runner, receiver, and returner. Spiller rushed for 1,145 yards and 11 TDs while averaging 5.7 yards per carry, had 33 receptions for 445 yards and 4 TDs, AND finished fourth nationally in kickoff returns, averaging 33.7 yards per return while taking 4 of them all the way back for touchdowns. Those stats are a little more impressive than a QB with whom there is a better than 50% chance he'll turn the ball over than pass for a TD.

McCoy also won the Walter Camp Football Foundation's player of the year award, but that was somewhat expected because he won the same award last year.

The Biletnikoff Award for the nation's best wide receiver went to Notre Dame's Golden Tate; that award should have gone to texas' Jordan Shipley. Tate had 93 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 TD receptions. Shipley has 106 receptions for 1,363 yards and 11 TDs, and still has one more game to play. Shipley built his stats against the Big 12 Conference, not against a padded schedule with the likes of Navy, Nevada, and Washington State. Tate is a phenomenal receiver, but no moreso than Shipley. Given the opponents Shipley faced, and the game-by-game production, the best wide receiver in the nation this year is Shipley.

The Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's best defensive back went to Tennessee safety Eric Berry. While I think a good argument could be made for texas safety Earl Thomas, who finished tied for second in the nation in intercepions, with 8 on the season, Berry was dominant playmaker on a top twenty defense for Tennessee. Berry also garnered more national attention early on because of his stellar play against Florida and Heisman-hopeful Tim Tebow early in the season, while Thomas was coming off a season on one of the worst pass defenses in the nation in 2008, so that probably played into consideration for the award.

Overall, with the exception of the defensive awards which went to Suh and Berry, a lot of these national awards went to the wrong person. It seems some of these committee's make up their minds early on who the winner is going to be during the season, and don't let other candidates or other information sway their opinion, and that is a shame.

Friday News and Notes: Eric Norwood First-Team All-American, Steve Spurrier Meets Randy Edsall

Gamecock Man — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:39:14 -0000

Eric Norwood made Walter Camp first-team All American. The linebacking corp is all SEC guys: Norwood, Rolando McClain, and Brandon Spikes. There were another three SEC players at other defensive positions: Eric Berry, Terrence Cody, and Joe Haden. Anyone want to question the defensive integrity of the SEC now? Didn't think so. Now we can wait and see if Norwood makes the AP list.

Steve Spurrier and Randy Edsall Pre-Bowl Conference. A few interesting quotes from the coaches:

I think it's a great bowl, it's a great setting, and we're looking forward to it. We hope it can be a little colder than it is today. We kind of like that snow if they want to have some snow.

We'll pass, Coach Edsall. We don't do snow in the SEC, other than maybe at Kentucky. We do speed.

Stephen has improved a lot. He's improved tremendously from where he was last year. He's played about every snap the whole year, so he's durable, and he's improved a lot.

I suppose I hadn't thought about this until I saw it here, but we actually started the same quarterback each game this year. That's a first under Spurrier, and it's certainly a far cry from what we've seen the past three years. It's also notable how much Spurrier is gushing over Garcia. You can hear the confidence Spurrier has in his quarterback. Again, a first.

Talking Points: the NCAA will make you anti-social

Joel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:35:39 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Lane Kiffin would like to remind the New York Times that this guy played every game this season.

Browse more photos »

As suspected, the NCAA investigation isn't just about two anonymous hostesses attending a high school game in South Carolina, it's also about Tennessee's use of social media, and like we said yesterday, if the current rules don't specifically address Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, then this could be more about the routine exploiting and closing of loopholes.

For his part, Lane Kiffin (not surprisingly) agrees with the whole "more success equals more complaints" notion:

I know that we've done a phenomenal job in recruiting. I know that it's very competitive around the country with the kids that we go after and within this conference. I think that anytime you're operating at the level we're operating at in recruiting, people are going to come after us.

People are going to question what we're doing, and as head coach it's my job to make sure that we're doing everything by the rules - and we are. We're excited about the direction we're going, and people will always try to take shots at us, they'll always try to bring us down, but it won't matter.

In any event, Kiffin's not in a hurry to come to any conclusions. Well, other than comparing this report from the NYT with the one they ran last year suggesting that Tennessee or Bryce Brown or Brian Butler had done something wrong when they hadn't:

What you've seen of me is I like to get all the information in, research what's going on, not jump to conclusions, and this is something that's had a lot of national run, been in a lot of media. I think what I compare it to in this situation is I go back to the Bryce Brown situation right before the season. That got a lot of national media attention, a lot of SportsCenter attention that the Tennessee staff maybe had some involvement in illegal recruiting of Bryce Brown, that Bryce Brown did some things illegal.

There was an investigation into that and it ended up with no wrongdoing. I look for this to be the exact same situation, a lot of stuff being said and in the end when the research is done and conclusions aren't being made, the same result will happen.

Kiffin's viewing the Chick-fil-A Bowl as another opportunity to make a splash in Georgia with recruits. Billboards, helicopters, and bowl games. What's next? By the way, did you know that the Vols' bowl game against Virginia Tech will be the only football game on TV at that time? And that the Chick-fil-A takes four places in ESPN's top 15 all-time highest bowl numbers?
A bit of good news. Eric Berry won the Thorpe Award last night. Chest bump to him. Chest bumps also to Aaron Douglas and Herman Lathers for being named to the coaches Freshman All-SEC team. Did you know that Douglas played his new position of right tackle for the last nine games of the season and allowed just 1.5 sacks in more than 700 plays and was second on the o-line with 58 pancakes?
A bit of bad news. Linebackers coach Lance Thompson is a strong candidate to join Charlie Strong's staff at Louisville. Argh. Glad for Charlie and all (both because he deserves it and because he'll no longer be at Florida), but . . . Lance, too!?
Going to really miss this guy. Eddie Gran got a sweet deal at Florida State, and Lane Kiffin had some great things to say about him (duplicate link) yesterday:

We’ll miss Eddie, he got a great opportunity. He wants to be a head coach, and to go be the assistant head coach there was an opportunity he really couldn’t pass up. We’re very excited for him. To kind of show what kind of guy Eddie is and our relationship with him, Eddie just left the office today. He’s been here the last three days even though he doesn’t work for us anymore, watching Virginia Tech for us and developing a plan for what he thinks we should do against them and writing it all down. He’s going to go over that with me, and it kind of describes what type of guy he is.

Add that guy next to Trooper Taylor's name on the list of guys I'd love to see return if we ever have a better opportunity for them on Rocky Top.

The basketball Vols are playing MTSU tonight at 7:00. We'll have the open thread, as always.
Swiperboy's got a new video, and he's getting some help from CBS Sports in promoting it and a related contest:

Should Eric Berry win the Thorpe Award?

Will — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:17:00 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

2 months ago: Auburn's Tommy Trott (5) is tackled by Tennessee's Eric Berry (14) during the first half of a NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Browse more photos »

Yes, yes he should. Because he did. WOO!

In 2008, Eric Berry turned in one of the most impressive seasons we've ever seen at Tennessee. He was the lone bright spot in a season of despair, the team's lone highlight reel star who positioned himself to earn national recognition even though the Vols went 5-7. Berry was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-American at strong safety, and was a finalist for the 2008 Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation's best defensive back.

Berry was joined by Taylor Mays of USC and Malcolm Jenkins of Ohio State as award finalists. Vol fans quickly pointed out that based on statistics and overall value to the team, Berry should've taken the award easily. However, it would be Malcolm Jenkins' name that was called when the award was announced, and Berry was denied.

Take a look again at the statistical comparison of Berry and Jenkins from 2008:

Eric Berry: 7 INT, 265 ret yds, 2 TD, 72 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 3 sacks
Malcolm Jenkins: 3 INT, 7 ret yds, 0 TD, 57 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 sack

This was an injustice, we said. Berry was clearly the best defensive back in college football in 2008.

This year, Eric Berry is once again a Thorpe Award finalist. He joins Joe Haden from Florida and Earl Thomas from Texas, and the winner will be announced during ESPN's College Football Awards show, live tonight from 7-9 PM EST. Berry's Heisman campaign fizzled, and thus far his quest to become the NCAA's all-time leader in interception return yardage has come up short, with EB just eight yards away from the record. In Monte Kiffin's defense, Berry has been moved closer to the line of scrimmage in a safety/linebacker hybrid role (which Berry likes to call "sacker"). This move, combined with opposing quarterbacks' knowledge of his presence and efforts to keep the ball out of his airspace, have kept Berry's interception numbers and opportunities down this season.

So as Berry journeys to Orlando once again to await the announcement of the Thorpe Award winner, one year after we all raised our fists over an injustice...is it fair for Berry to win it this time around?

Let's compare Berry's 2009 numbers to the other two finalists (note that Thomas and Haden played an extra game):

Eric Berry: 2 INT, 7 yds, 0 TD, 83 tackles, 6 TFL, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries
Earl Thomas: 8 INT, 149 yds, 2 TD, 59 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 forced fumble
Joe Haden: 4 INT, 20 yds, 0 TD, 62 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles

The statistical gap between Earl Thomas and Eric Berry isn't as wide as the one last year, where Berry had a significant edge on Malcolm Jenkins in every major statistical category and still lost. In fact, Berry and Thomas have become two very different types of players, making this award somewhat about style preference. If you go the traditional safety route and like interceptions, Earl Thomas is clearly the choice. If you want to emphasize tackles, then you lean towards Eric Berry.

I think if you removed the names and just showed the numbers, the vast majority of voters would give this award to Thomas. He is second in the nation in interceptions (no invite for UCLA's Rahim Moore, who had nine picks and got Jon Crompton twice?) and joins eight others as the only players in college football to run two back for touchdowns this season. If you included the fact that Thomas plays for 13-0 Texas and Berry plays for 7-5 Tennessee, it would further help his cause.

And look...I don't like Texas. At all. I'm still not a fan of Chris Simms, beating them in basketball didn't help, and everytime someone calls them "the real UT", I want to remind them that they're actually the "would be speaking Spanish if not for us UT". They are the non-conference team I want to play the most, now that Virginia Tech is on the books.

But shouldn't Thomas win this award?

And based on last year, shouldn't we expect Berry to walk home with the prize tonight?

Thomas, like Berry last year, is a sophomore. Berry is a junior and is destined for the Top 10 of the NFL Draft in April. And if this becomes a career or seniority award as it did for Jenkins last year, Berry has the edge. What's more, Berry has the greatest advantage over both Thomas and Joe Haden in name recognition: with over 100,00 votes, EB is currently running away with the Thorpe Award poll on ESPN's SportsNation.

If Berry wins, I'm going to be incredibly happy for him, and for us. The Vols haven't had an individual award winner since John Henderson brought home the Outland Trophy in 2000, and watched Travis Stephens get robbed of the Doak Walker in 2001, Berry get robbed last year, and we've made it this far in this post about defensive backs and individual awards without bringing up our friend from Michigan. This would be a great thing for Berry and for Tennessee.

And Berry has sacrificed his individual opportunities for the team this season, moving to a position on the field where his interception chances are very low, and still making an incredible difference for this defense. He has more tackles than any other defensive back in the SEC except Sean Richardson at Vanderbilt, who gets more opportunities to make tackles because he plays for Vanderbilt. Eric Berry is a once-in-a-generation talent who should go on to do incredible things in the NFL.

Should he win? I don't know. Will he win? I hope so.