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The SB Nation Preseason All-America Team, compiled by votes from our many extraordinary college football blogs, now has a complete starting 11 on both sides of the ball, a head coach who's extremely serious, and some special teamers. It's ready to win a bunch of championships so long as nobody gets hurt, which makes it kind of like USC. Speaking of USC ...
Quarterback
Perhaps the least-surprising vote on the whole danged board is quarterback. Here to detail the greatness of our No. 1 non-punter vote-getter is Scott Enyeart of SB Nation Seattle and like a million other outlets:
Matt Barkley, the record-setting USC quarterback, surprised a lot of people when he chose to take care of his "unfinished business" and play one more year in Los Angeles. For all his accomplishments on the field, he will tell you he is most proud of the mission trips and relief work he does off of it. But this is an All-American team, so it's the on-field stuff that matters, and on the field, Barkley seemingly has it all. He's got the NFL-caliber arm, and he's got the weapons at his disposal. One other thing the 6-foot-2 signal caller will have is a chip on his shoulder. Despite throwing for 3,528 yards and a USC-record 39 TD's as a junior, Barkley wasn't a Heisman finalist. With added motivation, and the possibility of two extra games to add to his stats, look for Barkley to lay claim as the top passer in college football in 2012.
Matt Barkley, USC
Honorable mentions: Geno Smith, West Virginia; Tyler Wilson, Arkansas; Nobody voted for anybody else. There are only three quarterbacks in the world.
Coach
Nick Saban, Alabama
Honorable mentions: Les Miles, LSU; Bill Snyder, Kansas State; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Mike Leach, Washington State; Lane Kiffin, USC
Kicker
Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State
Honorable mentions: Caleb Sturgis, Florida; Brett Maher, Nebraska; Zach Hocker, Arkansas; Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
Punter
Brad Wing, LSU
Honorable mentions: Ummmm there were a few guys who got like one vote each. Brad Wing dominated his vote to a greater degree than anybody else. He is our MVP.
Returner
De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon
Honorable mentions: Tavon Austin, West Virginia; and here we will set up our Tyrann Mathieu memorial.
And the complete rest of our lineup, as revealed throughout the week:
Running Backs
Montee Ball, Wisconsin
Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina
Honorable mentions: Knile Davis, Arkansas; Kenjon Barner, Oregon; Stepfan Taylor, Stanford;De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon; Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State
Receivers
Robert Woods, USC
Marquess Wilson, Washington State
Sammy Watkins, Clemson
Honorable mentions: Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame; Tavon Austin, West Virginia; Kenny Stills, Oklahoma; Marqise Lee, USC; Jake Stoneburner, Ohio State
Offensive Line
Left tackle: Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M
Left guard: Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina
Center: Barrett Jones, Alabama
Right guard: Travis Frederick, Wisconsin
Right tackle: D.J. Fluker, Alabama
Honorable mentions: Ricky Wagner, Wisconsin; Chance Warmack, Alabama; Taylor Lewan, Michigan; Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech; Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma
Defensive Line
End: Sam Montgomery, LSU
Tackle: Kawann Short, Purdue
Tackle: Star Lotulelei, Utah
End: William Gholston, Michigan State
Honorable mentions: Alex Okafor, Texas; Jackson Jeffcoat, Texas; Brandon Jenkins, Florida State; Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina; John Simon, Ohio State
Linebackers
Jarvis Jones, Georgia
Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
Chris Borland, Wisconsin
Honorable mentions: Chase Thomas, Stanford; Arthur Brown, Kansas State; C.J. Mosley, Alabama; Sean Porter, Texas A&M; Gerald Hodges, Penn State
Defensive Backs
David Amerson, N.C. State
Eric Reid, LSU
T.J. McDonald, USC
Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State
Honorable mentions: John Boyett, Oregon; Robert Lester, Alabama; Bacarri Rambo, Georgia;Tony Jefferson, Oklahoma; Johnny Adams, Michigan State
While we’re here, let’s watch some of the many fine college football videos from SB Nation’s YouTube channel:
