SEC Bloggers Weekly Awards

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SEC Bloggers Week One Review 


Week One under the gun  By SEC Bloggers

Posted Sep 7, 2009 


Each Monday, CFN’s SEC Bloggers put the previous weekend under the microscope, looking for the Lucky 7.


BG is Billy Gomila, BH is Brian Harbach, GH is Gabe Harris, RM is Russ Mitchell, and BS is Barrett Sallee.


1. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BG: Terrance Toliver, WR, LSU - 4 catches for more than 100 yards, and 2 TDs – practically carried the LSU passing game.
BH: Onterio McCalebb, RB, Auburn - 148 yards on 22 carries with a TD; not a bad 1st game for the true freshmen.
GH: Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama - Dominated Tech’s defense and showed surprising burst to go with his bruising frame.
RM: Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama - Finally woke up his offense, rushing for 150 yards on 26 carries (5.8 /carry), plus a TD. (Nod to Terrance Toliver, WR, LSU - 4 rec for 117, 2 TDs.)
BS: Jonathan Crompton, QB, Tennessee - Threw more TDs in game one (5) than all of last season (4).


2. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BG: Eric Norwood, LB, South Carolina - Unstoppable for the Gamecock D versus NC State; 2 sacks and a pair of fumble recoveries.
BH: Devin Taylor, DE, South Carolina - May not have the stats of Norwood or Matthews, but Taylor had a sack, blocked a punt and was in the NC State backfield all night.
GH: Eric Norwood, DE, South Carolina - Along with the rest of the Gamecock defense, spent most of his night in NC State’s backfield, tallying two sacks.
RM: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU - Notched team high 9 tackles, recovered a fumble, broke up 2 pass attempts, and generally wreaked havoc.
BS: Eric Norwood, LB, South Carolina - 5 solo tackles and 2 sacks in defensive struggle over NC State.


3. SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BG: Wes Byrum, K, Auburn - 3 field goals, including kicks of 47 and 49 yards.
BH: Wes Byrum, K, Auburn - It looks like Byrum has some of his frosh swagger back after hitting two long range kicks (47, 49) against La Tech.
GH: Wes Byrum, K, Auburn - Rebounded from his soph. slump with 3 FGs, 2 from over 45 yards - including a 49er as the clock expired on the 1H.
RM: Brandon James, KR, Florida - Got only 1 kickoff, but made the most of it: 85 yards - TD.
BS: Brandon James, KR, Florida - 85-yard kickoff return for a TD; 1st for UF since Bo Carroll in ‘99.


4. COACH OF THE WEEK
BG: Gene Chizik, Auburn - Solid win over a strong La Tech squad; needed to raise confidence in this Auburn program.
BH: Eric Wolford, South Carolina - If any USC fan can tell us the last time their O-line went an entire game with zero penalties, they get a shout-out in a column later this week.
GH: Gene Chizik, Auburn - Few first year coaches under as much scrutiny as Chizik, but Auburn looked better than expected and light years ahead of the 2008 team.
RM: Gus Malzahn, Auburn - Credit where credit is due; Tigers O had 556 yards against a respectable La Tech team. (Nod to Les Miles, LSU: 20-0 non-conference record.)
BS: Gene Chizik, Auburn - His offense, under new OC Gus Malzahn, puts up 556 yards in win over La Tech; 180 degrees from the last few years of Auburn football.


5. BEST GAME OF THE WEEK
BG: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech - Three-quarter defensive slugfest turned into a one-quarter shootout.
BH: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech - Not a lot of choices for this one, good thing the only option was worthy of this spot.
GH: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech - About the only game undecided going into the 4th quarter, and showed just how far the SEC is ahead of the ACC at this time.
RM: LSU vs. Washington - Cold, yes, and raucous for Pac 10 crowd; game was undecided until 3:30 left in the fourth quarter.
BS: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech - Not the low-scoring slugfest envisioned, but an epic battle between two physical teams.


6. BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE WEEK
BG: Joe Cox - Really expected more from the SR, especially with an elite WR like AJ Green.
BH: Georgia Offense - Missouri State scored 13 points against OSU last year, and yet Georgia could only manage 10. Uh oh.
GH: LSU QB Jordan Jefferson - Showed the consistency (11-19, 172 yards, 3 TDs) that was lacking at this position for the Bayou Bengals last year; balanced a surprisingly bad performance by the D.
RM: LSU’s Defense - Would give this the “disappointment”, except it was such a surprise. Tiger D allowed 478 yards – more than any game in 2008 - including 11 of 19 third down conversions.
BS: Tennessee's offense - Last year, Vols would have had trouble netting 63 points against air. Granted, Western Kentucky is only slightly better than air, but still a good performance.


7. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK
BG: LSU’s Intensity - Tigers treated UW almost like a scrimmage, showing no sense of urgency beyond the bare minimum to escape Seattle with a W. Top down, the effort must improve on Sat., or Vandy makes this a 1-1 team.
BH: Georgia Offense - See question 6 above.
GH: Georgia’s Offense - After a hot start, the Bulldog offense fizzled down the stretch, managing just 265 total yards against Oklahoma State.
RM: Alabama - Held a weak Tech O to just 155 total yards, yet surrendered 24 points and was losing heading into the fourth quarter. (Our heart goes out to Georgia OT Trinton Sturdivant, done for another season due to knee injury.)
BS: LSU - Got the win in Washington, but the Husky offense rolled up and down the field to the tune of 478 yards. John Chavis was supposed to fix the problem. 1 game in, the problem persists.