2012 CFN All-SEC Team & Roundup

Georgia LB Jarvis Jones takes top defensive honors in the CFN 2012 All-SEC team.

CFN 2012 All-SEC Team 

2012 Preview  2012 SEC Preview 
- 2012 CFN Preseason All-SEC Team & Top 30 Players

 

2012 CFN All-SEC Offense
QB – Johnny Manziel, Fr. A&M
RB – Todd Gurley, Fr. UGA
RB – Eddie Lacy, Jr. Bama
WR – Cobi Hamilton, Sr. Ark.
WR – Jordan Matthews, Jr. Vand.
TE – Mychal Rivera, Sr. Tenn
OL – D.J. Fluker, Jr. Alabama
OL – Luke Joeckel, Jr. Texas A&M
OL – Barrett Jones, Sr. Alabama
OL – Jake Matthews, Jr. Texas A&M
OL – Chance Warmack, Sr. Alabama
PK – Caleb Sturgis, Jr. Florida
KR – Cordarrelle Patterson, Jr. Tenn

2012 CFN All-SEC Defense
DL – Jadeveon Clowney, Soph. USC
DL – Sam Montgomery, Jr. LSU
DL – Damontre Moore, Jr. A&M
DL – Jesse Williams, Sr. Bama
LB – A.J. Johnson, Soph. Tenn
LB – Jarvis Jones, Jr. UGA
LB – Kevin Minter, Jr. LSU
DB – Johnthan Banks, Sr. MSU
DB – Matt Elam, Jr. Florida
DB – Dee Milliner, Jr. Bama
DB – Eric Reid, Jr. LSU
P – Kyle Christy, Soph. Florida
PR – Marcus Murphy, Soph. Missouri

The Best SEC Players of 2012
1. QB Johnny Manziel, Fr. A&M
2. LB Jarvis Jones, Jr. UGA
3. DE Jadeveon Clowney, Soph. USC
4. DE Damontre Moore, Jr. A&M
5. S Matt Elam, Jr. Florida
6. OT Luke Joeckel, Jr. Texas A&M
7. DT Jesse Williams, Sr. Bama
8. LB Kevin Minter, Jr. LSU
9. CB Dee Milliner, Jr. Bama
10. OT Jake Matthews, Jr. Texas A&M
11. DE Sam Montgomery, Jr. LSU
12. OG Chance Warmack, Sr. Alabama
13. CB Johnthan Banks, Sr. MSU
14. DT John Jenkins, Sr. Georgia
15. OT D.J. Fluker, Jr. Alabama
16. DL Sharrif Floyd, Jr. Florida
17. S Eric Reid, Jr. LSU
18. LB A.J. Johnson, Soph. Tenn
19. RB Todd Gurley, Fr. UGA
20. C Barrett Jones, Sr. Alabama
21. QB Aaron Murray, Jr. Georgia
22. RB Eddie Lacy, Jr. Bama
23. WR/KR Cordarrelle Patterson, Jr. Tenn
24. QB A.J. McCarron, Jr. Bama
25. RB Mike Gillislee, Sr. Florida
26. QB Tyler Bray, Jr. Tenn.
27. LB Avery Williamson, Jr. UK
28. DE Chris Smith, Jr. Ark.
29. LB Daren Bates, Sr. Auburn
30. LB Cameron Lawrence, Sr. MSU

2012 CFN SEC Off. Player of the Year
QB Johnny Manziel, Fr. Texas A&M

A case could be made that Georgia's Aaron Murray might have been better, and Arkansas gunslinger Tyler Wilson will be a better pro, but no one took over the SEC season, or the national spotlight, like Manziel, setting the SEC record for total offense on the way to the Heisman. Magical, he engineered the win over Alabama and time and again came up with the big run and the great big play to make the Kevin Sumlin offense shine. He wasn't all that bad in the loss to Florida, and he had problems against LSU, but he was all but unstoppable against everyone else running for 1,181 yards and 19 touchdowns while throwing for 3,419 yards and 24 scores with eight picks.

2012 CFN SEC Def. Player of the Year
LB Jarvis Jones, Jr. Georgia

There's no real argument against South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney, but Jones was a bigger difference maker with a nation-leading 22.5 tackles for loss to go along with 12.5 sacks and 77 tackles despite missing two games and being a wee bit limited in a few others. His three sack, two forced fumble, 12.5 tackle performance in the win over Florida turned out to be the biggest difference-making day of the entire 2012 season, and he set the tone early with an unstoppable day in the win over Missouri.
 
3 Biggest Surprises

1. Johnny Heisman. Lost in all the craziness in Johnny Manziel’s stunning freshman season was that he wasn’t necessarily a lock to start. Two years ago, the Auburn coaching staff talked about how the quarterback job was wide open after spring ball, but everyone knew Cam Newton would take it over. Texas A&M had a four-man race to replace Ryan Tannehill, and Manziel wasn’t a lock in any way to get the gig. No one expected anything out of the Aggies in their first year in the SEC, but they went 10-2, beat Alabama, and along the way, produced a brilliant Heisman winner who broke the freshman barrier.

2. Florida coming really, really close to playing for the national title. The Gators were supposed to be stronger on defense, and the hope was for Jeff Driskel to rise up and be a big factor on offense, but no one – especially the Florida faithful – actually believed this was supposed to be a rough year. There was actual talk about Will Muschamp being a hot seat. Instead, this turned into one of the toughest and most physical teams in college football.

3. Ole Miss. A lot of the Rebel success was tied into complete and utter disastrous seasons from Auburn and Arkansas, but the team was able to rise up quickly under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and get to a bowl game. It wasn’t always consistent or pretty, but blasting away by Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl was a beautiful finish to a promising turnaround year.

3 Biggest Disappointments

1. Auburn. It takes a special brand of awful to be on top of the SEC disappointments this year, and with a 3-9 record, an offense that went absolutely nowhere, and a fired head coach just two years removed from a national title, this was as disastrous a season as any Alabama fan could’ve ever wished upon its rival. The Tigers weren’t supposed to be world-beaters, but they were supposed to be at least be competitive.

2. Arkansas. National title dreams all but went bye-bye after Bobby Petrino was launched, but there still wasn’t any real excuse to come up with a bad season. Knile Davis was back, Tyler Wilson was still under center, and the defense was supposed to be strong, but an early loss to ULM set the tone for a miserable season defensively and Davis never popped through. On the plus side, the step back might have meant a giant leap forward getting Bret Bielema from Wisconsin.

3. Missouri. Texas A&M was supposed to be the Big 12 newcomer who was supposed to struggle – the West was expected to be far nastier than the East. Missouri was pushed around by Georgia and South Carolina early, but it was the 19-15 to Vanderbilt and the 31-27 loss to Syracuse – both at home – that ended any bowl hopes and made the SEC debut a clunker.

Best SEC Game of the Season
Dec. 1 – SEC Championship. Alabama 32, Georgia 28. If this wasn’t the national championship, it sure looked like it as a fascinating SEC season saved the best for last. Georgia appeared to be ready to take over and make this its season after taking a 21-10 lead on a blocked field goal attempt for a touchdown, but Alabama showed the heart of a champion by coming right back with a quick drive and a T.J. Yeldon touchdown and a solid follow-up scoring drive to take a 25-21 lead. Georgia wouldn’t go away with a great drive of its own to take the lead right back on Todd Gurley’s second scoring run of the day. Just when it seemed like the Dawgs might be able to hold on, Amari Cooper got deep for a 45-yard touchdown with just over three minutes to play to give the Tide the lead back. One more time, the Dawgs clawed back getting deep into Alabama territory before coming up just short as time ran out.

Second Best SEC Game : Nov. 3 – Alabama 21, at LSU 17
Third Best SEC Game : Nov. 10 – Missouri 51, at Tennessee 48 4OT

Coach of the Year
1) Nick Saban, Alabama
2) Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
3) James Franklin, Vanderbilt

Performances of the Year (SEC games only)
1) Oct. 27 - Georgia LB Jarvis Jones vs. Florida. 12.5 tackles, three sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles in the 17-9 win.
2) Nov. 10 - Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel vs. Alabama. 24-of-31 for 253 yards and two touchdowns, and 18 carries for 92 yards, in the 29-24 win over the nation’s No. 1 team on the road.
3) Oct. 12 – Alabama QB A.J. McCarron vs. Tennessee. 17-of-22 for 306 yards and four touchdowns in the 44-13 win.

Top Freshmen
1) QB Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
2) RB Todd Gurley, Goergia
3) LB Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State