On the heels of winning its 25th Southeastern Conference football championship, Alabama had 10 players selected Tuesday afternoon to the All-SEC first and second teams as voted on by league coaches.
The Crimson Tide had an eye-popping seven first-team selections: running back Derrick Henry, center Ryan Kelly, left tackle Cam Robinson, defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and A’Shawn Robinson, linebacker Reggie Ragland and safety Eddie Jackson. Making the second team were right tackle Dominick Jackson, receiver Calvin Ridley and kicker Adam Griffith, a redshirt junior from Calhoun (Ga.) High School.
Alabama has led the league in All-SEC selections for eight consecutive years.
Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland, shown here hugging Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara after the Crimson Tide’s 19-14 win in October, is among the Tide’s seven All-SEC first-team selections.The SEC will announce its individual award winners today. The league’s all-freshman team will be revealed Thursday.
Alabama also had three first-team representatives Tuesday on USA Today’s All-America team: Henry, Kelly and Ragland. A’Shawn Robinson was named to the second team.
Kelly a finalist
Kelly is among the three finalists for this year’s Rimington Trophy, which is given annually to the top center in college football. Iowa’s Austin Blythe and Michigan State’s Jack Allen are the other finalists.
Kelly is Alabama’s fourth Rimington finalist in eight seasons, following Antoine Caldwell (2008), William Vlachos (2011) and Barrett Jones (2012). Jones won the award.
According to Crimson Tide statistics, Kelly has missed only eight assignments this season in 948 snaps for a success rate of 99.2 percent. He has not allowed a sack all year.
The winner of the Rimington Trophy will be revealed Thursday night.
Memory lane
Michigan State doesn’t have any players remaining from its 2010 team, but coach Mark Dantonio certainly remembers the unique season and how it ended.
The Spartans began that year unranked but improved to 3-0 with a 34-31 overtime win over Notre Dame, which was followed hours later by Dantonio suffering a heart attack. He developed a blood clot in his leg and missed two games, but his team went on to go 11-1 (losing only to Iowa) and earning a Capital One Bowl bid against Alabama.
Michigan State took a No. 7 ranking to Orlando, where it found a Crimson Tide team ready to unload some frustration after blowing a 24-0 lead in a 28-27 loss to Auburn.
Alabama scorched the Spartans 49-7.
“We went down there that particular day and had some turnovers, and it became a rough day as things sort of spun out of control a little bit,” Dantonio said this week in a news conference. “With that being said, I think that’s a part of the process here. That was our first game in a situation like that, although we played Georgia in ’08, so as you move forward you try and win regular-season games, win the Big Ten, win bowl games, and you continually try and take your program to the next challenge.
“I think that’s part of growth, and we’re going to find out if we’ve grown up a little bit.”
Black leaving
Crimson Tide redshirt junior receiver Chris Black announced this week that he is transferring.
Black, who should be eligible to play immediately as a graduate student, was Alabama’s top returning receiver this season after making 15 catches for 188 yards for last year’s SEC champions. He was nagged by ankle injuries this season and had just two receptions for 23 yards before getting shelved last month for the rest of the year.
The 6-foot, 192-pounder from Jacksonville was ESPN’s No. 2 receiver nationally in the 2012 signing class.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.
First-Team All-SEC
OFFENSETE — Hunter Henry, ArkansasOL — Sebastian Tretola, Arkansas; Vadal Alexander, LSU;Cam Robinson, Alabama; John Theus, GeorgiaC — Ryan Kelly, AlabamaWR — Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss; Fred Ross, Mississippi State; Pharoh Cooper, South CarolinaQB — Dak Prescott, Mississippi StateRB — Derrick Henry, Alabama; Leonard Fournette, LSUAP — Pharoh Cooper, South CarolinaDEFENSEDL — Myles Garrett, Texas A&M Jonathan Allen, Alabama; Jonathan Bullard, Florida; A’Shawn Robinson, AlabamaLB — Kentrell Brothers, Missouri; Reggie Ragland, Alabama; Zach Cunningham, VanderbiltDB — Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida; Eddie Jackson, Alabama; Jalen Tabor, Florida; Trae Elston, Ole MissSPECIAL TEAMSPK — Daniel Carlson, AuburnP — Drew Kaser, Texas A&MRS — Evan Berry, Tennessee
Second-Team All-SEC
OFFENSETE — Evan Engram, Ole MissOL — Dominick Jackson, Alabama; Shon Coleman, Auburn; Dan Skipper, Arkansas; Germain Ifedi, Texas A&MC — Ethan Pocic, LSUWR — Calvin Ridley, Alabama; Christian Kirk, Texas A&M De’Runnya Wilson, Mississippi StateQB — Chad Kelly, Ole MissRB — Alex Collins, Arkansas; Jalen Hurd, TennesseeAP — Christian Kirk, Texas A&MDEFENSEDL — Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss; Marquis Haynes, Ole Miss; Charles Harris, Missouri; Derek Barnett, TennesseeLB — Leonard Floyd, Georgia; Antonio Morrison, Florida; Skai Moore, South CarolinaDB — Mike Hilton, Ole Miss; Dominick Sanders, Georgia; Tre’Davious White, LSU; Jamal Adams, LSUSPECIAL TEAMSPK — Taylor Bertolet, Texas A&M Adam Griffith, AlabamaP — Johnny Townsend, FloridaRS — Christian Kirk, Texas A&M