SEC Midseason Awards

From the Birminghmam News:

Coach of the Year:

Alabama’s Nick Saban is on a collision course with a national title, way ahead of schedule. Houston Nutt has made Ole Missrespectable again.

Remember Les Miles? He’s had to battle Mother Nature’s wrath, again, while trying to find a new quarterback without the benefit of electricity, thanks to Gustav. Yet LSU is in the thick of things.

But Vanderbilt’s Bobby Johnson is the obvious choice. All he’s done is replace his entire offensive line, moved on without record-setting receiver Earl Bennett and turned the laughingstock of Southern football into a nationally ranked, undefeated powerhouse.

Midseason Award? Johnson deserves a Nobel Prize.

Player of the Year:

Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno is a staple on ESPN’s SportsCenter highlights. But he was a non-factor against Alabama.

LSU’s Charles Scott looks like Jim Brown running through SEC defenses, giving redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee time to mature at quarterback.

Yet Glen Coffee is doing double duty at Alabama, serving as the plow horse for a ball-control attack and as a gamebreaker who slices through defenses in 80-yard gulps. If he’d only stop fumbling …

Newcomer of the year:

Great recruiting classes produce impact players, and there are plenty to go around: receiver A.J. Green at Georgia, teammates Julio Jones and Mark Ingram at Alabama, linebacker Jerry Franklin at Arkansas and quarterback Jarrett Lee at LSU.