I know that the Florida vs. Georgia game got a lot of press and a lot of attention, and it was definitely an epic beat-down of a pretty good team by an even better team.  Tim Tebow would be a fine pick for the ATVSSECOSPPOW, with his 5 touchdowns, 77% completions, big 3rd down runs, and his darn moxie, but there was one player in the SEC who also won a big game and put up MONSTER numbers:

OK, so he didn't put the ball in the end zone much, but averaging over 10 yards per attempt on 38 attempts is outrageous, even when you're playing Tulsa

Arkansas QB Casey Dick has quietly put up some nice yardage numbers this season.  This is his senior year, and he's had a lot of criticism during his career (right so), but his yardage and yards/attempt are way up this year.  Then again, his sacks and interceptions are also up, and his touchdowns are down, but no one ever said he was great.

He was pretty darn good this week, though.  He was 25 of 38 with 385 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception.  385!  I'm pretty sure that's the most yards by an SEC quarterback in any one game this season.  And while there were a lot of attempts to get to those 385 yards, he averaged 10.1 yards per attempt, which is absolutely outstanding, especially if you win.

On an night when the Arkansas running game struggled, Casey Dick picked up the slack and led the team to victory.  Of course, an interception return for a touchdown also helped.

But also, let's have a little perspective here.  Casey Dick is a 5th year senior, and right now Jarrett Lee is having a better season than he is.  Lee's completion percentage (56.1%) is just slightly lower than Dick's (56.6%), but his yards/attempt is significantly higher (7.55 to 7.19), his attempts/touchdown pass is better (15.75 attempts per touchdown for Lee, 33.6 attempts per touchdown pass for Dick), and TD/INT ratio is better (12:10 for Lee, 9:11 for Dick).  Casey Dick takes better care of the ball (when you factor in that Dick has thrown almost twice as many passes), but rarely completes a drive with a touchdown pass.  

So, let's cut Lee a break and let him grow into the position.

Last season, when we were at GeauxTuscaloosa, we did a little feature called the GeauxTuscaloosa SEC Offensive Skill Position Player of the Week.  It's a feature that will be migrated to this site.

The award, as its name implies, honors the only people the Heisman Trophy ever honors as the greatest player.  It honors someone who is in a position to put up a lot of numbers.  I simply cannot sit here at my computer and evaluate the play of a linebacker that I did not watch, but I can read a recap and look at a boxscore with the best of them.

Since last year was my first year of blogging, some things need some tweaking the second time around.  Last year, we just picked the gaudiest statline and awarded the player associated with that statline the award.  This year, we're going to take quality of competition into account a lot more.

This week, there really aren't a lot of gaudy statlines to choose from.  Honestly, this is one of the harder ATVSSECOSPPOW award decisions I've made.  The most impressive lines of the week are probably Matthew Stafford's (13 for 21, 275 yards, 2 touchdown passes, 0 interceptions), Casey Dick's (25 for 41, 318 yards, 2 touchdown passes, 1 interception, 2 touchdown rushes), and LSU's Charles Scott's (16 rushes for 160 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 reception for 14 yards).  All of those, however, came against FCS competition, and so all get downgraded for that reason.  Heck, Casey Dick barely even won.

via images.tuscaloosanews.com

After much thought and consideration, the ATVSSECOSPPOW for Week #1 of the 2008 season goes to John Parker Butthead.  I mean, John Parker Wilson, quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide.  The statline is not spectacular, but is pretty good.  He was 22 of 30, 180 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 4 rushes for 19 yards, 1 rushing touchdown.

The stats are solid, even if they won't generate any Hall of Fame talk.  And yes, I have certainly been critical of Wilson in the past (who hasn't been?).  On Saturday night, however, he was accurate, efficient, careful, and poised, everything he has at times failed to be in the past.  He also did it against the highest level of competition any SEC team faced this week.

Honorable Mention:

via www.nashvillecitypaper.com

It really was a tough call, and I almost went with Chris Nickson of Vanderbilt.  His passing numbers were very ho-hum (9 for 16, 91 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions), but he dominated the game against Miami (Ohio) with his legs (20 carries, 166 yards, 2 touchdowns).  

It's easy to forget, but Vandy was actually the underdog in this game, if you believe the Vegas line.  Nickson dominated, and Vandy won rather handily, 34-13.  Nickson scored all of Vandy's touchdowns either by throwing or running, until the game was safely in hand and Vandy's running back got one into the end zone.

It is safe to say, without Nickson, Vandy probably loses that game.  Perhaps this is a return to the 2006 Nickson, who looked dangerous, and on the verge of being an excellent player.  The 2007 Nickson was awful, and lost the starting job.  Anyway, good show Chris Nickson.  I wish I had watched your game instead of that awful South Carolina vs. NC State matchup.