Houston named first-team All-SEC

Georgia’s Justin Houston was rewarded for his big season on Monday, being named to the Associated Press All-SEC first team.

Houston was the only Georgia player named to the first team. Four Bulldogs were named to the second team: WR A.J. Green, T Clint Boling, LB Akeem Dent and K Blair Walsh.

The awards were dominated by the two teams that appeared in Saturday’s SEC championship team:

- Auburn quarterback Cam Newton was named offensive player of the year, tackle Nick Fairley was defensive player of the year, and Gene Chizik was coach of the year.

- South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore was freshman of the year.

Newton and Lattimore were unanimous selections. There were eight players named on every first-team ballot: Newton, Fairley and Lattimore, Auburn OL Lee Ziemba, Arkansas TE D.J. Williams, and three LSU stars: DT Drake Nevis, CB Patrick Peterson and K Josh Jasper.

Here’s the full list:

Offense
QB: Cam Newton, Auburn
RB: Marcus Lattmiore, South Carolina
RB: Knile Davis, Arkansas
WR: Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina
WR: Julio Jones, Alabama
TE: D.J. Williams, Arkansas
OL: Lee Ziemba, Auburn
OL: Derek Sherrod, Mississippi State
OL: Barrett Jones, Alabama
OL: DeMarcus Love, Arkansas
C: Ryan Pugh, Auburn
K: Josh Jasper, LSU

Defense
DE: Devin Taylor, South Carolina
DT: Nick Fairley, Auburn
DT: Drake Nevis, LSU
LB-DE: Justin Houston, Georgia
LB: Kelvin Sheppard, LSU
LB: Chris White, Mississippi State
LB: Danny Trevathan, Kentucky
CB: Patrick Peterson, LSU
CB: Janoris Jenkins, Florida
S: Ahmad Black, Florida
S: Mark Barron, Alabama
P: Chas Henry, Florida

Second team
Offense
WR: Randall Cobb, Kentucky
WR: A.J. Green, Georgia
L: Byron Isom, Auburn
L: Larry Warford, Kentucky
L: Joseph Barksdale, LSU
L: Clint Boling, Georgia
L: James Carpenter, Alabama
L: Bradley Sowell, Mississippi
C: Mike Pouncey, Florida
TE: Brandon Barden, Vanderbilt
QB: Ryan Mallett, Arkansas
RB: Stevan Ridley, LSU
RB: Mark Ingram, Alabama
K: Blair Walsh, Georgia
All-purpose: Patrick Peterson, LSU

Defense
T: Marcell Dareus, Alabama
T: Malik Jackson, Tennessee
E: Jake Bequette, Arkansas
E: Antoine Carter, Auburn
LB: Josh Bynes, Auburn
LB: Akeem Dent, Georgia
LB: Don’t’a Hightower, Alabama
CB: Morris Claiborne, LSU
CB: Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina
CB: Casey Hayward, Vanderbilt
CB: Prentiss Waggner, Tennessee
S: Robert Lester, Alabama
S: Tramain Thomas, Arkansas
P: Tyler Campbell, Mississippi

Honorable mentions
RB Vick Ballard, Mississippi State; RB Brandon Bolden, Mississippi, QB Greg McElroy, Alabama; RB Tauren Poole, Tennessee; C William Vlachos, Alabama; LB Jonathan Cornell, Mississippi; S Zac Etheridge, Auburn.


The team was selected by a regional panel of a dozen reporters and broadcasters. Yours truly was one of them, and my ballot was posted earlier in the blog.