2009 College Football All-American Team

With the season all but over, it is time for the annual meaningless game of putting together All-American teams. I know, we’ve got the Army/Navy game still to go to wrap up the regular season – and I’m certainly interested in the game (go Middies! Get the Bruins in a bowl game!) – but frankly, none of the players in the game are on my radar as far as All-Americans go (nothing against Ricky Dobbs, who is fun to watch), so here goes nothing.

I actually put a lot of time into coming up with this list, and I’m fairly happy with it, with the possible exception of my choices for center (I really wasn’t in love with any of the candidates) and the disturbing realization that I put three Bruins on the squad (well, two and a half - kickers don’t really count) and only one Trojan. Also, I think C.J. Spiller probably deserves one of the RB slots on the second team, but given that I had already put him on the first team as a kick returner, and given that I really wanted to put Ryan Matthews and Dion Lewis on the team, I felt okay leaving him off despite the fact that he is on my (imaginary) Heisman ballot.

Speaking of the Heisman, I gotta say this: if either Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy wins the Heisman this year, that award is dead to me. Both have been great college quarterbacks and have had great careers, but there just ain’t a chance that either has been the most outstanding college football player this year. My picks: 1) Toby Gerhart, 2) Ndamakong Suh, 3) C.J. Spiller. I had a hard time deciding between Gerhart and Suh for the first spot, but I’ll admit I let the Heisman’s overall bias towards players who touch the ball get to me and gave Gerhart the nod. I also had a hard time with picking Spiller over Mark Ingram for the third slot, but gave it to Spiller as a result of Ingram’s weak game against Auburn and Spiller’s monster of a game in the ACC Championship. Nevermind the fact that I ignored Spiller’s much weaker game the same weekend against South Carolina or the fact that Ingram pummeled that same South Carolina defense to the tune of 246 yards; the imaginary ballot has been imaginarily submitted.

On to the All-American’s listed below, some highlights:

Alabama leads the list with four players on the first team (okay, three and a half, kickers don’t count), plus another three on the second team (okay, two, since Javier Arenas makes it as both a corner and a kick returner). And, while I’m mentioning Arenas, I’ll also mention that perhaps the hardest pick I made was choosing Perrish Cox over Arenas for the second corner spot on the first team.

Texas is a deserving opponent in the BCS Championship game, but I could only find room for two Longhorns on my team.

Florida is right there with three on the first team and another one on the second team, and I’ve got four Iowa Hawkeyes on my second team defense to go along with first-teamer Brian Bulaga.

And, again, on the UCLA front: two and a half Bruins on my second team? That can’t be right. Although I try to avoid being biased here, I’m a Bruin fan at heart, so I’ll throw out an honorable mention to, say, Marvin Austin of North Carolina as a guy who might have made it in place of Brian Price, and Chad Jones of LSU as a possible replacement for Rahim Moore. Although I stand by the fact that Price and Moore are deserving of their spots. As to Kai Forbath? Who really cares? He’s just a kicker.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s my 2009 College Football All-American Team:

First Team

QB Kellen Moore, So, Boise State
RB Mark Ingram, So, Alabama
RB Toby Gerhart, Sr, Stanford
WR Mardy Gilyard, Sr, Cincinnati
WR Golden Tate, Jr, Notre Dame
TE Aaron Hernandez, Sr, Florida
C Chris Hall, Sr, Texas
G Mike Johnson, Sr, Alabama
G Sergio Render, Sr, Virginia Tech
T Brian Bulaga, Jr, Iowa
T Russell Okung, Sr, Oklahoma State

DT Ndamakong Suh, Sr, Nebraska
DT Gerald McCoy, Jr, Oklahoma
DE Jerry Hughes, Sr, TCU
DE Greg Romeus, Jr, Pitt
LB Bruce Carter, Jr, North Carolina
LB Rolando McClain, Sr, Alabama
LB Brandon Spikes, Sr, Florida
CB Joe Haden, Jr, Florida
CB Perrish Cox, Sr, Oklahoma State
SS Erik Berry, Jr, Tennessee
FS Earl Thomas, So, Texas

K Leigh Tiffin, Sr, Alabama
P Zoltan Mesko, Sr, Michigan
KR C.J. Spiller, Sr, Clemson

Second Team

QB Case Keenum, Jr, Houston
RB Ryan Matthews, Jr, Fresno State
RB Dion Lewis, Fr, Pitt
WR A.J. Green, So, Georgia
WR Titus Young, Jr, Boise State
TE Anthony McCoy, Sr, USC
C Maurkice Pouncey, Jr, Florida
G Brandon Carter, Sr, Texas Tech
G Cord Howard, Sr, Georgia Tech
T Anthony Davis, Jr, Rutgers
T Ciron Black, Sr, LSU

DT Terrance Cody, Sr, Alabama
DT Brian Price, Jr, UCLA
DE Brandon Graham, Sr, Michigan
DE Adrian Clayborn, Jr Iowa
LB Sean Weatherspoon, Sr, Missouri
LB Pat Angerer, Sr, Iowa
LB Keaton Kristick, Sr, Oregon State
CB Amari Spievey, Jr, Iowa
CB Javier Arenas, Sr, Alabama
SS Tyler Sash, So, Iowa
FS Rahim Moore, So, UCLA

K Kai Forbath, Jr, UCLA
P Drew Butler, So, Georgia
KR Javier Arenas, Sr, Alabama