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The SEC All-Georgia Dome Team

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By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com
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The Georgia Dome wont officially close its doors until early 2017, but the SEC will play its 23rd and last conference championship game in the building on Saturday afternoon.

The Georgia Dome wont officially close its doors until early 2017, but the SEC will play its 23rd and last conference championship game in the building on Saturday afternoon.

After hosting the first two games in Birminghams Legion Field, the league moved the event to Atlanta in 1994, where it will remain next season in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Some of the SECs greatest stars played in the Georgia Dome over the past 22 years, so I thought it would be fitting to come up with an All-Georgia Dome team heading into Saturdays final battle between No. 1 Alabama and No. 15 Florida.

QB: Danny Wuerffel, Florida

Wuerffel is the only starting quarterback to win multiple SEC Championship Games, leading the Gators to three straight titles from 1994-96. The 1996 Heisman Trophy winner threw for 10 touchdowns and ran for two more in Floridas trio of triumphs in the Georgia Dome, including six touchdown tosses in his senior season against Alabama.

RB: Tre Mason, Auburn

Mason holds the SEC Championship Game record for carries (46) and rushing yards (304) for his dominant performance in the 2013 game against Missouri. No other running back has come within 100 yards of Masons total.

RB: Derrick Henry, Alabama

Henry holds two SEC championships, combining for 64 carries and 330 yards in wins over Missouri and Florida in 2014 and 2015 respectively. He was named the MVP of the 2015 game, which propelled him to claim the Heisman Trophy a week later.

WR: Reidel Anthony, Florida

Like Wuerffel, Anthony was part of Florida teams that won three straight league championships in the Georgia Dome. His best performance was an 11-catch, 171-yard night against Alabama in 1996. His three receiving touchdowns that night remain unmatched to this day.

WR: Darvin Adams, Auburn

The only receiver to eclipse Reidel Anthonys 171-yard game was Adams, who had 217 yards on just seven receptions against South Carolina in 2010. Adams broke the game open with a 51-yard Hail Mary reception on the final play of the first half, and the Tigers rolled to a 56-17 win over the Gamecocks.

TE: Ben Watson, Georgia

Watson caught touchdowns in back-to-back SEC Championship Games for the Bulldogs, putting the icing on the cake of Georgias first conference title since 1980 with a 20-yard touchdown in the 2002 rout of Arkansas. His 18-yard score a year later against LSU allowed Georgia to get back in the game, but the Tigers would hold on for a 34-13 win.

OL: Greg Robinson, Auburn

The No. 2 pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, Robinson was a dominant run blocker in 2013, paving the way for Tre Masons record day. The Tigers, thanks in large part to Robinsons dominance on the left side against a fierce Missouri defensive line, ran for 545 yards, breaking the previous high by a whopping 195 yards.

OL: Jason Odom, Florida

Odom was Danny Wuerffels blindside protector in Floridas wins over Alabama and Arkansas in 1994 and 1995 respectively. In addition to this championship rings in those years, he also claimed the prestigious Jacobs Blocking Trophy in both seasons 3 awarded to the SECs best offensive lineman.

OL: Ryan Kelly, Alabama

Kelly was the starting center for Alabamas back-to-back SEC title teams in 2014 and 2015, opening up holes for Derrick Henry against two top-notch defensive lines of Missouri and Florida. He was a first-round NFL Draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts this past April.

OL: Cosey Coleman, Tennessee

As a freshman and a sophomore, Coleman was a protector for two different SEC title-winning Vols quarterbacks 3 Peyton Manning in 1997 and Tee Martin in 1998. His blocking also helped Jamal Lewis and Travis Henry go over 100 yards in Tennessees victories over Auburn and Mississippi State respectively.

OL: Barrett Jones, Alabama

Jones won SEC titles at two different positions on the offensive line 3 at right guard in 2009 against Florida and at center in 2012 against Georgia. The versatile and intelligent Jones played the final three quarters of the 2012 classic, one of the best games in SEC history with a sprained foot after injuring it in the first half.

DL: Ellis Johnson, Florida

Johnson is one of just three defensive players to be named MVP of an SEC Championship Game. The Gators defensive tackle did so in 1994, as Florida defeated unbeaten Alabama in a 24-23 thriller. Johnson recorded five tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass breakup.

DL: Glenn Dorsey, LSU

Dorsey helped the 2007 LSU defense tame a hot Tennessee offense, as the Tigers held the Volunteers to just 14 points to miraculously earn a BCS National Championship Game berth hours after starting the day ranked No. 7. Future NFL star running back Arian Foster was held to just 55 yards on 21 carries.

DL: Chad Lavalais, LSU

The first great Nick Saban defensive lineman in the SEC, Lavalais helped LSU claim a pair of league titles in 2001 and 2003. The Tigers held Tennessee and Georgia to total of just 30 points in the two games. Lavalais was the national Defensive Player of the Year in 2003, and recorded a sack in the Tigers rout of Georgia.

LB: Ben Hanks, Florida

Hanks made one of the biggest and strangest plays in SEC Championship Game, intercepting an option pitch from Arkansas quarterback Barry Lunney Jr. and running it back 95 yards for a touchdown in 1995. The Hogs were attempting to close within two scores late in the third quarter, but Hanks mad dash sealed the victory for the undefeated and heavily-favored Gators.

LB: Takeo Spikes, Auburn

Spikes nearly single-handedly cost Peyton Manning his only SEC title, as he recorded 15 tackles in the 1997 game 3 a 30-29 Tennessee victory. Only one player has had more tackles in an SEC Championship Game. It took a classic Manning play, a 71-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Nash in the fourth quarter, for the No. 3 Vols to escape.

LB: Omar Gaither, Tennessee

The aforementioned one player to have more than 15 tackles in an SEC Championship Game is Gaither, doing so with 18 takedowns in the Volunteers 38-28 loss to Auburn in 2004. Gaither wasnt just tackling average running backs, as Auburn possessed both Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams, who would be top-five NFL Draft picks the following April.

DB: Tyrann Mathieu, LSU

Mathieu became the third defensive player to win MVP honors in 2011, but his biggest play came on special teams. The Heisman Trophy finalist ignited a struggling Tigers team with a 62-yard punt return touchdown to cut Georgias lead to 10-7. LSU wouldnt look back, as the Bayou Bengals scored the next 35 points to win going away, helped by a Mathieu fumble recovery and another long punt return to set up a touchdown.

DB: Marcus Spencer, Alabama

Spencer was the first SEC player to record two interceptions in an SEC Championship Game. His two picks of Floridas Jesse Palmer in 1999 helped blow the game open as, Alabama finally reclaimed its perch atop the conference after three losses to the Gators in the 1993, 1994 and 1996 championship games.

DB: Jonathan Zenon, LSU

LSU likely doesnt win the 2007 SEC and national titles without Zenon, whose interception return for a touchdown was the game-winning score in the Tigers 2014 win over Tennessee. The Vols were backed up in the shadows of their own goalposts when Zenon stepped in front of an Eric Ainge pass and began a dream day for LSU that culminated with losses by No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia.

DB: Robert Bean, Mississippi State

Bean holds the record for the longest interception return for a touchdown in SEC Championship Game history, staring the scoring in the 1998 game with a 70-yard return after picking off Tennessees Tee Martin. Unfortunately for Bean and the Bulldogs, the offense didnt help out the defense and special teams, which provided all of the teams scoring in their 24-14 loss.

DB: Lito Sheppard, Florida

Sheppard, like Spencer above, recorded multiple interceptions in one game, doing so in Floridas easy 28-6 victory over Auburn in 2000. The Gators probably wouldnt even have reached the SEC Championship Game without a key interception by Sheppard against Georgia, whose record day helped earn head coach Steve Spurrier win his sixth and final SEC title.

PK: Billy Bennett, Georgia

Bennett converted five field goals in a pair of SEC Championship Game appearances, three from beyond 40 yards. His 12 points in the 2002 game, a 30-3 Georgia win over Arkansas, are the most by a kicker in the history of the event.

P: Brad Wing, LSU

Wing booted six punts of 50 yards or longer in LSUs 42-10 rout of Georgia in 2011. The Australians 67-yard kick is the longest in SEC Championship Game history, and his 50.4 average ranks fourth all-time.

Matt Smith – Matt is a 2007 graduate of Notre Dame and has spent most of his life pondering why most people in the Mid-Atlantic actually think there are more important things than college football. He has blogged for College Football News, covering both national news as well as Notre Dame and the service academies. He credits Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel for his love of college football and tailgating at Florida, Tennessee, and Auburn for his love of sundresses. Matt covers the ACC as well as the national scene.


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