Strange: Preseason All-SEC off target already

As late as July, as early as March, we vote on preseason All-SEC teams. It's about like predicting the weather.

You're reasonably assured it's going to be hot in August, just as you're reasonably assured Darren McFadden is going to run crazy. But sometimes it rains on your picnic.

I pulled out the preseason team from SEC Media Days on Wednesday and checked off the rain-outs.

Scratch Florida offensive lineman Phil Trautwein, Arkansas receiver Marcus Monk and South Carolina linebacker Jasper Brinkley as injury casualties.

And four games in, you'd have to scratch Jonathan Hefney and Jerod Mayo, Tennessee's first-team defense selections.

It's too early to officially give any healthy player the hook. However, to this point the Vols haven't gotten first-team All-SEC production out of either.

Hefney has been ineffective at safety and returning punts.

"Jonathan Hefney just needs to be Jonathan Hefney,'' UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Wednesday. "He's trying to do too much.

"He's actually playing over-aggressive at times.''

Mayo was moved from outside linebacker to middle linebacker, where he hasn't been able to create the same havoc. His 25 total tackles tie for 21st in the league. He has two tackles-for-loss, one forced fumble and three quarterback hurries.

"Jerod's adapted fine to the middle position,'' Fulmer said. "He needs the people in front of him to do a better job of maintaining gaps and controlling blockers.

"If the blockers are emptying off the tackles fast onto him, then the defensive tackles need to make plays.''

Britton Colquitt was UT's only other first-team pick. Sure enough, he's on top of the punt standings with a 44.2-yard average.

You could make a case that two other Vols are playing at a first-team All-SEC level.

Daniel Lincoln is the only 8-for-8 field-goal kicker from Boston to Berkeley and is perfect on 16 PATs.

Not that preseason All-SEC tight end Jacob Tamme of Ken tucky has been dogging it, but Chris Brown has four more catches (16) and twice as many touchdowns (four).

Quarterback Erik Ainge is playing at an all-conference level. Problem is he has two Heisman Trophy candidates ahead of him.

Florida's Tim Tebow is No. 3 nationally in passing efficiency and leads this week's Scripps Howard Heisman poll. Kentucky's Andre Woodson was the preseason first-team All-SEC pick and has played like it. He's third in the Heisman poll.

Another Vol is quietly making a case. Lucas Taylor, of the receiving corps that was maligned in the preseason, is the second-most productive pass-catcher in the league at 95.5 yards a game.

He trails only Vanderbilt's Earl Bennett, who is justifying his hype. Keenan Burton of Kentucky and Florida's Percy Harvin are close on Taylor's heels and are getting more buzz from their team's success.

The vote here for biggest surprise at any position is Ole Miss defensive end Greg Hardy.

Hardy's 35 tackles are easily the most of any SEC lineman. He leads the league with 7.5 tackles-for-loss and has three sacks.

And get this: He's caught two touchdown passes on offense.

And this: He also played basketball for the Rebels last winter.

Hardy, by the way, is from Millington, Tenn. Coming out Briarcrest Christian he was ranked only the 10th-best prospect in Shelby County by the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. He picked Ole Miss over LSU and Middle Tennessee State.

Know Thy Enemy: Alabama's game with Florida State in Jacksonville has an uncomfortable element of familiarity.

Kevin Steele left Florida State to become Nick Saban's defensive coordinator at Alabama. Florida State this year brought in Jimbo Fisher as offensive coordinator, the same job he held for Saban at LSU.

"They may know a little bit about what we do,'' Saban said, "and we may know a little bit about what they do but you never know when they're going to do it.''

Gator Plan: Ole Miss went to school on Florida's 59-20 rout of Tennessee the previous week. Limiting big plays helped the Rebels hang tough in a 30-24 loss.

"Florida bombed Tennessee,'' said Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron. "We didn't want to give up the deep ball. We knew they were going to run. We played more zone coverage with six or sometimes seven in the box. We did not load up the box for the run.

"I do wish we had tackled Tebow better.''

Florida gained 554 yards against UT, 507 against Ole Miss. The average gain per run was identical: 5.5 yards per attempt.

The difference was in the average gain per pass completion: 21.4 yards against UT versus 13.1 against Ole Miss.

Last Word: Coach Mark Richt on Georgia's offense:

"We're still a little bit of a smoke-and-mirrors situation. We've got to be careful what we do with our line. Our running backs and our quarterback make our line look a little better than they are.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.