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Dr. Saturday’s inaugural All-American Team

No one can claim the 2012 college football season was boring.

The second half of the season had so many twists and turns that no one knew exactly what to expect when the final BCS standings and bowl pairings came out Sunday. But what was static was the high level of play by some of the nation's best teams.

It was hard to pick a first team from such a big pool of talent, but we here at Dr. Saturday tried our best.

Here is our inaugural Dr. Saturday All-American Team:

OFFENSE

QB: Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
When you have 3,419 passing yards, 1,181 rushing yards, and account for 43 touchdowns in the SEC, you have a great chance of being the quarterback on the All-American Team.

RB: Johnathan Franklin, UCLA
From the time Franklin had back-to-back 200-yard games to start the season to a 194-yard effort in the Pac-12 title game, he was the workhorse for UCLA. Franklin finished the season with 1,700 yards.

RB: Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona
Carey led all running backs with 1,757 yards, had 20 touchdowns, and had at least 100 yards in nine of Arizona's 12 games.

WR: Marqise Lee, USC
Lee's 16-catch, 345-yard, two-touchdown game against Arizona was one of the best performances of the season. He caught at least one touchdown pass in nine of USC's 12 games.

WR: Terrance Williams, Baylor
What makes Williams special is his big-play ability. His 18.6-yard average is astonishing for a player who had 95 catches. No other receiver with at least 75 catches came within 3 yards of that.

WR: Stedman Bailey, West Virginia
Bailey was tremendous at finding the end zone this season. He had 23 receiving touchdowns, and nobody else had more than 16.

OT: Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M
A cornerstone left tackle, Joeckel is a finalist for the Outland Trophy and helped the Aggies' offense lead the SEC in rushing, passing and scoring offense.

OG: Chance Warmack, Alabama
The 320-pound senior is in his third year starting at left guard, and he was a big part of Alabama gaining 350 rushing yards in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.

C: Barrett Jones, Alabama
Jones started two years at right guard, his junior year at left tackle, then moved to center as a senior and is a finalist for the Rimington Trophy and the Outland Trophy, an award he won last year.

OG: Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina
An Outland Trophy Finalist, Cooper graded out at 90 percent on the season and had double-digit knockdown blocks in nine of 12 games, according to North Carolina.

OT: Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
You don't think Manziel did it all himself, did you? Matthews had an outstanding year, was first-team All-SEC and like teammate Joeckel, is a likely first-round NFL pick.

TE: Zach Ertz, Stanford
Ertz set school records for receptions (66) and yards (837) for a tight end in a season, scored game-winning touchdowns against USC and Oregon State, and had a dramatic game-tying touchdown at Oregon.

DEFENSE

DE: Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
Clowney was second in the nation in both sacks (13.0) and tackles for loss (21.5), which were both single-season school records.

DT: Star Lotulelei, Utah
Lotulelei was Pac-12 first team for the second consecutive season after he led the Utes with 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. He finished the season with 42 tackles and three forced fumbles.

DT: Will Sutton, Arizona State
Sutton was named the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year after registering 10.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss. All that despite missing two games with a knee injury.

DE: Damontre Moore, Texas A&M
Quarterback Johnny Manziel has overshadowed Moore, but he's among the nation's best defensive linemen with 12.5 sacks. NFL analyst Todd McShay said Moore has made the biggest single-season improvement of any NFL prospect in 2012.

OLB: Jarvis Jones, Georgia
The SEC's Defensive Player of the Year was one of the reasons the Bulldogs were playing for an SEC title and a shot at the national championship. In just 11 games, Jones had 77 tackles, including 22.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks, one interception, and seven forced fumbles.

ILB: Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
Te'o is trying to become the first defense-only player to win the Heisman after leading the Irish with 103 tackles and seven interceptions, which was second most in the country.

ILB: Alec Ogletree, Georgia
Ogletree only played in nine games because of an early season suspension, but still managed to lead the team with 98 tackles. He also had 8.5 tackles for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery.

OLB: C.J. Mosley, Alabama
Even though Mosley lead Alabama with 99 tackles, he'll probably best be remembered by fans as the player who tipped a last-second pass by quarterback Aaron Murray in the SEC title game. The tipped ball sealed Alabama's SEC title and a trip to the national championship.

CB: Dee Milliner, Alabama
Milliner, a unanimous All-SEC selection, had 51 tackles, 18 pass breakups, two interceptions and a fumble return. He also had two sacks.

S: Matt Elam, Florida
Had 65 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and four interceptions in his first season of consistent playing time with the Gators.

S: Eric Reid, LSU
Reid was third on the team with 81 tackles, two interceptions and six pass breakups. The junior has been a stalwart for the Tigers' defense since his freshman season.

CB: Jordan Poyer, Oregon State
Poyer was instrumental in Oregon State's monumental turnaround — from 3-9 to 9-3 — and was among the nation's leaders in interceptions with six.

SPECIALISTS

K: Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
Hopkins was 24 of 28 on field-goal attempts this year and great from long distance, hitting all five of his attempts from 50 yards or longer.

P: Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech
The 2011 Ray Guy Award winner, and a finalist for the award this year, Allen leads the nation with a 48-yard average on punts. His 85-yard punt at New Mexico State was the longest in FBS this year.

KOR: Dri Archer, Kent State
Archer had three touchdowns and a 38.2-yard average on kickoff returns, to go with 1,352 rushing yards and 539 receiving yards.

PR: Giovani Bernard, North Carolina
Bernard is second among FBS among qualifiers with a 16.4-yard punt return average, and he had two touchdowns including a dramatic last-minute punt return touchdown to beat N.C. State.

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