Tuesday afternoon, the SEC released their yearly All-SEC teams, and Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar was no doubt snubbed out of a selection by the coaches. Josh Hepul and Joey Aguilar should be fuming at this development.
Tennessee was still an eight-win team this fall, and the late addition of Aguilar paid dividends as they found a more than suitable replacement after former quarterback Nico Iamaleava left the Vols high and dry. In return, Aguilar didn't get any sort of recognition for his resilience.
Now, it's not yet clear if Aguilar will be back next fall, but if he is, this should be a significant motivator to prove the doubters wrong. At the very least, Aguilar can take out his frustrations on Illinois in the Music City Bowl.
Making the case for Joey Aguilar
Ironically, it doesn't mean more in the SEC. At least not in this case. How exactly does the conference's leader in yards not garner a selection? It's absolutely mind-boggling. Aguilar posted 3,444 passing yards, the most in the conference by a couple of hundred yards.
Aguilar was one of four quarterbacks in the SEC to even reach 3,000 yards and still didn't get any selection. Beyond that, he was 4th in the conference in touchdown passes with 24 and 5th in completion percentage at an impressive 67%.
But the story doesn’t end there. Another impressive stat for Aguilar is that he put up almost 400 yards on Oklahoma, one of the best defenses, if not the best, in the SEC. Aguilar also carved up Georgia, throwing for 371 yards and four touchdowns.
Aguilar isn't much of a dual-threat quarterback, but he did add three scores on the ground. All things considered, that's not a bad feat for a pocket passer.
The bigger question is, do you just have to be at the top of the conference standings to make an All-SEC team? Three of the four playoff quarterbacks made a team, and Vandy, who just missed out on the College Football Playoff, had Diego Pavia selected.
When the dust finally settles, is this the end of the world? No, but Aguilar deserved to be honored for his stellar season.