Nutt, Oher Gain More Honors

(UMAA)
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Touchdown Club of Atlanta will honor Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt and senior lineman Michael Oher at its 71st Annual Awards Ceremony on Feb. 7 at the Rialto Center for the Arts located on the campus of Georgia State University.
Nutt has been selected by the Touchdown Club as SEC Coach of the Year, while Oher will be awarded the Shug Jordan Award for Top Southeast Offensive Lineman.
The last time an Ole Miss coach earned SEC accolades from The Touchdown Club was in 1947 to legendary coach John Vaught. Also, this marks the first time since Kenny Dill’s award in 1963 that an Ole Miss lineman was distinguished by the organization.
Nutt was named SEC Coach of the Year by the league coaches and the AFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year. In his first season in Oxford, Nutt immediately reversed the Rebels’ fortunes and became just the fifth Ole Miss coach to guide the Rebels to a bowl in his first season. The Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech completed a 9-4 campaign, marking the team’s best improvement from one season to the next since Vaught’s debut in 1947.
This season was Nutt’s seventh with nine or more wins in his 16 years as a head coach. He earned SEC Coach of the Year accolades for the third time in his career and top Region coaching honors for the fifth time.
Oher was a consensus first-team All-American and All-SEC selection this season for the Rebels. The Memphis native also picked up the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the SEC's best blocker and was one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy. The 6-foot-5, 318-pound left tackle helped the Rebels rank second in the SEC in rushing with 186.5 yards per game and fourth in sacks allowed with 1.5 per game in 2008.