A select few performers experience extended runs of greatness. For mere mortals, the next best thing might be to have one brief period of greatness — in football, a play, a game, maybe one whole season.

For musicians, it’s hitting the perfect chord once in a career. Can you name the artists for “Kung Fu Fighting,” “Cotton Eye Joe” and “Closing Time”? Whether you remember the artists or not, their signature works endure.

Similarly, we offer up these former SEC West players who had a moment, or in some cases a whole season, that made their careers. Calling them one-hit wonders is not in any way meant to denigrate these guys. The ex-Arkansas player on this list went on to a long, distinguished career as a coach.

As SEC football players, though, these guys had the stars align to give them a bright spotlight for a brief period of time.

Alabama

Robin Cary, 1973 vs. Tennessee

Cary played defensive back for Alabama in the early 1970s. According to at least one fan’s recollection, he wound up as a “punt catcher” for Bear Bryant because some of his teammates were having issues holding on to the pigskin.

Well, in the fourth quarter of a tie game against Tennessee in 1973, Cary did a little more than just catch a punt. If you advance to the 1:15:00 mark of the video below, you’ll see Cary weave his way to a 64-yard touchdown.

Cary’s return sparked a three-touchdown surge that resulted in a 42-21 victory and kept the Tide undefeated in a season in which a one-point Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame kept them from perfection. Beyond his uniform number (48) and name, the ABC announcers didn’t have much to add about the senior who had just changed the game.

Cary scored one other touchdown in his Tide career, a 15-yard interception return in a blowout victory the previous season.

Arkansas

Buddy Bob Benson, 1954 vs. Ole Miss

In late October of 1954, Arkansas was 4-0 but still a decided underdog to Ole Miss, also unbeaten and ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

As it turned out, coach Bowden Wyatt’s “25 Little Pigs” shut down the Rebels’ vaunted passing game and kept the game scoreless through the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.

That’s when Benson got the call, entering in place of the team’s star player and top passer, George Walker. The idea was to make legendary Rebels coach Johnny Vaught and his defense think run, then surprise them with a pass. It worked.

Benson’s halfback pass off sweep action hit Preston Carpenter in stride, a 66-yard touchdown play that delighted the fans at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock and gave Arkansas an epic victory. The Razorbacks reached 7-0 that season before losing three of their last four.

It was the signature play of Benson’s best season. He was second on the team in passing and rushing yards in 1954. The next season, for whatever reason, he threw but one pass and was ninth on the team with 40 rushing yards.

Benson’s greater story is that he spent three decades changing the lives of young men as a highly respected and successful small college football coach.

Auburn

Tre Smith, 2002 Iron Bowl

Is there a better “rise to the occasion” story in the annals of SEC football than Smith’s performance in the 2002 Iron Bowl?

"At least I got to start one game. I’m happy." - Auburn's Tre Smith, a year after his epic 2002 Iron Bowl performance.

Pressed into service because the three guys above him on the depth chart were hurt, the 5-9,  190-pound true freshman ran for 126 yards as Auburn stunned Alabama and its top-ranked defense, 17-7.

Smith, who ignited the Tigers with 79 yards in the first quarter, knew almost immediately that he had had his career moment.

The next season, he was once again making his mark on special teams while superstars Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown led the rushing attack.

“It’s frustrating,” he conceded to The Tuscaloosa News in 2003. “But I’m not mad or anything. It’s exciting because everybody still remembers me. At least I got to start one game. I’m happy. You’ve got to look at the bright side.

“I’m not going to leave, especially since that game. People know me around here. I made a name for myself here and I don’t want to go somewhere else and start over. I like it here.”

Smith finished 2002 with 454 yards rushing. He never topped 300 in a season again and topped 150 only once.

Photo courtesy of Auburn Athletics

LSU

Rohan Davey, 2001 vs. Alabama

When you put up stupid numbers against Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium, including records that still stand 16 years later, that’s your “Macarena” game, no doubt.

Davey’s one year as the full-time starting quarterback at LSU was a great one. He threw for 3,347 yards, an LSU record that still stands.

But he will forever be defined and remember for what happened Nov. 3, 2001, when he led the Tigers past the Crimson Tide 35-21 with 528 passing yards on 35 completions, both records Danny Etling won’t be approaching this season.

When it comes to the 528 passing yards, no one at LSU has come close. Tommy Hodson (438 passing yards vs. Tennessee in 1989) is the only other Tigers QB in the 400-yard club. And no one else has come close to doing that to Alabama.

The victory over the Tide started a six-game, season-closing winning streak that resulted in a 10-3 record, the SEC championship, a Sugar Bowl victory and a No. 7 final AP ranking in Nick Saban’s second year in Baton Rouge.

Before his breakout senior season, Davey had a few highlights while playing second fiddle to Josh Booty the previous two seasons. He went 2-2 in four starts. After LSU, he picked up two Super Bowl rings during three seasons as an understudy to Tom Brady with the Patriots. He was 8-of-19 for 88 yards in his three seasons with New England from 2002-04. Not that those numbers matter.

Davey has numbers from a certain afternoon in Tuscaloosa that might still be jumping off the pages of LSU’s media guide a century from now.

Mississippi State

Dave Marler, 1978

Mardye McDole led the Bulldogs in receiving yards in each of his four years in Starkville, playing with a different starting quarterback each year.

Still, one season stands out in stark relief against the others: his 1,035-yard sophomore campaign in 1978 when Marler — the team’s kicker the year before — took over at quarterback.

McDole’s total still stands as MSU’s single-season record and was the school’s only 1,000-yard receiving season until Fred Ross totaled 1,007 yards in 2015.

What changed in 1978? A young coach named Bruce Arians, the Bulldogs’ passing game coordinator, took Marler under his wing and guided him from seventh on the depth chart to the starting job during the course of one offseason. Marler threw for more than 2,400 yards, with McDole averaging 21.6 yards on his 48 receptions.

Marler parlayed the success into five seasons in the CFL. McDole — who had 669 receiving yards combined in his two seasons after Marler graduated — played three seasons in the NFL with the Vikings, making one start and catching three passes. He also played in the CFL and the USFL.

Ole Miss

Kentrell Lockett, 2008 vs. Florida

Lockett spent six years in Oxford, played in parts of five seasons and was twice named a team captain. Still, he was more of a “glue guy” on the defensive line than a headline maker. He finished his career with 9.5 sacks, only once tallying more than 2.5 in a season.

Oh, but his moment in the spotlight was a big one.

In The Swamp against the Tim Tebow-led, then-No. 4 Gators, Lockett blocked a late extra-point try to preserve a 31-30 victory — one of the Rebels’ best road wins ever. Tebow and Florida went on to win the national championship, but Lockett and Ole Miss kept them from a perfect season.

Lockett says he took advantage of a flaw in Florida’s alignment, while Gator Nation at the time questioned if the play was legal. Upon further review, it says here the 6-foot-5 Lockett slipped through a gap and then jumped. Either way, the play stood, and Lockett had his moment.

Lockett, now a member of the media, turned the spotlight onto current Rebels players at this year’s SEC Media Days.

Texas A&M

Dustin Long, 2002

Long seemingly came out of nowhere to have a record-breaking season as a sophomore, yet lost the starting quarterback job before the next season began, a victim of circumstances or too many interceptions, depending on how you view it.

Long came off the bench to lead the Aggies past Pitt in their second game of the 2002 season, and replaced two-year incumbent Mark Farris as the starter the next week.

Soon he was putting up monster numbers: 399 passing yards against Kansas, 367 against Texas Tech and 332 against Oklahoma State.

By season’s end, he had 2,509 passing yards (second best season in school history at the time) and 19 TD passes (tied with Gary Kubiak for A&M’s best season total at the time).

And, oh yeah, he held a Big 12 record — most TD passes in a game. He had seven against Texas Tech. His signature achievement, though, perhaps helps tell the story of his downfall. A&M lost that game. A guy named Kliff Kingsbury led Tech to 24 fourth-quarter points, and the Red Raiders won 48-47 in overtime.

A&M went 6-6 in 2002. Its defense gave up at least 28 points in five of the six losses. And Long did throw 16 interceptions along with his eye-popping positive numbers. Head coach R.C. Slocum was fired, Dennis Franchione hired. The 2003 season opened with Reggie McNeal at quarterback.

Long played in all 12 games in 2003, starting one when McNeal was injured. Long put up solid numbers, other than 6 INTs against 4 TDs. The Aggies finished 4-8.

With Franchione’s blessing and best wishes, Long transferred to Sam Houston State, where he again put up big numbers — good and bad.

His Big 12 record lasted almost exactly one year, as B.J. Symons of Texas Tech threw eight TD passes in a game — against A&M — in a 59-28 Red Raiders’ victory in 2003. Fame can be fleeting.

Rohan Davey cover photo courtesy of LSU Athletics.