On Saturday, the Heisman Trophy will be given out to the “most outstanding player” of the 2009 season. Is there a clear-cut candidate that has trumped everyone and showed dominance throughout this season? Before the season, I wrote about how it will be a three-way dance for the Heisman: Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford. However, Tebow has had a down year, nothing close to his 2007 Heisman year, McCoy has been up and down this season and pretty much killed his shot with a poor display against Nebraska, and Braford re-injured his shoulder, that required surgery, and he is off to the NFL.
I know everyone is clamoring over defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska; rightfully so, he finished the season with 12 sacks (four coming against McCoy) with a total of 82 tackles (47 solo). But the Heisman has only been won by one defensive player and that was Charles Woodson in 1997. I have a hard time seeing a defensive player winning the coveted award unless that player does something really exceptional every game and has the backing from the media. I have to say that the trophy will be contested between two dynamic running backs: Mark Ingram of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford.
If I had a vote, it would go to Ingram. He has meant the world to an Alabama team that has been struggling on offense for much of the season. Quarterback Greg McElroy has been shaky throughout the season and has benefitted from his sophomore running back. Ingram finished the season with 1542 yards and 15 touchdowns.
On the other hand, Gerhart finished with an outstanding 1736 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground. If you look at the stats, Gerhart gets the nod. Mind you, I love Gerhart and his tough no-nonsense approach of running over and through defenders. But he is on a Cardinal team that has four losses and the team is on the West Coast. People outside of the West Coat do not get to see Pac-10 games, or they are aired very late.
Ingram benefits from playing in the SEC which is probably the most watched conference. Pac-10 games are showed on Versus (which is not available to DIRECTV owners anymore) and FSN. But you have many replays of SEC games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, CBS network, and CBS College Sports channel. The sheer availability of SEC games allows the nation to fall in love with Ingram.
Ingram’s defining moment was in the SEC Championship game against Florida, a game where Alabama dominated the Gators for four quarters. Coming off a disappointing game against Auburn (30 yards of rushing), he had to prove to the nation that he is an elite-caliber running back and he did. He had a 113 yards rushing and three touchdowns with 76 yards receiving. And Gerhart’s defining moment was the ABC primetime game against a very game Notre Dame team. He finished the night with 205 yards and three touchdowns.
Clearly, we see Gerhart again trumping Ingram, but the level of competition comes into play as well. Florida is a better defensive team than The Fighting Irish, and no one can dispute that and also the number of athletic kids in the Southeastern Conference allows for a higher level of competition. But if you average out the run defenses that Ingram and Gerhart have played against, it comes out to: Ingram has played against rush defenses that average 66th in the nation, and Gerhart has rumbled against rush defenses that have averaged 59th in the nation.
This shows that the SEC has not been that dominant in defense, especially rush defense this year and it also shows the how good the Pac-10 teams have been at defending against the run.
However, I stick to my guns and say that Ingram deserves it. Even last year, running behind Glen Coffee, he was dynamic. He sports a good blend of speed and power. No, he does not running a blazing sub-4.3in the 40 like Chris Johnson (former East Carolina player now with the Tennessee Titans), but he gets those tough yards and has breakaway speed as well.
Think about it, when a kid practices against a top 5 defense, he cannot help but be a tough running back. Ingram has willed his team to stay undefeated and get that revenge match with Florida and go to the national title game. And he was the prime reason that Alabama accomplished all those feats. It is really nice to see two young gentlemen being represented for their hard work: Ingram is the quiet guy who has been deflecting Heisman talk all season long, and Gerhart is the humble kid that never thought his name would be in the same sentence as “Heisman.” Ingram has a chance to be the first ever Alabama player to hold this prestigious award.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Mark Ingram is Primed for the Heisman
On Saturday, the Heisman Trophy will be given out to the “most outstanding player” of the 2009 season. Is there a clear-cut candidate that has trumped everyone and showed dominance throughout this season? Before the season, I wrote about how it will be a three-way dance for the Heisman: Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford. However, Tebow has had a down year, nothing close to his 2007 Heisman year, McCoy has been up and down this season and pretty much killed his shot with a poor display against Nebraska, and Braford re-injured his shoulder, that required surgery, and he is off to the NFL.
I know everyone is clamoring over defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska; rightfully so, he finished the season with 12 sacks (four coming against McCoy) with a total of 82 tackles (47 solo). But the Heisman has only been won by one defensive player and that was Charles Woodson in 1997. I have a hard time seeing a defensive player winning the coveted award unless that player does something really exceptional every game and has the backing from the media. I have to say that the trophy will be contested between two dynamic running backs: Mark Ingram of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford.
If I had a vote, it would go to Ingram. He has meant the world to an Alabama team that has been struggling on offense for much of the season. Quarterback Greg McElroy has been shaky throughout the season and has benefitted from his sophomore running back. Ingram finished the season with 1542 yards and 15 touchdowns.
On the other hand, Gerhart finished with an outstanding 1736 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground. If you look at the stats, Gerhart gets the nod. Mind you, I love Gerhart and his tough no-nonsense approach of running over and through defenders. But he is on a Cardinal team that has four losses and the team is on the West Coast. People outside of the West Coat do not get to see Pac-10 games, or they are aired very late.
Ingram benefits from playing in the SEC which is probably the most watched conference. Pac-10 games are showed on Versus (which is not available to DIRECTV owners anymore) and FSN. But you have many replays of SEC games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, CBS network, and CBS College Sports channel. The sheer availability of SEC games allows the nation to fall in love with Ingram.
Ingram’s defining moment was in the SEC Championship game against Florida, a game where Alabama dominated the Gators for four quarters. Coming off a disappointing game against Auburn (30 yards of rushing), he had to prove to the nation that he is an elite-caliber running back and he did. He had a 113 yards rushing and three touchdowns with 76 yards receiving. And Gerhart’s defining moment was the ABC primetime game against a very game Notre Dame team. He finished the night with 205 yards and three touchdowns.
Clearly, we see Gerhart again trumping Ingram, but the level of competition comes into play as well. Florida is a better defensive team than The Fighting Irish, and no one can dispute that and also the number of athletic kids in the Southeastern Conference allows for a higher level of competition. But if you average out the run defenses that Ingram and Gerhart have played against, it comes out to: Ingram has played against rush defenses that average 66th in the nation, and Gerhart has rumbled against rush defenses that have averaged 59th in the nation.
This shows that the SEC has not been that dominant in defense, especially rush defense this year and it also shows the how good the Pac-10 teams have been at defending against the run.
However, I stick to my guns and say that Ingram deserves it. Even last year, running behind Glen Coffee, he was dynamic. He sports a good blend of speed and power. No, he does not running a blazing sub-4.3in the 40 like Chris Johnson (former East Carolina player now with the Tennessee Titans), but he gets those tough yards and has breakaway speed as well.
Think about it, when a kid practices against a top 5 defense, he cannot help but be a tough running back. Ingram has willed his team to stay undefeated and get that revenge match with Florida and go to the national title game. And he was the prime reason that Alabama accomplished all those feats. It is really nice to see two young gentlemen being represented for their hard work: Ingram is the quiet guy who has been deflecting Heisman talk all season long, and Gerhart is the humble kid that never thought his name would be in the same sentence as “Heisman.” Ingram has a chance to be the first ever Alabama player to hold this prestigious award.
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