For the second time in three seasons, an Alabama running back will sit in the front row just to the right of center stage Saturday night when a certain 25-pound hunk of cast bronze is awarded to “the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.”
Following in Mark Ingram’s considerable footsteps, Trent Richardson could well walk away with that stiff-armed first line of his eventual obituary come Saturday.
There are plenty of reasons why Richardson should claim the Crimson Tide’s second Heisman Trophy over Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, Wisconsin running back Montee Ball and LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu.
But in the interest of time, we present our top three reasons why Richardson should hoist the Heisman hardware – and three reasons why he won’t.
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First, the case for winning:
1. Stats don’t lie. Richardson’s numbers are actually better than Ingram’s were in 2009: With an extra game in hand, Ingram finished with 1,658 rushing yards, 334 receiving, 1,992 total and 20 touchdowns. That worked out to an average of 118.4 rushing yards and 142.3 total yards per game. With his final game yet to be played in the BCS Championship Game, Richardson has 1,583 rushing yards, 327 receiving, 1,910 total and 23 touchdowns, for an average of 131.9 rushing yards and 159.2 total yards.
2. “Worst” game was still quality. Richardson was still impressive when Alabama played LSU, with 169 total yards (89 rushing, 80 receiving) against the nation’s No. 2 defense. Meanwhile, Luck threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions and a fumble when Stanford was routed at home by Oregon, 53-30.
3. Getting better with time. Richardson is one of those rare athletes who seems to get better as the game goes on. In 12 games (half of which he either didn’t even play in the fourth quarter or got no more than three carries), Richardson still gained 951 yards on 126 carries – a 7.54 per-carry average. On contrast, in first halves this season, Richardson has gained 645 yards on 137 carries – a 4.7-yard average.
And now for why Richardson won’t win:
1. Who saw Robert Griffin III last weekend? Heisman voters – heck, people in general – are fickle in nature and tend to give more weight to what they have most recently seen. For every Heisman voter who put Richardson at the top of their list after his ankle-breaking, double-juke-move touchdown run against Ole Miss in November, there are three more who suddenly became RG3 fanatics after seeing him shred Texas for 352 total yards and four TDs last weekend. Same for the sudden case of Tyrann Mathieu – who seemingly was a non-factor on the national stage until he Honey Badgered up against Georgia in the SEC title game.
2. Anti-Alabama/SEC bias. Part of what made Mark Ingram unique in 2009 was the sudden realization by the national Heisman voters that no Crimson Tide player had ever won college football’s ultimate individual award. One could argue that stars like Namath, Stabler and Alexander might have hoisted the hardware in today’s era as opposed to their team-first one, but the fact is Ingram benefited from that two years ago. In 2011, with one more state-produced Heisman winner coming after Ingram (whose gravity-discovering last name shall not be mentioned), one could openly glean that several voters would simply say “Eh, it is someone else’s time now …” when casting their ballot.
3. BCS Backlash. In the same vein as No. 2, the sentiment exists that – despite playing by the same rules as everyone else – Alabama is somehow undeserving of its national-championship rematch with LSU. Put another way, there are plenty of media talking heads and ink-stained wretches who are peeved it isn’t Oklahoma State’s pinball-machine offense taking on the undefeated Tigers in the Superdome instead of the Crimson Tide. That butthurt (yes, I went there) most certainly has glommed onto Richardson’s Heisman perception – and not for the good.
Does all that mean the MFBATR (Google it away from the office) doesn’t win Saturday night? No one knows for sure until the envelope is unsealed and one of the five football players on the front row hears his name called. But early litmus-test Heisman sites say it is likely Griffin and his five bazillion passing yards who will take home Baylor’s first Heisman.
Is that the right vote? Or, perhaps the more accurate question, is not voting for Alabama’s Trent Richardson the wrong one?