ShareThisA statistical rundown of the top three candidates for the Heisman Trophy, to be awarded Saturday night in New York City:
-- Alabama running back Mark Ingram
Class: Sophomore.
Team record: 13-0 overall, 8-0 in Southeastern Conference, defeated Florida, 32-13, in league title game.
Yards rushing: 1,542.
Total touchdowns: 18 (15 rushing, three receiving)
Comment: Not even considered prior to the season, Ingram got the tough yards for Alabama finishing 12th in the nation in rushing while topping 100 yards vs. heavyweight ranked foes Florida, LSU, Virginia Tech and Ole Miss. His 189 total yards and three TDs vs. Florida may be huge with voters. Florida QB Tim Tebow in 2007 is only other sophomore to win Heisman.
-- Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh
-- Class: Senior.
-- Team record: 9-4 overall, 6-2 in Big12, lost to Texas, 13-12, in Big 12 title game.
-- Total tackles: 82, including 12 sacks (9th in the nation) and 19-1/2 tackles for loss (second in the Big 12).
-- Other stats: 10 passes defended, 21 QB hurries, 3 blocked field goals and an interception.
Comment: At 6-4 and 300 pounds, the incredibly nimble Suh turned in one of college football's finest seasons for a defensive player in recent memory, culminating with his one-man gang, 4-1/2-sack performance vs. Texas. Suh is bound to be a force in the NFL in the future. Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997 is only other defender to win Heisman.
-- Stanford RB Toby Gerhart
Class: Senior.
Team record: 8-4 overall, 6-3 in Pac-10.
Yards rushing: 1,736 (second in nation).
Total touchdowns: 27 (26 rushing, 1 pass thrown) to lead nation.
Comment: Clearly the nation's best player down the stretch, Gerhart finished with an astonishing 741 yards and 13 touchdowns in his final four games -- all against teams that went to bowls (Oregon, USC, Cal) or were bowl eligible (Notre Dame, who he threw a TD pass). In the last nine years, only one running back (USC's Reggie Bush) has won the Heisman with the QBs winning the other eight.
FINAL POLL
Voting results in the final Scripps Howard Heisman Trophy poll. The final Scripps poll has correctly picked the Heisman winner in 18 of the previous 22 seasons.
Ten voters select five players each week. The tabulations are made on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with five points for a first-place vote, four points for second, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses.
VOTING WEEK BY WEEK
2009 Heisman poll leaders week by week
Week, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth.
-- Sept. 23: 1. Tim Tebow, Jahvid Best, Colt McCoy, Case Keenum, Jacory Harris.
-- Sept. 30: Tebow, McCoy, Keenum, Tony Pike, Chad Jones.
-- Oct. 7: Tebow, McCoy, Jimmy Clausen, Pike, Keenum.
-- Oct. 14: Tebow, McCoy, Pike, Keenum, Clausen.
-- Oct. 21: Tebow, Mark Ingram, Keenum, Clausen, McCoy.
-- Oct. 28: Ingram, Clausen, Keenum, McCoy, Tebow.
-- Nov. 4: Tebow, Ingram, Keenum, Clausen, McCoy.
-- Nov. 11: Ingram, Tebow, Keenum, McCoy, Toby Gerhart.
-- Nov. 18: Ingram, Tebow, McCoy, Keenum, Gerhart.
-- Nov. 25: Ingram, McCoy, Tebow, Keenum, Gerhart.
-- Dec. 2: McCoy, Tebow, Gerhart, Keenum, Ingram.
-- Dec. 9: Ingram, Ndamukong Suh, Gerhart, McCoy, Tebow. C.J. Spiller (tie).
(E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com)
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Toby Gerhart was a good
Toby Gerhart was a good player that's why he might picked from the NFL Draft this year. Toby Gerhart is forecasted to be picked in the second or 3rd round of the NFL Draft. You will find arguments about if he can be picked at all and why he would be picked. Many say it is because he is white in a position dominated by blacks that he will not get picked and many use the same argument as to why he will be picked. Either way he has the record to show he is a good player with various potential. I think that we could be greatly amazed at the places Toby Gerhart will take us with football.