ShareThisThere are several reasons Alabama has never had a Heisman Trophy winner.
Rewind to the days of Bear Bryant, and the legendary Crimson Tide coach didn't believe in putting any individual ahead of the team.
That's why for years Alabama never bothered to actively promote a player for the Heisman. And Bryant had plenty of players who could have won it.
Alabama has never had a player finish higher than third, which is where receiver David Palmer placed in 1993.
Now, with current Tide running back Mark Ingram's career-high 246 yards rushing on 24 carries and a touchdown in Alabama's 20-6 win over No. 22 South Carolina, he has thrust himself into the Heisman talk.
And why not? He's leading the SEC in rushing, averaging 129.3 yards, always a tough feat in probably the best defensive league in college football. Also, the preseason Heisman candidates all have had problems -- Florida's Tim Tebow (concussion), Oklahoma's Sam Bradford (shoulder injuries), Texas' Colt McCoy (a struggling offense), Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen (plays for a two-loss team).
So far, Ingram has fulfilled some major Heisman candidate requirements. He's a major offensive weapon on an unbeaten team in the national title hunt. And he's had some big games against good defenses, such as his 150 yards in the season opener against Virginia Tech and his performance against South Carolina.
Ingram's teammates are hyping him for the Heisman every time they see a notepad, a camera or a microphone.
"He (Ingram) really deserves it for the work that puts in, the type of kid he is and the type of player he is," Alabama tight end Colin Peek said.
Ingram is doing his best to downplay the buzz.
"All that stuff will take care of itself if I keep improving and we keep winning," he said.
STICKY FINGERS
The ball might be bouncing the Razorbacks' way this season. Arkansas has recovered nine opponent fumbles in the last three games -- two against Texas A&M, three against Auburn and four against Florida. Arkansas' total for all of last season was five. Arkansas' turnover margin is plus-1.17 per game, tied with LSU for the SEC lead and tied for ninth in the nation.
MIC CHECK
South Carolina safety Chris Culliver probably won't be seeing the media anytime soon after a game. Following his team's loss to Alabama, Culliver, who had a team-high 11 tackles, began his postgame comments by questioning whether the Gamecocks were in the right defense on Alabama's final drive. When informed of Culliver's comments, Ellis Johnson, Carolina's assistant head coach for defense, fired back, "Cully just needs to play. He don't need to coach. Cully needs to tackle."
Culliver also said that Ole Miss' Dexter McCluster was a better back than Alabama's Mark Ingram, even after Ingram's 246-yard game, and added that he didn't think Alabama lived up to its hype. "For them to be the second team in the nation, they should be better than that," he said. "We stayed with them all the way."
EXTRA POINTS
LSU tried during its open date to get some things straightened out with its offense, including trying to get true freshman quarterback/tailback/ receiver Russell Shepard more involved. The only problem was that Shepard was sick most of the week until Thursday, when he got a few snaps in during a scrimmage. Shepard was a brilliant high school running quarterback, and he leads LSU with 6.2 yards per carry. But he has had only 17 attempts, mostly on direct snaps in a Wildcat formation. Two weeks ago when LSU lost to Florida, 13-3, Shepard didn't play a down. "Certainly (playing Shepard) is something that we've not gotten accomplished at this point, and something that we desperately want to get woven into the thread of offense," coach Les Miles said. ... Florida is unbeaten, but the Gators aren't as sharp as last season because of 11 turnovers (including nine fumbles) in just six games. They have a minus-2 turnover margin, something that has never happened this deep into the season for an Urban Meyer program. The Gators have never finished a season worse than plus-5 in turnover margin under Meyer (2006 and 2007). Florida was a nation-best plus-22 last season and was plus-18 in 2005. "The last few years we've been as good as anybody in America in turnover ratio," Meyer said. "We've just got to get it fixed." ... Georgia has an open date this week after beating Vanderbilt 34-10 on Saturday, but the 4-3 Bulldogs are finally playing with a passion that coach Mark Richt hopes to maintain when his team plays Florida on Oct. 31. "There's much more emotion from this team this year than there was two years ago," said Richt, whose team beat the Gators 42-30 in 2007 following an open date.
(Ron Higgins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., at XX(at)xxx.com.)
