The Case Against Ingram Winning the Heisman..

Earlier in the week I commented that if Ingram didn’t win the Heisman, I’d be pissed…very pissed. Perhaps it was the lingering high after watching his dominating performance in the SEC CG or maybe it was just the Alabama homer in me....but I really wanted him to win.

After taking a step back and looking at a few things, I have in fact changed my mind. It’s not that I don’t want him to win the supposedly "Most prestigious individual award in all of sports" (according to Mike ‘n Mike) but there are reasons why I feel he shouldn’t win..

1. It’s the freakin Heisman.

From Ingram himself:

Q: You could win the Heisman Trophy next week. Has that sunk in?
MI: It would mean a lot to Alabama; the coaches, the players, the fans, the state. I’d be happy to do that for them. You dream of that stuff when you’re little. I saw Reggie Bush win it; I saw Ricky Williams win it. The fact that it might be reality is a little overwhelming.

Now, I’m neither a Heisman hater nor a Heisman lover. This is actually the first time since ’99 that I even cared. So, this isn’t about me feeling the award is crap, or that the winner is "overrated". The Heisman voters don’t always get it right. In fact, they probably get it wrong most of the time. Picking the "Most Outstanding Player" in all of College Football is a task that’s virtually impossible to do.

There are so many factors that go into what makes a player "outstanding" i.e. what conference he plays in, what kind of offensive/ defensive scheme he plays in, what his role is, what type of competition he faces week in and week out etc. This year is about 1000 time harder than most. Why? Well, you have  2 QB’s, a DT, and 2 RB’s all up for one prize. All have different styles and play in different schemes. Choosing the best out of this group, and expecting to get it right, is impossible.

So I guess what I’m saying is this…. A lot of "outstanding" players got left out of this year’s "race". It’s an honor Ingram has been invited, but there are bigger trophies out there…especially one in Pasadena.

2. I’m not sure he is the "Most Outstanding Player" in D-1.

Ingram is 12th on the NCAA individual rushing charts. There are 4 freshmen ahead of him and one QB. So that leaves 6 other RB’s that had better overall statistics than Ingram. Does that mean he isn’t one hell of a player? Um NO... Does that mean I’d trade him for any other RB in the country? That would be a HELL NO! It just means that he might not be the best RB in the country…So if he’s not the best RB in the country, how could he win the Heisman?

3. He’s only had five 100 yard rushing games in '09.

I was watching "The Herd" this morning (i know i know) and Colin threw this stat out and I was like…Huh, that can’t be true? …So I went over to the Rolltide.com stats page and damn sure if he wasn’t right. Maybe cause it was the 248 yard game against USC, the big run against MSU, the great game against Va Tech or the damn near perfect game against UF…I don’t know, but I thought he had more than 5. Now he came close against N. Texas (91) and Tennessee (99). Looking back, Auburn stopped (hurt) him, UT contained him, he missed a start due to sickness (FIU), and was pulled early in a few blowouts. If Saban was a stat whore, Ingram would probably have ungodly numbers. But Saban isn’t and Ingram doesn’t. Which goes to show the "team" atmosphere we preach so much about around here is legit.

So, he only "dominated" (in terms of stats) 5 out of the 13 games he’s played in this season. That stat blows my mind.

 4. The distraction from preparing for the real prize.

This one is the biggest for me. Yes I know, he’s already part of the festivities. So there is no way to avoid that distraction. But if he doesn’t win, he won’t be bothered by the media before the game nearly as much as the winner. Also, it gives Colt just one more thing to worry about.

Also, It’s a well known fact that lately, when the Heisman winner plays in the NC game, he doesn’t perform all that well. So I’d rather see Ingram lose the Heisman and ‘Bama win the National Championship any day of the week…and twice on Sunday.

Look, if he wins, then well done sir! It will be the first for the Tide and will only help in building towards the future. BUT...with everything on the line, it might just be best if he doesn't....

**EDIT**

Its been brought to my attention that my stats are wrong. Thats what i get for trusting Colin Cowherd. I guarrantee you it will never happen again. Ingram did in fact have 8 100 yard games. I knew that stat was wrong when i heard it. Not sure why rolltide.com has that wrong...but they do...i apologize for giving out misinformation.