Heisman Watch Week 14: Has Mark Ingram Clinched the Heisman Trophy?

in Heisman Watch by Asher Feldman — December 5, 2009 at 11:52 pm | 1 comment

Colt McCoy

McCoy struggled throughout the night on Saturday against the hounding Nebraska defense, but his work on the final drive may have saved much more than his team’s hopes of a national title. McCoy needed the final drive in order to negate the three-interception performance that he had put on in the Big 12 Championship Game. He will still likely receive an invitation to the Heisman trophy presentation, but its very obvious that his Heisman stock will have fallen by the time all the votes are in.

Tim Tebow

Tebow’s performance on Saturday could have gone two ways. Either he could use his versatility to lead the Gators to the brink of a second-straight national championship and boost his Heisman hopes, or Mark Ingram and the Tide could shock the Gators, and his Heisman hopes would be shot. We got the second, as the de facto national semifinal also turned into a de facto semifinal for the Heisman trophy, as Tebow was all but eliminated.

Not that Tebow had a terrible game, but what he needed was greatness, and he didn’t deliver. His 310 total yards and two touchdowns were just not enough, and he will likely not receive a second Heisman trophy.

Toby Gerhart

As the only one on this list not playing on the final weekend of the season, Gerhart’s chances of actually winning the award were probably hurt by the performances of the rest of the contenders. Despite that, Gerhart’s numbers stack up well and should warrant an invitation to the ceremony at the very least. His final numbers: 1,736 yards rushing on 311 attempts, 26 touchdowns. Add 149 yards receiving and a passing touchdown, and you get a pretty productive year for the senior running back.

CJ Spiller

Spiller did absolutely everything right on Saturday, and likely secured an invitation to the Heisman trophy presentation. Spiller’s resurgence after a terrible game against South Carolina is just another example of how a Heisman race that was supposed to be all about quarterbacks instead has turned into a running backs’ race. Spiller’s dominating performance – Spiller amassed more than 230 yards and ran for four touchdowns – against the Georgia Tech defense. The only problem in all of this was that the Tigers lost, but Spiller’s performance should speak for itself.

Mark Ingram

Ingram seemed to have lost all hope for the Heisman trophy last weekend when he was held to 30 yards rushing and didn’t have a touchdown. But, as of today, all is forgotten.

In the all-important SEC Championship Game, no star shown brighter than that of the sophomore running back’s, as Ingram tore apart the Gator defense for 199 total yards and three touchdowns. Ingram was spectacular in all facets of his game, including a huge 69-yard reception to set up a three-yard run, which gave the Tide all the points they would need for the victory. Because of the performances out of McCoy and Tebow, there is a possibility that this performance has clinched the trophy for the sophomore running back.

Ndamukong Suh

Suh’s performance in the Big 12 Championship Game, despite it coming in a losing effort, was likely enough to get his name on a ton of ballots. His 3.5 sacks and 11 tackles were huge in the Cornhuskers almost pulling the upset. He likely wont win, but his season is well worth the Heisman votes he will receive.

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Tags: big 12 championship game CJ Spiller Colt McCoy featured Heisman Watch Mark Ingram ndamukong suh Tim Tebow Toby Gerhart