The bye week may have hurt Alabama in the rankings.
It didn’t hurt Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the Heisman Trophy race.
Ingram remains atop ESPN’s latest Heisman Watch standings this week, leading a slew of quarterbacks, including Florida’s Tim Tebow, Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen, Texas' Colt McCoy, Houston's Case Keenum and Boise State's Kellen Moore.
Ingram, the SEC’s current leading rusher, will have a chance to solidify his position as a Heisman frontrunner this Saturday when the No. 3-ranked Crimson Tide host No. 9-ranked LSU in a marquee matchup that will be nationally televised by CBS. LSU’s defense, incidentally, ranks fourth in the SEC in rush defense.
Alabama’s two remaining SEC regular season opponents after LSU – Mississippi State and Auburn – rank eighth and 10th in the conference, respectively, in rush defense. In between those two games, Alabama steps out of conference to take on lightweight Chattanooga. Should Ingram close out the regular season strong, he may very well become the Tide’s first-ever Heisman Trophy winner.
Receiver/returner David Palmer is Alabama’s highest ever Heisman finisher. He was third in 1993.
“Mark’s a great player,” Alabama offensive lineman Mike Johnson said. “He’s getting a lot of attention this year, and all of it is warranted.”
Added teammate Javier Arenas in describing Ingram: “He’s a hard runner. He’s determined when he has the ball, and he has great ball security. He has that mindset where he makes the other guy want to quit.”
Ingram was asked Tuesday who he would pick if he had a Heisman vote. He singled out ...
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