October 21, 2009

Olin Buchanan
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

VOTE: Tell us who you would vote for this week

A recent trend may continue and an historic drought may end.

Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram would be responsible for both.

The past two Heisman recipients have been sophomores, but none of the previous 73 winners played for Alabama.

That's where Ingram comes in. He is on a three-game tear in which he has gained 558 yards and the nation's attention. He was especially explosive in last Saturday's 20-6 victory over South Carolina in which he rushed for 246 yards on 24 carries.

"Mark did as fine a job as I've ever been around - and that includes Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

That's high praise. And don't forget Williams was the 1998 Heisman recipient while at Texas.

Perhaps that's an indication that Ingram should be viewed as the leading Heisman contender going into the second half of this season.

"I hope so," Alabama tackle Drew Davis said after the win over South Carolina. "It'll be great hype to have. I think Mark has done a great job and is very deserving."

That's hard to argue. Ingram opened the season by rushing for 150 yards and scoring two touchdowns against Virginia Tech. He accounted for just 197 yards in the next three games combined, but much of that was because he carried sparingly in blowout victories over Florida International, North Texas and Arkansas.

In the other four games, he has had at least 20 carries and has rushed for at least 140 yards.

His 246-yard output against South Carolina was the third-highest rushing total in Alabama history and the highest by a Tide player in Bryant-Denny Stadium history.

The way he's going, Ingram may make even more history for the Crimson Tide - and for sophomores, too.

Olin Buchanan is the senior college football writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at olin@rivals.com.