Ingram wins Heisman in closest vote ever

December 13th, 2009 by Vince Mullins

Reprinted with permission from HeismanPundit.com.

Mark Ingram wins the 75th Heisman Trophy. (HeismanPundit.com)

In the closest race in Heisman history, Mark Ingram, sophomore running back from Alabama, has won the 2009 Heisman Trophy.

Ingram edged Stanford’s Toby Gerhart by just 28 total points, 1,304 to 1,276. He’s the first Crimson Tide player–and the third-straight sophomore–to win the the trophy.

“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” said Ingram upon receiving the award. “I’m honored to be Alabama’s first Heisman winner.”

Ingram won four of the six Heisman regions: the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the South and the Midwest (where he was born). Gerhart won the West, while Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh won the Southwest.

Final Order of Finish, with total points

1. Mark Ingram, 1,304 points

2. Toby Gerhart, 1,276 points

3. Colt McCoy, 1,145 points

4. Ndamukong Suh, 815 points

5. Tim Tebow, 390 points

6. C.J. Spiller, 223 points

7. Kellen Moore, 100 points

8. Case Keenum, 37 points

9. Mardy Gilyard, 23 points

10. Golden Tate, 21 points

The race for the 2009 Heisman Trophy was a seminal one in the award’s history.

What started out as a battle royale between three star quarterbacks ended up as the tighest race ever between two running backs who were mere afterthoughts heading into the season.

Many of the old rules that govern the Heisman did not apply this year and I attribute that to the new technology that is changing the face of media. This was the first Heisman race where Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc., played a major role. Information was flying fast and furious and it seemed like every miscue or good play was chopped up, spit out and distributed to a new generation of Heisman voters who were plugged in like never before.

For the first time, Heisman voters ignored both class status and statistics in handing out this award. Mark Ingram rushed for fewer yards per game (119) than any Heisman-winning back in the two-platoon (post-1963) era. His total rushing yards were the fewest by any winner since 1975. For the first time, the Heisman-winning running back’s rushing yardage total was eclipsed by the nation’s leading receiver’s yardage total. What’s more, Ingram won the Heisman just 2,270 rushing yards into his career, again, the fewest in the two-platoon era.

How is it that a back with next-to-zero name recognition with voters heading into the season could still win the Heisman despite a season that was unimpressive when compared to past Heisman standards?

A few factors were key. First and most obvious, Ingram played for the nation’s top-ranked team. Alabama, while having never won a Heisman, was a traditional power and respected program. The notion that such a storied tradition had never won a Heisman ended up being a boon to Ingram’s campaign. Second, Ingram put up good numbers in big games against teams that were perceived as being good. He rushed for 150 yards against Virginia Tech, 172 against Mississippi, 144 against LSU and 113 against Florida. These were the games that stood out most to voters. While his overall numbers weren’t great, voters knew he was great because of how he played in these games. As a result, they were willing to forgive his good, though not spectacular, numbers. Again, the abundance and availability of information that flowed enabled voters to see all the nuances in Ingram’s production. Third, voters applied that same nuance to other contenders and found them lacking. Colt McCoy–a slam-dunk winner in most Heisman years–had good overall numbers, but voters didn’t like how he played in big games. They didn’t like that Stanford had four losses, thus hurting Toby Gerhart. And they couldn’t quite wrap their heads around the notion of a defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh, winning the award. Lastly, after years of quarterback dominance, it appeared that voters were intent on picking a non-quarterback for the Heisman. Quarterbacks received a grand total of 258 first-place votes in this race, while non-QBs received 640.

Based on the history of the Heisman, I thought that McCoy had the best shot of winning. As it turned out, he didn’t finish as far back as some had predicted and if you take away that huge game by Suh, he’s the likely winner. But, clearly, some of the rules have changed and that’s going to lead to more unpredictable races in the future. I think many of the old barriers will now fall–I can now see a freshman or a non-skill player winning a Heisman one day (I’m pretty sure that Adrian Peterson’s freshman season would’ve won it had he played this year). Is a revision to the Heismandments now necessary? Absolutely. Most will remain, but a few are going to need some extra tweaking to reflect the current realities of the Heisman environment.

So this year saw perhaps the most unlikely winner in Heisman history, the product of the closest race in Heisman history. Many saw this as a lackluster Heisman race, but I think it portends well for future seasons. If this year is any guideline, then 2010 should be a doozy.

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