I feel that the award should go to Stanford's Toby Gerhart. Not only does he lead the nation in Carries,Yards and Touchdowns, he's also averaging over 5.5 yards per carry. The numbers don't lie and Toby Gerhart should be striking the pose Saturday evening.
In my opinion all of the candidates are worthy of a shot at the Heisman but the one who stands out the most for me is Mark Ingram. I think what is special about this award is that it also factors in how players perform on the big stage. Unlike the other candidates, Ingram stepped up in a huge game against Florida when most of the nation expected Florida to handle the Crimson Tide. Ingram scored 3 touchdowns and seemed like a man among boys. When you also throw in the fact that he is only a sophomore it makes his performance even more impressive. He's had a solid year the whole way through playing for the top team in the nation this year. For these reasons, he is my Heisman winner.
I'll agree with you that Ingram did well when it counted, but so did Gerhart. Against USC, when they were ranked #9, Gerhart ran for over 175 yards and three touchdowns. Nobody saw that coming. Against Notre Shame he ran for over 200 yards and three scores. Ok, maybe that isn't the best argument, but it was a primetime, Nationally Televised game. I see where you're coming from with Ingram but Gerhart accounted for 14.5 points per game while Ingram only accounted for 10.8 (Which is less than BG's Freddie Barnes who got screwed out of the Biletnikoff). At least we both agree that Tim Tebow is NOT the winner.
I think that Suh should win the Heisman based on the fact that he has been the most dominant player at his position and on his team all year. Arguments can be made about each of the other four finalists as well. Ingram had a great game in his biggest game, but had just average games in other huge games, even going out injured against Auburn and having his backup run for 125 and TD, showing maybe its the offensive line, not Ingram. Gerhart has also been dominate, but also had some down games, 86 in a loss at Wake Forest and 92 in a loss at Oregon State. I am not saying either of these guys should not win the Heisman, I am saying they are too close and to similar to separate and one does not dominate the other like Reggie Bush (as much as I hate him) dominated all other RB's the year he won (Vince Young should have won). Suh has disrupted teams since day one and even in losses has been unblockable. For a DT to have 12 sacks and 82 Tackles is Warren Sapp like (not Oakland Sapp more like Thug U Sapp, who also was the last DT to finish in top 5 of Heisman voting). Suh dominated on the biggest stage with 4.5 sacks of McCoy in the Big XII Title Game. The QB's are just there to be there. McCoy had a shot but didn't play well in Texas' biggest games (Okla - Nebraska). Tebow has one and does not need his ego inflated any more. Suh is my pick for the domination and things I saw when I watched not only the Big XII Title Game but also the Cornhuskers game against Mizzou. In the game against Virginia Tech, he just ate up two to three blockers at a time, and never was there any doubt who the best player on the field was each game. Give it to a boy named Suh.
I just can't go for Suh who is five sacks behind the leader in sacks. And I realize he's not expected to get a ton of tackles but he only had 82 on the year and almost half of them were assisted. If he was leading the nation in sacks and had his team in a position to win a championship I could see him getting it more.
He jumps off the game film as a standout, a player who creates and makes his team better. Nebraska is not a top 15 Defense without him...Alabama could be a top 15 rushing Offense without Ingram and Stanford the same without Gerhart, both have very capable freshman behind them who played great this season.
I think these are all good statements and perhaps true, however, history shows that there's no way a DT will win the award. I think that the fact that Nebraska's defense fell short at the end of that game and lost will also seal his fate. The best player on the best team usually gets the award. With that said it's going to come down to McCoy and Ingram. I think this is one of the rare years where no matter who wins you could make a legitimate argument for that player. (Except for maybe Tebow because anyone who cries after a loss is immediately disqualified in my eyes.)
So there you have it. Plenty of different views from three different people. Is one of them right? Are all of them wrong? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
