Alabama's Mark Ingram: Your New Heisman Favorite, and Deservedly So

This season in college football was supposed to be about the quarterback, specifically the signal-callers at national title contenders Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. The Tim Tebow-Colt McCoy-Sam Bradford trio had wins and gaudy statistics, and each had come back for one last year to light up the defenses of college football. Then Bradford got hurt, and Tebow got concussed, and McCoy got replaced by an impostor who has thrown a pick in every game this year -- that can't be the real Colt McCoy -- and the troika of quarterbacks let their grip on the top three of the Heisman slip. The hole opened by their difficulties was just big enough for Alabama's sensational sophomore Mark Ingram to rip off a huge gain.

For the first time this season, Tebow's throne atop the HeismanPundit.com straw poll of 13 Heisman voters has been usurped, and it's a coup for the Crimson Tide's centerpiece. Tebow (6) still receives more first-place votes than Ingram (4), but Ingram outpoints him, and, after all, Tebow had the most first-place votes last year, but finished third.

An informal poll of 13 media types is, admittedly, a small sample size, but Chris Huston's poll is legitimate enough to be coordinated with the Orlando Sentinel and was quite accurate last year. But, besides growing media sentiment, here's a reason to like Ingram: he's been really, really good this year.

135 carries for 905 yards puts him on pace to well exceed Glen Coffee's 1,383 yards from last year, and Ingram's running behind a less experienced line. Ingram's also taking snaps in the Wildcat, and has more receptions and touchdowns through six games than Coffee had all year. He's versatile, bruising (580 of his yards have come after contact), and humble, as you can see in this poor-quality post-game interview with Erin Andrews last Saturday. (Ingram tripped on either Andrews or her microphone cord before the on-camera portion of the interview.)

Ingram's stock has never been higher, because anyone who saw him in that South Carolina game saw 246 yards on 24 carries and enough back-breaking runs to keep orthopedists in Columbia busy for weeks. His prospects are strong going forward as well, with room for growth as his line improves and ample opportunity to show off in spotlight games against Tennessee, LSU and Auburn. The probable SEC Championship showdown with Tebow's Gators at the end of the line won't hurt, either.

Novelty may help him out, too: Ingram would be the first Heisman winner in Alabama's storied existence. He's probably more concerned about running down the Crimson Tide's national title dream, but, at this moment, this year's Heisman is very much within his reach.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.