Mark Ingram Turns the Heisman Tide
In the closest race in the award’s 75-year history, Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram became his school’s first Heisman Trophy winner and the first running back since USC’s Reggie Bush won it in 2005.
Despite a storied program that include 12 national titles and with such illustrious names as Joe Namath and Ken Stabler, no one from the Crimson Tide had ever won college football’s biggest individual award.
With a 189-yard, three touchdown performance against Florida in a win that clinched the BCS invite, Ingram locked up the trophy edging out another running back, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart. Ingram finished the season with 1,542 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.
| Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Mark Ingram, Alabama | 227 | 236 | 151 | 1304 |
| Toby Gerhart, Stanford | 222 | 225 | 160 | 1276 |
| Colt McCoy, Texas | 203 | 188 | 160 | 1145 |
| Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska | 161 | 105 | 122 | 815 |
| Tim Tebow, Florida | 43 | 70 | 121 | 390 |
The Crimson Tide will play for Lucky 13 against the Texas Longhorns for the National Championship on January 7, 2010.
