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Ingram ready to run away with Heisman, own legacy

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Updated Nov 26, 2009 11:07 AM ET
     
 
As a lot of people predicted at the beginning of the season, the best college football player in the country, the guy who should win the Heisman Trophy if voters don't let the thing turn into a beauty contest, will lead his offense into the SEC Championship game and possibly to the BCS national title.
But what nobody could have seen in August is that it's not Tim Tebow: it's Mark Ingram. The Alabama back is not only the best runner in the SEC, he's the best player in the college game. First the numbers: Ingram is five inches shy of averaging seven yards per carry, an extraordinary feat in the SEC but one that is doubly impressive when you consider that he had the flu when the Tide played Florida International. He had only 10 carries for 56 yards in that game. His biggest days were against the toughest opponents, running for 150 yards against Virginia Tech before laying 140 rushing yards on Kentucky, 172 against a tough Ole Miss defense, 144 in a top-10 matchup with LSU, and the biggest wallop of the year, 246 tough yards against South Carolina. He's one carry away from a 1,400-yard season, a milestone he'll no doubt pass in the opening drive of the Iron Bowl, a game that could put Ingram way out front in the Heisman campaign. "I don't know who's better," Nick Saban said of his star runner. "I don't get to see every player and get to know them like I know Mark, but I know he's a great player for our team. He's not only very productive, but he's a great team guy, the first to acknowledge his teammates relative to his success. He's a relentless competitor and really plays the game the way we like for anyone on our team to play it. I think he's a great example for all our players." He leads the nation in runs of 10 yards or more, and has gained an astonishing 752 yards after contact, making him the toughest back in the country to bring down with a single hit. "I don't think anybody has stopped Mark all year, really," said Auburn head coach Gene Chizik. "Your best hope is to try to slow him down. He does a lot of great things. He's a very physical back, always going downhill and you really have to wrap him up if you want to bring him down. The recognition he's getting is well deserved." At times it's hard to tell if Ingram is running toward something or away from it. He grew up in Michigan with a name that carried a lot of weight. Mark Sr. was a first round draft pick out of Michigan State who won a Super Bowl ring in 1991 with the New York Giants. For years, Ingram the elder was known for breaking five tackles during a critical third-down catch-and-run in that Super Bowl win against the Buffalo Bills. Now, almost every mention includes the words "disgraced former receiver." In 2001, Ingram Sr. was sentenced to six months in prison when he was nabbed in a sting with $3,290 in counterfeit cash. Then in 2004 he pled guilty to stealing a credit card, and in 2007 he broke into a building near Flint, Mich. and stole a purse. In 2008, as his son was beginning his career at Alabama, the senior Ingram was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for money laundering and bank fraud related to narcotics dealing. He was a fugitive for a month when he failed to report to prison in December of last year. He's never admitted it, but it's been widely reported that Ingram failed to show up at the Ashland, Ky. Federal Penitentiary because he wanted to watch his son play against Florida in the SEC Championship game. Ingram Jr. is a slightly better athlete than his father, and a better man by miles. He is a great student and the kind of teammate every player would want. "We respect the (Heisman) as being for the best college football player in the country," Saban said. "I think a player's performance and how he affects his team and his teammates should be a big consideration in that." On that front, Mark Ingram is a cut above the rest. He won't have a father sitting in the front row with the McCoys and Tebows in New York, but Ingram should leave with two things his dad doesn't have: a Heisman trophy and the respect of everyone in the game.
Tagged: Auburn, Michigan, Buffalo, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan State, Florida International, Alabama, Virginia Tech

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