Mark Ingram 2009 Season Statistics
- Games: 14
- Rushing Attempts: 271
- Rushing Yards: 1,658
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 118.4
- Yards Per Carry: 6.1
- Rushing Touchdowns: 17
- Receptions: 32
- Receiving Yards: 334
- Receiving Yards Per Game: 23.9
- Receiving Touchdowns: 3
No one has won the Heisman Trophy by a closer margin than Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who beat our Stanford’s Toby Gerhart by just 28 points (including a margin of five first-place votes). Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was also close – just 159 points and 24 No. 1 votes behind Ingram. Former Heisman winner Tim Tebow finished fifth in the voting.
Remarkably, Ingram was the first Alabama football player to win the Heisman three-quarters of a century after the award was first introduced. Ingram, who was not listed among the top pre-season favorites for the award despite rushing for 728 yards and 12 touchdowns as a freshman in 2008, led the SEC and ranked fourth nationally with 1,658 rushing yards and became the first running back since 1999 to hoist the Heisman.
Ingram’s 17 rushing touchdowns also led the conference, and when combined with three receiving TDs, his 20 TDs scored ranked eighth in the country. A solid receiver out of the backfield, Ingram also caught 32 passes for 334 yards for the Crimson Tide, who finished the season 14-0 following a victory over Texas in the BCS National Championship Game.
Still 19 years old at the time of the award ceremony, Ingram was the youngest ever to receive college football’s top individual honor at the time. That distinction now goes to Jameis Winston, however.
John Huarte 1964 Season Statistics
- Games: 10
- Pass Completions: 114
- Pass Attempts: 205
- Passing Yards: 2,062
- Passing Yards Per Game: 206.2
- Passing Touchdowns: 16
- Interceptions: 11
- Rushing Attempts: 37
- Rushing Yards: 7
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 0.7
- Yards Per Carry: 0.2
- Rushing Touchdowns: 3
- Receiving: 1 REC, 11, YD
Notre Dame established itself as one of college football’s elite programs in the early-to-mid 20th Century, and the Fighting Irish featured some of the game’s biggest stars over the course of the Heisman Trophy’s first three decades.
In fact, when John Huarte won the Heisman, he was the sixth Notre Dame player to do so. It would be 23 more years until the next Notre Dame football player won college football’s greatest individual honor, but the Fighting Irish’s seven Heisman winners are tied with Ohio State and USC (if you include Reggie Bush’s vacated trophy) as the most all-time from a single school.
Huarte was recruited to Notre Dame from California (and actually attended the same high school of future Heisman winner Matt Leinart), but didn’t see much playing time in his first two seasons on campus. However, Huarte burst on to the national scene with 2,062 passing yards (which ranked fourth in the country) and 16 touchdown passes (which ranked fourth overall). Huarte led the nation with an average of 10.1 yards per pass, ranked second with a 155.1 passer ranking, was third in total offense with 2,069 yards and stood eighth in the nation with a 55.6 completion percentage.
In addition to his passing efforts, Huarte also scored three rushing touchdowns, which gave him 19 total TDs on the season – a sum better than all but three other players in the country. All together, Huarte’s standout performance helped the Fighting Irish to a 9-1 overall record, with a 20-17 loss to USC in the season finale as the only blemish standing in the team’s way of a national championship.
It also helped Huarte edge Tulsa quarterback Jerry Rhome and Illinois’ Dick Butkus for the Heisman.
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