Throwback Thursday: Mark Ingram Jr. Wins Alabama's First Heisman Trophy

After years of being overlooked for the biggest honor in college football, the Crimson Tide finally brought home the Heisman from New York in 2009.

He was obviously nervous, but it wasn’t until the 75th winner of the Heisman Trophy was actually being announced that Mark Ingram Jr.’s heart really started to race. When the subsequent roar went up at the Nokia Theater in Manhattan and extended far beyond Tuscaloosa or his home state of Michigan, the excitement was unlike anything an Alabama payer had experienced before.

His smile lasted through the immediate congratulatory handshakes and hugs, but when he saw the tears in his mother’s eyes that’s when it really started to hit, and why after finally reaching the stage to accept the award on national television that the sophomore running back had to dab his eyes before giving one of the most heart-felt speeches in the award’s illustrious history.

“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” he said while surrounded by the previous winners, all household names synonymous with college football history.

It was a moment of a lifetime and one that most Crimson Tide fans thought they might never see. Not only was it the biggest individual honor in the 117-year history of Alabama football dating back to that first organized game in 1892, but the closest the program had come to having its own trophy was the replica of John David Crow’s on display at the Paul Bryant Museum, won when the coach was at Texas A&M in 1957.

Despite theall the accolades and national championships, 16 Alabama players had placed in the top 10 since the award’s inception in 1935, headed by David Palmer finishing third in 1993. Lee Roy Jordan (1962) and Johnny Musso (1971) were both fourth, while Joe Kilgrow (1937), Harry Gilmer (1945 and 1947), Pat Trammell (1961), Terry Davis (1971) and Jay Barker (1994) all placed fifth.

Not winning had even become a point of pride among Crimson Tide fans, who like Bryant proudly proclaimed that players didn’t come to Alabama for trophies, but titles.

“The legacy of Alabama football certainly had a void filled,” said Nick Saban, who had never even had a Heisman finalist before.

Ingram had 1,542 rushing yards when the voting took place, having already broken the Alabama single-season record (he finished with 1,658), and 1,864 all-purpose yards while scoring 18 touchdowns. He had eight 100-yard games, including a season-high and Bryant-Denny Stadium record 246 yards against No. 22 South Carolina on October 17.

That game, when he handled the ball on every play during the Crimson Tide’s game-clinching drive, and topping quarterback Tim Tebow and Florida in the SEC Championship Game, proved to be his signature moments. Also standing out to voters were his one career lost fumble, 1,002 yards after contact (53.7 percent), plus 825 rushing yards and six touchdowns in Alabama’s five games against AP Top 25 opponents. He averaged 165 against Virginia Tech, Mississippi, South Carolina, LSU and Florida (201.1 all-purpose yards).

However, the vote still turned out to be the closest in Heisman history, with Ingram topping Stanford running back Toby Gerhart by just 28 points thanks to a wild stretch run. Ingram’s struggles at Auburn briefly thrust Texas quarterback Colt McCoy into the role of favorite heading into the conference championships only to be sacked nine times by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, including 4.5 by Ndamukong Suh.

Previously, the narrowest margin was 1985, when only 45 points separated Auburn running back Bo Jackson from runner-up Chuck Long of Iowa, which was also the last time a Southeastern Conference running back won the award.

With the Heisman using a 3-2-1 point system, with a first-place vote worth three points, second two and third one, Ingram finished with 1,304 to edge Gerhart’s 1,276, McCoy’s 1,145, and Suh’s 815 — the most points ever for a fourth-place finisher. Ingram had the most first-place votes, 227 compared to Gerhart’s 222, and won every region except the West (Gerhart) and Southwest (Suh), where he was third in both. He topped the South with 254 points compared to McCoy’s 176 and Gerhart’s 165.

With all ballots submitted solely online for the first time and the race obviously close, nearly all voters waited until the last minute to cast their ballots. Of the 904 tabulated (out of a possible 926) 89 percent weren’t turned in until the final few days, after Ingram had 189 total yards and three touchdowns against the Gators, which going in had the nation’s top-ranked defense.

“I realized that game he’s a real dude,” said Tebow, the 2007 winner who finished a distant fifth with just 390 points.

That sentiment appeared to be felt by the other finalists as well, with Gerhart going so far as to have a friend take his photo while appearing to be reaching for the trophy only to have it just beyond his grasp.

“It’s just an honor to be here,” he said. “No disappointment, no hard feelings.”

Ingram’s victory was even more remarkable considering his age, position and conference. He was the first sophomore running back to win the Heisman, and just the eighth overall since 1985. The only other running back to win over the previous decade was Southern California’s Reggie Bush in 2005, although it had since been vacated and returned due to NCAA penalties.

He was just the ninth SEC player to win, joining Frank Sinkwich (Georgia, 1942), Billy Cannon (LSU, 1959), Steve Spurrier (Florida, 1966), Pat Sullivan (Auburn, 1971), Herschel Walker (Georgia, 1982), Jackson (1985), Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1996), and Tebow (2007).

It was the only major award won by Ingram, who had also been a finalist for the Maxwell Trophy and the Walter Camp player of the year awards, along with the Doak Walker Award for best running back, all of which went to other players.

But Alabama still cleaned up in terms of accolades.

The Dick Butkus Award for best linebacker went to Rolando McClain and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart landed the Broyles Award for assistant coach of the year. The Crimson Tide had six players named first-team All-Americans by the Associated Press, which was not only a school record but no team had had more since 1964, when the AP started selecting both an offensive and defensive team.

“You aren’t going to have six guys make first-team All-American unless your team is playing at a high level week in and week out,” cornerback/return specialist Javier Arenas said. “It’s a credit to our entire team and our coaching staff.”

Joining Arenas were Ingram, McClain, guard Mike Johnson, nose guard Terrance Cody and kicker Leigh Tiffin — who were subsequently together on the cover of Alabama’s bowl media guide above the caption: “The Gold Standard of College Football.” Alabama also had a third-team selection, Mark Barron, who led the SEC in interceptions with seven during his first season as a starting safety.

The standard had been set.

“All the All-Americans, all the SEC championships, all the national championships, all the bowl victories, all the great coaches and players who have come through here, it’s kind of crazy to me that no one has ever won the Heisman Trophy, not one person,” Ingram said. “That I have the opportunity to represent the university, all the past players, all the coaches, all the alumni, fans, teammates, coaches and my family, it’s just real special to me.”

Christopher Walsh/BamaCentral

Note: Ingram now goes by Mark Ingram II. Some of this post originated from the book "Decade of Dominance," which was published by the Hilltop30 Publishing Group in 2019.