The two students who look to have the best shot at winning the Heisman are both running backs. Tebow and McCoy both had less than stellar seasons compared to years past and with all the credit in the world to Ndamukong Suh, it is next to impossible for a purely defensive player to win the Heisman.
The number one debate in who should win the Heisman is comparing a players stats and the competition he faced in acquiring those stats. Gerhart supporters tell doubters to look at the numbers and there is no question he is the Heisman winner. Ingram supporters look at Gerhart’s monster statistics and say it is because of the poor competition.
To try and solve this we are going to look at each RBs stats vs the teams they played. We will look at the average rushing yards given up by each team that each running back faced and subtract that from what they got against them. The same will be done with touchdowns. Next, add up the total numbers and this will be their Above Average Season Stats (AASS).
Mark Ingram
Virginia Tech 11.3
Auburn -131.7
Total TD AASS -3.62
Notre Dame 34.7
Total TD AASS 7.08
Final Alalysis
Ingram rushed for 471.6 yards less than the teams he faced gave up per game and rushed for 3.62 less touchdowns than the teams he faced gave up per game.
Gerhart rushed for a more impressive
97.9 yards less than the teams he faced game up per game and rushed for an astounding 7.08 more touchdowns than the teams he faced gave up per gameFrom this analysis Gerhart should easily win the Heisman. His overall season numbers are a lot better in one less game than Ingram.
1736 yrds to 1542 yrds
26 TDs to 15 TDs