Tuesday’s Matchup

Gerhart vs Ingram for Heisman

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).

Of course negative numbers mean they rushed for less than what the team averages giving up. So closest to a positive total is the better stat.

Mark Ingram

Virginia Tech 11.3

Florida Int -176.8

North Texas -104.6

Arkansas -100.1

Kentucky -43.2

Mississippi 31.7

South Carolina 109

Tennessee -43.9

LSU 9.8

Mississippi St. 3

Chattanooga -46.8
Auburn -131.7

Florida 10.7

Total Yrd AASS -471.6
Total TD AASS -3.62

Toby Gerhart

Washington St. -115.4

Wake Forest -82.3

San Jose St. -146.2

Washington 51.2

UCLA -10.4

Oregon St. -18.3

Arizona 11.1

Arizona St. 16.4

Oregon 96.3

USC 47

California 18
Notre Dame 34.7

Total Yrd AASS -97.9
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 game

From 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

When leveling the competition, Gerhart’s Above Average Season Stats are much better than Ingram.