Alabama Football: What Needs to Happen for Trent Richardson to Win the Heisman?

After spending two years behind Mark Ingram, Alabama running back Trent Richardson is ready to burst onto the national scene.

He received a great deal of preseason hype and is the focal point of the Crimson Tide’s offense.

But is that enough for Richardson to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy?

In order to win that, he will need some help. Read on to find out what else needs to happen.

Andrew Luck Must Falter

The presumed No. 1 NFL draft pick and the preseason Heisman favorite has to have some bad games in order for anyone else to overtake him for the award.

The loss of middle linebacker Shayne Skov could lose some games for the Cardinal and the award has typically gone to the best offensive player on the best team. A two loss Stanford team won’t be enough to win Luck the trophy.

Other Top Quarterbacks Must Falter

Quarterbacks have had a stranglehold on the Heisman this decade with the lone exception of Mark Ingram.

Players like Kellen Moore and Robert Griffin III have been lights out so far this season and if either player continues to put up those kinds of numbers, it would be hard to argue that Richardson should get the award over either of them. Keep in mind that Moore finished fourth in the voting last year.

Alabama Must Go Undefeated

With so many quarterbacks doing so well and having so much preseason hype, Trent Richardson will have to guide his team to an undefeated record in order to compete. A one-loss Bama will likely not be enough because Boise will probably go undefeated.

South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore will be competing for the award as well and currently has better numbers than Richardson so the only thing that would separate the two is their teams’ records.

Eddie Lacy Can’t Take More Carries

Richardson’s backup Eddie Lacy has seen quite a bit of carries, an average of 10 per game, and has been turning that into some serious yardage, an average of 91 yards per game.

There is a difference between a player complimenting another and one taking too many carries in the eyes of Heisman voters and this is the latter.