Alabama Football: Did Trent Richrdson Just Play Himself Back into the Heisman?

We all know about the hard hitting, physical nature of head coach Nick Saban's Crimson Tide. For them, it's a way of life. And for running back Trent Richardson, he's living that kind of hard hitting life.

And the rest of the Alabama Crimson Tide fan base can thank a large part of their victory to the bruising back, who was a big part of their 38-10 stomping of the Florida Gators in the Swamp. Richardson sliced the Gators up on the ground, rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Alabama constantly ran the ball between the tackles with Richardson, who has, with his performance, possibly vaulted himself back into the Heisman Race as well.

Wait, the Heisman Race? Yes.

Although there's still plenty of football left to be played, Richardson has to be one of the top running backs who, with his performance against an improved Florida Gators defense, has certainly started up the Heisman talks once again. After an initial slow start to the season, Richardson now has the advantage over running backs, and with South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore's dismal performance in their loss against Auburn (a game in which he rushed for under 70 yards), he has effectively dropped from most of the Heisman chatter, especially among running backs.

Richardson has proven that he can carry this team and that he is now the cornerstone of that Alabama smash mouth offense, which at times has struggled due to teams' tendencies to stack the box in attempts to slow Richardson down in the running game.

With the early Heisman talk beginning to emerge, one cannot help but put Alabama running back Trent Richardson on that list. And after his Week five performance, he deserves it.