Alabama Football: Why Trent Richardson Rejuvenated His Heisman Hopes

Trent Richardson's monster game has reignited the Heisman candidate's hopes of winning the award.  He ran all over Ole Miss today, and he is back in the thick of things for the Heisman race.

According to this recent ESPN Heisman Tracker, Trent Richardson was ranked fourth coming into today.  After today, however, he should definitely be third, or even second.

Richardson ran for 183 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries, and he also went for 30 receiving yards on two receptions.  Richardson went for 213 all-purpose yards on 19 touches and found the end-zone four times.

Richardson was doing well, but setting season-highs in rushing yards, total yards and touchdowns has pushed him even higher. Richardson's performance puts him in the top five for rushing yards for sure, and he will continue to climb.

When looking at Richardson's main competition, Andrew Luck of Stanford has had a pretty bad game so far this week.  It looks to be the worst game he has had, and he still has a few very hard games left.

Kellen Moore of Boise State had another great game against a nobody-school, but that isn't going to help him much because he is not playing against hard schools and he should be passed by Richardson.

Richardson's path seems like it is clearing up for him, and we could see yet another Alabama running back named the Heisman this season.

The game against No. 1 LSU will play a big role in where he finishes, but Richardson's performance today sets him up for a shot at winning the Heisman.