Alabama Football: Did the LSU Loss Kill Trent Richardson's Heisman Campaign?

Last week Trent Richardson had the stage set for him to make a serious Heisman statement against the LSU Tigers in the game of the century. Both teams were undefeated and the winner would become the favorite to not only win the SEC, but also make the National Championship.

Richardson came into the game as a Heisman favorite, probably only behind Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. If he had a solid performance and the Crimson Tide won, he would have his Heisman moment and may have jumped Luck in a lot of voters eyes.

The problem is that Richardson had an okay game and Alabama lost the game in an overtime thriller.

He finished the game with 169 total yards and zero touchdowns.

This of course is not going to help his Heisman campaign, but it could have been a lot worse. Richardson didn't have a horrible game, as he was going up against one of the top defenses in all of college football. He did have 80 receiving yards and averaged almost four yards a carry on the ground.

We have seen much worst performances from entire teams against LSU this year than we saw from Richardson last weekend.

Sure, we are use to seeing him put up fantastic numbers as he is the best running back in the country this season. But let's remember what defense he was going up against. We have to give some credit to the Tigers as well.

Let's also not forget that Richardson is a big reason the Crimson Tide were able to attempt so many field goals. It's really not his fault that Jeremy Shelley missed so many kicks, as the Tide had multiple chances to win that game.

Richardson still has 1,078 rushing yards, which is ninth best in the country. He still has 17 rushing touchdowns, which is the fifth most and his 1,370 yards from scrimmage is the fourth most in the country.

I think the loss hurt more than anything, but if Andrew Luck struggles and Stanford goes down against the Oregon Ducks, this race may once again be even.

The game against LSU didn't help Richardson, but it didn't knock him out of the running either.

There is still a lot of football left.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]

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