Iron Bowl 2011: Can Trent Richardson Do Enough to Take the Heisman Lead?

What a season it's been for running back Trent Richardson and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Even though they lost to the LSU Tigers, they are still the No. 2 team in the country and appear to be moving on to the national championship if they can beat the Auburn Tigers this weekend.

Richardson is a Heisman candidate who has rushed for 1,380 yards. He has 22 total touchdowns, 20 of which came on the ground. There has only been three games this season where he didn't reach the 100-yard mark. Furthermore, there have been only four games where he didn't rack up at least two touchdowns.

That being said, he has still scored a touchdown in 10 of the 11 games this season.

However, are those individual numbers and the success of Alabama as a team enough to put Richardson over the top in the Heisman ballots?

There is some very tough competition this season, but nobody is really running away with a no-doubt Heisman year. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck appeared to be the frontrunner for the award until the Cardinal suffered a loss to the Oregon Ducks.

Houston quarterback Case Keenum is having a remarkable year as usual, but will the voters really pick a player who hasn't played a quality team all season?

Robert Griffin III has really climbed up the ballots with his performance against the Oklahoma Sooners, but his team has three losses and are ranked No.18 in the country. I know the losses aren't really his fault, as his defense is horrible, but team success does come into play.

Of course, then there are other candidates like Matt Barkley, Montee Ball and LaMichael James among others.

Overall, though, there really isn't a player that is running away with the award.

Richardson is the Alabama offense. The team struggles to throw the football. Even in the LSU loss, he had 169 total yards and was a huge factor in giving the Tide a chance to attempt field goals. It's not his fault that the kicker couldn't put the ball between the goalposts on several different opportunities.

Alabama and Richardson have one game left against the hated Auburn Tigers. Although they aren't the team they were last season, they are still ranked, so a big game would mean a little more than if they weren't. 

Would that still be enough for Richardson to become the second Alabama player to win the award in the three seasons?

Maybe.

What will guarantee him the award would be a big game this weekend and an LSU loss against Arkansas, which would put the Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game. That would give Richardson an extra game to convince voters that he is the true Heisman winner.

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