Mark Ingram was injured in practice Monday, and required a knee scope early Tuesday morning, article here.  This morning an article on ESPN, here, mentioned that  Ingram’s Heisman chances are all but over.  I disagree with that are here is why.  To understand lets take a look at the past few winners:

2009:  Mark Ingram – Best team in the country and he was their best player.  Ingram was dominate for Alabama, but was he the best running back in the nation?  Some argue that Toby Gerhart of Stanford was, others mention Ryan Matthews of Fresno State, who led the NCAA in rushing.

2008:  Sam Bradford – Sooners finished the season as #2 in the nation, behind Florida.  Bradford was the best player on an explosive offense, well at least it was explosive until it faced an SEC defense but that’s a different story.  Bradford was considered the best quarterback in the nation.

2007: Tim Tebow – This is the one instance where the best college football player won the award, in spite of his teams mediocrity.  Tebow was nothing short of amazing, putting up monster numbers, both rushing and passing, in his first season as a starter.  A late season injury to Dennis Dixon all but sealed up the trophy for Tebow.

2006: Troy Smith – Best player on the best team in the country.  Smith led an explosive offense at Ohio State, that is until they faced an SEC defense.  Sound familiar?

2005: Reggie Bush – I watched the UCLA v USC game from 2005 on ESPN Classic the other day, and was simply in awe of how good Bush was.  I had forgotten how electric he was in college, he was nothing short of amazing.  Again, he was the best player on the best team in football.

Outside of Tebow in 2007, the Heisman trophy has gone to the best player on the best team in the country.  If Ingram misses the first game of the season, is it that big of a deal?  He more than likely would have rushed for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns, but do those numbers mean anything if Alabama goes undefeated again?  I don’t think they do.  Ingram did not lead the nation in rushing yards, yards from scrimmage, or even rushing touchdowns last year, yet he still walked away with Alabama’s first ever Heisman trophy.  Ingram’s Heisman chances will depend on his ability to stay healthy for the remainder of the season, but more importantly the success of Alabama.

Do you think that Ingram has “lost” the Heisman by missing the game against San Jose St?