Gerhart deserved it!

It's as simple as that... Gerhart deserved the Heisman.

In the closest race in Heisman Trophy history, Alabama running back Mark Ingram inched out Stanford running back Toby Gerhart by a mere 28 points.

The Crimson Tide's ball carrier had an outstanding sophomore year in which he ran for 1,542 yards, 15 touchdowns, and had an excellent 6.2 yards per carry. He led a great Alabama team to an undefeated season, including a 32-13 smothering of Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators to clinch their spot in the National Championship against the Texas Longhorns. Although Ingram had a Heisman-type season, he had a couple games in which he was inconsistent and lacked the explosion that he showed in other games throughout the season. In the Iron Bowl against the Auburn Tigers, Ingram carried the ball 16 times for a total of 30 yards, averaging 1.9 yards per carry. With his average of 6.2 yards per carry on the season, 1.9 was a major disappointment. He had another let down against the Razorbacks of Arkansas, a game in which he ran for a measly 50 yards on 17 carries. Overall, he turned in a tremendous season that most would consider Heisman-worthy.

Stanford's standout running back, Toby Gerhart, had an amazing senior season that helped resirrect a Cardinal team that hadn't been to a bowl game since 2001. He ran for 1,871 yards, 27 touchdowns, and averaged 5.5 yards per carry and led Stanford to an 8-5 overall record. Although his stats were partially inflated due to the fact that Stanford depended on him to be their playmaker, he rose to the challenge and delivered. He never ran for less than 82 yards in a game and there was only one game in which he did not score a touchdown. In the "Big Game" against the rival Cal Golden Bears, he ran for four touchdowns on only 20 carries. Against their other rival Notre Dame, he ran for three more touchdowns and threw for another. He was a key component in games which the often overlooked Stanford Cardinal demolished at that time #9 USC and beat at that time #8 and future PAC-10 Champions, the Oregon Ducks. Overall, he had more of a standout season than Ingram did.

Gerhart rose to the occasion and helped shed light on a team that many considered unnoteworthy. And just as a little cherry to add to the top of that Heisman-deserving sundae that was Toby Gerhart; He was an extremely gifted student... AT STANFORD!

Now taking into accountant that Gerhart's stats were inflated, they both had Heisman quality seasons. But the fact that Gerhart helped bring Stanford into the Top 25 as well as rewrote the Stanford record books for rushing yards and touchdowns should have given him the edge over Ingram. The sad truth is that the reason Ingram won the Heisman is not because he was necessary a better running back(Toby Gerhart won the 2009 Doak Walker award, given to the best running back in the nation), but it was because he played for an SEC team, while Gerhart played for Stanford.

Although he doesn't walk away empty handed since he did win the Doak Walker award and was named a consensus All-American, it appears as though too many voters simply go about picking the best player from the dominant teams rather than the best player in the nation. If I remember correctly, the Heisman Trophy is meant for the best player in the nation. Not the best player between the teams that are playing in a BCS bowl.

Maybe some day voters will stop drooling over all of these SEC and Big-12 teams and give the credit where it's deserved.