FAYETTEVILLE — Maybe Ryan Mallett and Mark Ingram will be sitting side by side in the Nokia Theatre at New York’s Times Square on Dec. 11 as Heisman Trophy finalists, awaiting an announcement on the winner.
For sure, Mallett and Ingram will be on opposite sidelines Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium when Mallet leads No. 10 Arkansas against Ingram’s No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.
It’s a matchup pivotal in the SEC West race, and a subplot is how Mallett, Arkansas’ junior quarterback from Texarkana, stacks up on the big stage with Ingram, Alabama’s junior tailback from Flint, Mich., and the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner.
The game is being televised nationally by CBS and figures to be monitored by hundreds of Heisman Trophy voters around the country.
“He’s a great player and he’s had great success so far this year,” Ingram said of Mallett. “I’m sure people are going to be evaluating his performance against a good defense that we have.
“Big players love big games, so I’ming and what he’s expected to do. Not that he wasn’t a very good player last year, he certainly was.”
Ingram became Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner last season when he rushed for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns.
A knee injury sidelined him for the first two games this season - when Alabama rolled over San Jose State 48-3 and Penn State 24-3 - but Ingram came back strong in last Saturday’s 62-13 victory at Duke to thrust himself back into the Heisman Trophy discussion.
Ingram ran for 48 yards the first time he touched the ball and finished with 9 carries for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“He definitely made every run count,” Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said. “I think he ran the ball with a purpose.”
Saban said Ingram’s playing time against Duke went as planned.
“This week we’re going to continue to build his workload daily,” Saban said.
Ingram said Monday that he felt “great” after playing in his first game of the season.
“I was a little sore, nothing really, just from taking a few pass blocks,” Ingram said. “I didn’t even get hit much in my runs thanks to the offensive line.”
Mallett ranks third on ESPN.com’s Heisman Trophy poll this week behind Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore. Ingram is tied for sixth with LSU cornerback and kick returner Patrick Peterson. Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor isfourth and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck fifth.
HeismanPundit.com, which polls 13 Heisman voters compared to 15 by ESPN.com, lists Robinson first this week with Pryor and Moore tied for second, followed by Mallett and Oregon running back LaMichael James. Ingram and Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez are tied for sixth.
Mallett, who transferred to Arkansas from Michigan after the 2007 season, was asked Monday about competing in the Heisman Trophy race with Robinson, the Wolverines’ latest starting quarterback
“We don’t play them in any games, so I’m not worried about that too much,” Mallett said.
sure he’s thriving on this game as well.”
Mallett earned some national player of the week honors for his performance in the Razorbacks’ 31-24 victory at Georgia last week. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns, and more impressively moved the Razorbacks 73 yards in 32 seconds on 3 consecutive completions, the last of which covered 40 yards to Greg Childs for the game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left.
Through three games, Mallett has completed 70 percent of his passes (70 of 100) for 1,081 yards and 9 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.
Mallett came into this season high on Heisman Trophy lists after passing for 3,624 yards and 30 touchdowns last year, and he said he’s become a more “even-keeled player” and has tried not to have the emotional swings that affected him at times in the past.
“It showed in the Georgia game, and we came out with the win,” Mallett said.
Arkansas won at Georgia after being 0-4 in road games last season, including a 35-7 loss at Alabama.
“I didn’t feel like I needed to prove anything to anybody, really,” Mallett said. “What we needed to do was go out there and play well and get the win like we did.
“It’s just part of the process.”
Alabama’s defense shut down Mallett and the Razorbacks last season, when he completed 12 of 35 passes for 160 yards and was sacked 3 times for 28 yards in losses. The Tide also were credited with eight quarterback hurries.
“They tried to put pressure on us, and they got to us a couple of times,” Mallett said. “I don’t think that had anything to do with the outcome of the game. We just really didn’t execute as well as we should have last year.”
Alabama Coach Nick Saban said he doesn’t think what happened last season “will have anything to do with what happens” in Saturday’s game.
“I think it will be a totally different challenge,” Saban said. “I think [Mallett is] more comfortable in what he’s do-
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/22/2010