Trent Richardson Runs His Way Into The Thick Of The Heisman Trophy Race

Trent Richardson Runs His Way Into the Thick of the Heisman Trophy Race
by Eric Schmoldt

This past week was seemingly all about high-profile running backs taking big hits to their Heisman Trophy chances. Both Oregon’s LaMichael James and South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore have seen injuries set them back or eliminate them from the race. However, one running back used a big week to ensure that he’s right in the thick of things at the season’s midway point. Alabama’s Trent Richardson rushed 17 times for 183 yards and four touchdowns as the Tide crushed Ole Miss on Saturday. Richardson now has 912 yards and 15 touchdowns, ranking second and third nationally, respectively, this season.Trent Richardson joined WJOX in Birmingham with The Roundtable to discuss his big game, his dazzling 76-yard touchdown run, the comparisons between this year’s team and the national championship one in, the leadership of this year’s team, what he learned watching Mark Ingram during his Heisman campaign and the rivalry with Tennessee.

Did you feel going into the Ole Miss game that it was one where you might have a big day?:

“Not really. I take every game like that. … You try to play every game one at a time and have my mindset ready to play when I do get in.”

During the game, do you keep track of how many yards you have?:

“Not really, man. I just know that I’m trying to go out there and work hard and whatever I get, I get. I don’t even worry about the yards.”

How many times have you watched the 76-yard touchdown run?:

“I don’t know. … I’ve seen it quite a few times now. I got a lot of responses about it. I was coming from the game and I wondered why I didn’t have no text messages and it was because my text message box was full. I erased some text messages and I had 200-some text messages.”

What type of differences do you see between this team and the 2009 national championship team?:

“I really don’t ever try to throw out comparisons, but I really see a lot of leadership on this team. Compared to the 2009 team, that’s what we had. … We’re just out there to be role models and just try to keep our team up and try to keep everybody humble and not get complacent.”

Is that the biggest difference from last year’s team, the leadership?:

“Oh yeah. I don’t think a lot of us last year was ready for the leadership role. Some of us just wasn’t saying nothing and we had stuff to say. That’s where we filled the role this year and made sure we got everything out, made sure everyone was on the same page. We work to hard not to be the team that gets to the next level of winning games more than we did last year. We were only three or four plays away from being in the national championship game last year and that’s something we don’t want to be.”

You’re in the hunt for the Heisman Trophy. What did you learn from Mark Ingram during his Heisman season?:

“Mark, he always stayed humble. That’s one thing he taught me and one thing he emphasized on me, to stay humble and never get complacent. … If you ask me if that run is the highlight of my career, I don’t say that’s the highlight of my career because I know there’s going to be more to come.”

You play Tennessee this weekend. Is this still a big rivalry for you guys?:

“Oh yeah, it’s a big rivalry. This game means a lot to a lot of folks around here, a lot of folks in Bama Nation and a lot of folks in Tennessee nation. It means so much because a lot of alumni, this is one of the games they live for. Everybody talks about the Alabama-Auburn game, but this is one of the big games right here, of the season.”