It could have been the tight shirt. Whatever lies beneath his skin (perhaps millions of tiny horses that make him go) made the tattoos on his biceps roll as he sat down to talk with reporters Monday.
Legendary strength has helped Alabama's star running back power through what had been the nation's fifth-ranked rushing defense Saturday for a 38-10 win at Florida.
With four consecutive 100-yard rushing games, punctuated by his performance in Gainesville, Florida, Richardson has become a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. Three of his 100-yard games have been against Top 25 teams. He is tied for fifth in the nation in scoring with 10 touchdowns.
Alabama coach Nick Saban offered high praise for Richardson Monday afternoon. He even took a shot at the SEC snub for Offensive Player of the Week honors, which was shared by Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson and Razorbacks wide receiver Jarius Wright.
Wilson guided the Razorbacks to a 42-38 come-from-behind victory against Texas A&M. He also finished 30-for-51 passing for 501 yards, an Arkansas single-game record, and three touchdowns. Wright had 13 receptions for 281 yards, which tied a school record.
Richardson set career highs with 29 carries and 181 yards, including two touchdowns against the Gators, which were ranked 14th in the nation.
"Obviously, Trent Richardson had a fantastic game," Saban said. "I'm sure he would be the first to talk about the offensive line. ... It's hard for me to imagine that anybody could have a better game than Trent Richardson anywhere in the country against good competition. He did a fantastic job."
Alabama offered a soft opening to Richardson's Heisman Trophy campaign with a note on Page 3 of its weekly media information packet to preview Vanderbilt. The words "Heisman Trophy" were preceded by the name Mark Ingram, who became the first Tide player to win the award in 2009.
Alabama compared Richardson's five-game totals from this season with Ingram's first five games in '09. Ingram had 83 carries for 487 yards (5.86 yards per carry) and six touchdowns. Richardson has 96 carries for 622 yards (6.47 ypc) and 10 touchdowns.
Richardson needs 130 yards to surpass his best season. He had 751 yards in '09. He already surpassed the eight touchdowns he had that season, his previous best.
"I try not to buy into it, man," Richardson said when asked about Heisman Trophy consideration. "I try to stay focused and just take one day at a time for real, and make sure I'm doing everything I can to get better."
The award eventually went to quarterback Cam Newton of Auburn. He led the Tigers to a 14-0 season, including an epic 28-27 come-from-behind victory at Alabama, and the 2010 national championship.
Ingam's best performances came in the middle of '09 when he rattled off six 100-yard performances in seven games. He rushed for 99 yards against Tennessee during that span.
"It was going to be very hard to win it in 2010, especially with Mark there and me ... we were splitting carries anyway," Richardson said of his former teammate and close friend. "It was our system last year to be more balanced. ... We're more put together this year. We have more character and leadership this year than we had last year."
The group of Barrett Jones (left tackle), Chance Warmack (left guard), William Vlachos (center), Anthony Steen (right guard) and D.J. Fluker (right tackle) helped Richardson run for big yardage on the Gators between the tackles.
"We did have a lot of really good runs between the tackles this game," Jones said. "It's just a testament to our guys inside and how well they're playing."
Richardson said a lot of those yards came because the offensive line was "getting after those boys" and "leaving me to a defensive back." He also credited his receivers with down-field blocks.
"It's probably the best I've felt after a game," Richardson said of the pounding he endured. "I was very surprised. As far as being sore body-wise, that was probably the best I've felt after a game."
"I'm pretty sure I've got a good chance at his vote," Richardson said, smiling. "He's got to think about somebody from Alabama anyway. And he is my big brother, so I may have a little advantage."
Nick Saban press conference previewing Vanderbilt at Alabama (video) Copyright 2011 al.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Its funny,reading some of the previous post these so-called bama fans complaining about so called weak points of the Alabama football team. I truly wish you rainy day fans or borderline barners would just stifle yourself. Quit whining this could possibly be the best Alabama football team that ever strapped on helmets.Sure their are some area's that could use improvements,but this team at this point in the 2011 season is a juggernaut,Their strength more than makes up for any weakness they supposedly have. Just sit back shut up and enjoy.Whiny little girls sheesh.
amen.... If you don't like being 5 and 0 no matter how we got there, nothing will please you. All this complaining is negative stuff the team doesn't need. We have coaches to straighten out the team's problems if they have any.
Quiet, Don't tell the Aubies that he is the frontrunner for the Heisman. They say he is "not durable" (snicker) and they held him to less than a hundred " last year" (snicker) when he was second string behind Ingram (snicker - snicker). LOOK OUT AUBIES , HERE COMES TRENT RICHARDSON, THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE HIGHEST SCORING, FRONT RUNNER FOR THE HEISMAN, SABAN RECRUITED AND COACHED , TWO HUNDRED TWENTY POUNDS OF BAMA TRAIN RUNNINGBACK, COMING DOWN THE PIKE TO JORDAN HARE LEADING HIS TEAM TO WHUP YOUR A#% ON YOUR OWN D@%^ GRASS!
Whether you agree with those strongly-worded opinions or not, cuzn409 is always willing to throw in his two cents, and we appreciate it.
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