Alabama Football: Trent Richardson Selected as Heisman Finalist, AP’s SEC Offensive Player of the Year

Playing a little catchup today with these notes. Here is the official release (courtesy of UA Media Relations)

Crimson Tide running back one of five finalists for the award
Alabama junior running back Trent Richardson is one of five finalists for the 2011 Heisman Trophy, the Heisman Memorial Trust announced Monday evening on ESPN.

“It is a dream to be selected as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy,” Richardson said on Monday afternoon. “There are very few people that can say they were a candidate for the Heisman Trophy and even less that can say they were a finalist. This is a tremendous honor, but one that wouldn’t be possible without my teammates, especially my offensive line. As far as I’m concerned this is a team award.”

Richardson, a native of Pensacola, Fla., is joined by Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, Baylor’s Robert Griffin, Stanford’s Andrew Luck and LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu.

The winner will be announced on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Best Buy Theater in New York City’s Times Square on ESPN. Richardson is the Tide’s second Heisman finalist in the last three years, joining 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram.

In 12 games this season, Richardson has 263 rushing attempts for 1,583 yards and 20 touchdowns. He leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally with 131.9 rushing yards per game. He also averages 6.0 yards per carry and ranks second in school and SEC history with 23 total touchdowns.

He has added 27 catches for 327 yards and three touchdowns and has accounted for 1,976 all-purpose yards this season, an average of 164.7 yards per game. Richardson has faced seven of the nation’s top-50 defenses, five of the top-50 rush defenses and five top-20 total defenses.

He has averaged 142.0 rushing yards per game and 198.4 all-purpose yards per game against five top-25 opponents with six total touchdowns while averaging 105 rush yards per game and 142 all-purpose yards per game against five top-20 total defenses. Leads the SEC with 136.4 rush yards per game while accounting for 178.4 all-purpose yards per game in SEC play with 12 total touchdowns. Richardson has lost only one fumble in 614 career touches and has not lost a fumble since the sixth game of his freshman season, a span of 550 touches.

Trent Richardson Named Associated Press SEC Offensive Player of the Year
Crimson Tide has eight players named to the AP All-SEC team, including five on the first team
Alabama running back Trent Richardson was selected as the Associated Press SEC Offensive Player of the Year and eight Crimson Tide players were selected to the All-SEC team.

The Tide had five players garner first-team All-SEC honors from the AP, including two unanimous choices – left tackle Barrett Jones and Richardson. Center William Vlachos was also named to the first team along with safety Mark Barron and linebacker Courtney Upshaw.

Linebacker Dont’a Hightower, nose guard Josh Chapman and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick were selected to the second team.

FIRST TEAM
Offense
WR — Jarius Wright, Arkansas, 5-10, 180, Sr.
WR — Da’Rick Rogers, Tennessee, 6-3, 215, So.
L — u-Barrett Jones, Alabama, 6-5, 311, Jr.
L — Will Blackwell, LSU, 6-4, 290, Sr.
L — Cordy Glenn, Georgia, 6-5, 348, Sr.
L — Rokevious Watkins, South Carolina, 6-4, 340, Sr.
C — William Vlachos, Alabama, 6-1, 294, Sr.
TE — Orson Charles, Georgia, 6-3, 241, Jr.
QB — Tyler Wilson, Arkansas, 6-3, 220, Jr.
RB — u-Trent Richardson, Alabama, 5-11, 224, Jr.
RB — Michael Dyer, Auburn, 5-9, 210, So.
K — Caleb Sturgis, Florida, 5-11, 183, Jr.
All-Purpose — Joe Adams, Arkansas, 5-11, 190, Sr.

Defense
T — Fletcher Cox, Mississippi State, 6-4, 295, Jr.
T — Malik Jackson, Tennessee, 6-5, 270, Sr.
E — Melvin Ingram, South Carolina, 6-2, 276, Sr.
E — Sam Montgomery, LSU, 6-4, 245, So.
LB — u-Jarvis Jones, Georgia, 6-3, 241, So.
LB — Danny Trevathan, Kentucky, 6-1, 232, Sr.
LB — Courtney Upshaw, Alabama, 6-2, 265, Sr.
CB — u-Tyrann Mathieu, LSU, 5-9, 175, So.
CB — Morris Claiborne, LSU, 6-0, 185, Jr.
S — Mark Barron, Alabama, 6-2, 218, Sr.
S — Bacarri Rambo, Georgia, 6-0, 218, Jr.
P — Brad Wing, LSU, 6-3, 184, Fr.

SECOND TEAM
Offense
WR — Rueben Randle, LSU, 6-4, 208, Jr.
WR — Alshon Jeffrey, South Carolina, 6-4, 229, Jr.
L — Chris Faulk, LSU, 6-6, 325, So.
L — Alvin Bailey, Arkansas, 6-5, 319, So.
L — Larry Warford, Kentucky, 6-3, 336, Jr.
L — Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State, 6-4, 320, So.
C — Ben Jones, Georgia, 6-3, 316, Sr.
TE — Philip Lutzenkirchen, Auburn, 6-5, 250, Jr.
QB — Aaron Murray, Georgia, 6-1, 211, So.
RB — Zac Stacy, Vanderbilt, 5-9, 208, Jr.
RB — Vick Ballard, Mississippi St., 5-11, 220, Sr.
K — Drew Alleman, LSU, 5-11, 183, Jr.
All-Purpose — Dennis Johnson, Arkansas, 5-9, 213, Jr.

Defense
T — Josh Chapman, Alabama, 6-1, 310, Sr.
T — Michael Brockers, LSU, 6-6, 306, So.
E — Corey Lemonier, Auburn, 6-4, 240, So.
E — Barkevious Mingo, LSU, 6-5, 240, So.
LB — Dont’a Hightower, Alabama, 6-4, 260, Jr.
LB — Chris Marve, Vanderbilt, 6-0, 242, Sr.
LB — Jerry Franklin, Arkansas, 6-1, 245, Sr.
CB — Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama, 6-3, 192, Jr.
CB — Casey Hayward, Vanderbilt, 5-11, 188, Sr.
S — Antonio Allen, South Carolina, 6-2, 202, Sr.
S — Eric Reid, LSU, 6-2, 208, So.
P — Dylan Breeding, Arkansas, 6-1, 211, Jr.

HONORABLE MENTION
Offense
Kyle Fischer, L, Vanderbilt, 6-6, 308, Sr.; Quentin Saulsberry, L, Mississippi State, 6-2, 300, Sr.

Defense
Drew Butler, P, Georgia, 6-2, 214, Sr.; Tyler Campbell, P, Mississippi, 6-2, 220, Jr.; Tim Fugger, E, Vanderbilt, 6-4, 250, Sr.; Winston Guy Jr., S, Kentucky, 6-1, 216, Sr.; Jaye Howard, T, Florida, 6-3, 303, Sr.; Devin Taylor, E, South Carolina, 6-7, 260, Jr.; Tramain Thomas, S, Arkansas, 6-0, 204, Sr.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Trent Richardson, Alabama

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tyrann Mathieu, LSU

COACH OF THE YEAR
Les Miles, LSU

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Isaiah Crowell, Georgia