 2009 Heisman Finalists Breakdown 
 
 
 
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 The five finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy have been announced, and while a few deserving names were left out, there's big-time star power, two great running backs, and a pure defensive player with a real, live shot at pulling out the win. With the votes in, McCoy and Tebow were given a plane ticket to New York as two of the finalists, along with Stanford RB Toby Gerhart, Alabama RB Mark Ingram, and Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh in what should be a nail-biter that could go any way ... at least among the three non-quarterbacks. 2. 3. 4. 5. Kellen Moore, Boise State: The sophomore has numbers straight out of EA Sports: 39 touchdown passes, three interceptions, 3,325 yards and the nation's best efficiency rating of 167.35. Not only did he come through in the biggest games, he was steady and consistent on the way to leading the nation with 1,736 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns. However, he's second in the nation behind Fresno State's Ryan Mathews in yards per game and averaged a good, but not great, 5.58 yards per carry. Colt McCoy, Texas: The senior and 2008 Heisman runner-up overcame a slow start to the season with a fantastic second half, peaking with 479 yards of total offense in the Longhorns' 49-39 defeat of Texas A&M. But he suffers from the Stanford season ending early. While the four other Heisman finalists got one final game that everyone paid attention to, for good and bad, the Notre Dame game had to stay fresh in the voters' minds. The Heisman bragged to the press that "the closest vote in Heisman Trophy history drew a record television audience". Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska: Most defensive tackles who dominate games clog up the middle of the field so their teammates can make the stops. He has already won the Nagurski, is a lock to win the Outland, the Lombardi, and every other defensive award he's able to win after wowing America with a 12 tackle, 4.5 sack, seven tackle for loss game against Texas that had everyone figuring out how to spell his first name. ; That made McCoy the favorite until his offensive line fell apart against Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game. 1 team in the nation. But the only reason that anyone in America knew it was the closest vote ever was that I was jumping up and down telling anyone that would listen that it was too-close-to-call. But coming up big in big games wasn't new to Ingram. In the fourth quarter against South Carolina, Ingram got every one of the 68 yards the Crimson Tide needed to score the touchdown that put the Gamecocks away, 20-6. The big knock against his candidacy for the Heisman is that his team just might be too good. Story Tools 
 
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– Many observers believe Alabama running back Mark Ingram is going to be this year’s Heisman Trophy winner as college football’s top player—and a blog that’s correctly predicted the past seven recipients is one of them. Stiff Arm Trophy has Ingram nosing out Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, with Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh running third. Pete Fiutak has Suh and Gerhart flopped, but agrees on the winner, and that quarterbacks Colt McCoy of Texas and Tim Tebow of Florida will round out the top five. Rocking the boat is blogger HeismanPundit, who’s got McCoy taking the hardware, with Ingram, Gerhart, Tebow and Suh finishing behind him. To see who’s right, check the ceremony at 8pm ET on ESPN (though the announcement itself is much closer to 9).