FanHouse Mark Ingram

Georgia vs. Auburn.

It doesn't get any better, or older, than this for these two schools. Known as the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, the series began in 1892 and is the seventh-most played in the country. The mutual disdain has been passed down through the generations, and the 113th meeting Saturday isn't expected to be any different.

"Everybody has their team," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

Alabama's offense has mellowed over the past three games.

The Crimson Tide has registered only a pair of rushing touchdowns in victories over Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Ten trips into the red zone have resulted in eight field goals. The passing game hasn't featured many deep throws, and Alabama's Wildcat offense, which started as a gimmick, has become more relevant.

Third-ranked Alabama realizes it will need a better all-around effort on Saturday to beat No. 9 LSU, the only remaining ranked team on the Crimson Tide's schedule. The Crimson Tide can clinch the SEC West title with a win and would then meet No. 1 Florida on Dec. 5 in the SEC title game.

Gentlemen, start your hype engines.

We're just past the halfway mark of the college football season and, forget the battle for who will play for the BCS title, the most intriguing campaign is for the Heisman Trophy.

The latest flavor of the month is Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who has been touted by several TV talking heads and is the top candidate at HeismanPundit.com.

That's understandable, but why has there been hardly no Heisman mention for West Virginia's Noel Devine and Pittsburgh's Dion Lewis, who are the nation's third and fourth leading rushers?

"Dion's been very consistent," Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt said. "You expect a freshman running back like him to perform that way maybe like three or four games a year, not eight games in a row."

Ingram obviously deserves consideration for the award, but is it not so much for what he's done, but who he plays for? After all, he has the No. 1 requirement to win the Heisman – he plays on a team that's ranked in the top five

When his team needed him most, when it couldn't move the football if they'd been allowed to use a Ryder truck, Mark Ingram put the Crimson Tide on his back.

Then, just for good measure, he put the Gamecocks on his back, too.

Only one of those was metaphorical.

"We all make plays when we get the balls in our hands," said Ingram, who rushed for 246 yards, mostly through the South Carolina defense. "I was able to score and make some things happen when they gave me the ball."

That, of course, was the overly modest version that probably ended with a parable about a cherry tree. The truth is that if Alabama public transportation carried that many men every day as Ingram did Saturday night, General Motors would be out of business in the state.

Bowling pins have made better group tackles than the Gamecocks did on Ingram.

ATLANTA -- This felt like something big, and it was. In fact, this was larger than even Alabama's solar system of a nose guard Terrence Cody. This was the Crimson Tide proving for a second consecutive year that the Atlantic Coast Conference is wonderful at picks and rolls, but not so much at blocking and tackling -- at least not when matched against the Southeastern Conference elite.

This also was Alabama showing that it has the stuff to smash-mouth its way to prominence all season after wearing down an impressive Virginia Tech bunch near the end on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome.

It's just that Virginia Tech isn't Alabama, because Alabama was playing for Bear Bryant, the SEC and a national championship.

The NCAA is once again looking into Alabama's football program after a, well, fishy report emerged that a person had funded a fishing trip for two of the program's star players. An Alabama man named Curtis Anderson acknowledges paying for both receiver Julio Jones and running back Mark Ingram to go on an offseason fishing trip.

After we brought you the 1986 Mets singing and dancing, we have yet more evidence of musical talent from that team ... more specifically, Keith Hernandez and Mookie Wilson making a cameo for a Sesame Street Pledge Drive special from 1988. There are many great guest spots from outside the world of sports included also, including Pee Wee Herman and the late John Candy. Keith and Mookie appear at the 1:47 mark, and members of the New York Football Giants (Sean Landeta, Karl Nelson, Mark Ingram, and Carl Banks) are featured at around the 3:37 mark.

Enjoy, and put down that duckie.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Random You Tube: Lets Go Mets Go