TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- There are valuable lessons Alabama tailback Mark Ingram has learned in the past two weeks.
For instance, he now knows that students on campus are not above lining up en mass outside of a dorm during Christmas break, waiting for autographs when you return home. And that new trophy that everyone is so excited about, it weighs more than you might think.
"It's not just something you just pick up," Ingram said. "Unless you're going to move it to another spot, I wouldn't recommend picking it up just for fun, because that thing is heavy."
Texas quarterback Colt McCoy wouldn't know.
The past two years, McCoy has been invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York only to exit without the prize. Winning a Heisman carries a unique flavor, much like a green jacket for winning the Masters in golf.
McCoy, a senior, was close enough to feel what membership in this elite club would entail, but he was never welcomed.
"It would be wrong of me to act like it wasn't important to him and that he wasn't disappointed," Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Soon after this year's announcement went for Ingram, McCoy reportedly text messaged an assistant coach "Game on," a nod to the Jan. 7 BCS national title game against Alabama and Ingram.
Former Texas quarterback Vince Young did a similar thing in 2005 after losing to Heisman to Southern Cal star Reggie Bush. Young then led the Longhorns to a memorable 41-38 victory over Bush's Trojans in the BCS national championship game in -- you guessed it -- Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium.
"There are a lot of guys on this team that were there in '05," McCoy said. "We came through the same class together. A bunch of us redshirted and are back now.
"We remember. We remember how everybody talked about USC. You know, this year everybody's talking about Alabama."
McCoy wouldn't give in this week and say what everyone would expect from him, that a perceived Heisman snub in favor of Ingram (McCoy was actually third, also behind Stanford's Toby Gerhart) is motivation against the Crimson Tide.
No, the Texas quarterback said he was "perfectly fine" after the announcement. He pointed out that last year was worse, because now he has the title game in front of him.
"He just said, 'Y'all get ready, man. Get back to work,'" Longhorns offensive lineman Charlie Tanner said. "That is basically his deal. He came right back at home and didn't say anything about it. He got back to work. (We) saw him in the weight room in his workout clothes just getting after it."
"We'll work our tails off," McCoy said. "We'll prepare and be ready. You know, Alabama's going to do the same thing. It's going to be a great game."
Judging by public comments, Ingram's victory in New York seemed to resonate more with the Longhorns' defense than McCoy's offense.
Texas enters the season's final game with the best rushing defense in the NCAA's top division. The Longhorns have allowed a total of five touchdowns and 808 yards on the ground this season (an average of 62.15 per game and roughly 2 per carry).
"They are very well-coached," Ingram said. "Their defensive scheme is really complicated. They have a lot of athletes and they swarm to the ball and make it tough for an offense to be successful against them. We just have to game plan and get ready like we have all year."
And for the Longhorns, their challenge is clear against Ingram, who ran for 1,542 yards to comprise the best individual rushing season in Crimson Tide history.
"It's always fun to see when their strength is your strength and to see who's going to win that man-on-man battle," Texas defensive tackle Lamarr Houston said. "To do that is going to be exciting, to get to play against a Heisman Trophy winner that's a running back."