Alabama’s leading man: Trent Richardson

Reporting from New Orleans -- Trent Richardson rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns in Alabama’s national title win over Texas two Januarys ago at the Rose Bowl.

You could look it up.

He was in the team picture and everything.

Yet Richardson will mostly be remembered as a contributing editor to the script.

He was a freshman, playing behind Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner. Mark Ingram was the lead luminary on that team of stars that included Julio Jones, Terrence Cody, Javier Arenas, Rolando McClain and Marcell Dareus.

Richardson was happy to tag along and speak when he was spoken to.

“I was really a guy trying to find his way on the team and make a name for himself,” Richardson said this week. “In Pasadena two years ago, I was just a young guy … so all I had to do was follow.”

Two years later, Richardson is Alabama’s clear-cut leader. He’s a junior now with the kitchen sink strapped to his back.

Richardson, who rushed for 1,583 yards this season, accounted for 40% of the Crimson Tide’s offense.

“It’s no secret he’s our most valuable player on offense,” Barrett Jones, Alabama’s All-American left tackle, said.

Richardson spent two years as Ingram’s understudy, patiently waiting his turn. When Ingram left for the NFL last season, Richardson moved in to make his own history.

He fell short of providing a bookend to Ingram’s 2009 Heisman, finishing third this season behind Baylor’s Robert Griffin III and Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Richardson did win the Doak Walker Award and led Alabama back to the BCS title game.

The look on Richardson’s face this week suggests he is ready to answer the critics who felt Alabama didn’t deserve a chance to avenge November’s 9-6 loss to Louisiana State in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Richardson knows a segment of the population didn’t want a rematch and would have preferred that Oklahoma State play LSU on Monday night in the Superdome.

“A lot of people voted us out, didn’t want us in this ballgame,” Richardson said. “But Monday night, we’re going to show them why we should have been in this ball game.... We just love being the underdogs, and we love being the team that nobody wants to see in the championship.”

Richardson is still bothered by the Nov. 5 home loss to LSU, even though he accounted for 169 of his team’s 295 total offensive yards.

Richardson rushed for only 89 yards against a defense that hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher all year. He also failed to find the end zone, which was unacceptable for someone who scored 20 rushing touchdowns.

He has been the face of 11 Alabama victories this year, but also of the Crimson Tide’s lone defeat.

Richardson appreciates the do-over and the opportunity to deliver another title to Tuscaloosa.

LSU knows what to expect.

“He’s pretty much a beast,” Tigers cornerback Tyrann Mathieu said of Richardson. “He’s a freak in the open field.”

LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis spent the bulk of BCS preparation on Richardson film watch.

“Very difficult to tackle,” Chavis said. “Very seldom does he go down in a one-on-one situation. You’ve got to get numbers to the point of attack when he has the football.”

This is probably Richardson’s last run on the collegiate stage. He’s a draft-eligible junior and has two daughters. Really, as an amateur, he has nothing much left to prove.

Richardson had a tough upbringing in Pensacola, Fla., raised around drugs and violence. He wants to make something better for his kids.

“I don’t want them to struggle like I did — to go through the stuff I had to go through,” he said. “That’s really motivated me on the field. Because when I play with my girls on my mind, I feel like nobody can stop me.”

A running back’s body has only so many carries in it, and it is best not to give away too many for free.

Richardson appears ready to follow his idols’ path into the NFL. He attended Escambia High School, which produced Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith. Ingram, of course, graduated to the New Orleans Saints, where he was a part of this year’s playoff run until being sidelined with a turf toe injury.

“He’s always been Superman in my eyes,” Richardson said of Ingram.

Richardson is on a collision course with the pros, but not before a collision course with LSU.

“I don’t expect it to be no high-scoring game, just because the way we play football around here,” he said. “I don’t expect no blowout game or no 45 points up on the scoreboard unless we go into like five overtimes, and I highly doubt that there. The games you’ve been watching, you’re not going to get that here. You’re going to get a slugfest, man-up game, and see who is the best man on the field come Monday.”

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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