Denard Robinson

Right now:

Denard Robinson on BTN in "The Journey"

K-State vs. Delaware in the other NIT Semi

At 9:30:

M vs. Pitt

Also, drinking thread for those of us not heading out or heading out later:

An ice cold Labatt Blue for me.

    If there is one thing we've learned from following Team 133 this season, it's - everybody say it with me - "there's an expectation for the position." This is not unique to Michigan football. For example, the expectation for the Iowa running back position is that you will be struck down at some point in the season by AIRBHG*. The expectation for the Iowa wide receiver position is that you will have a hypenated name. With a new offensive coordinator at Iowa, a new expectation for that position has developed. He will now wander the field aimlessly while the Iowa QB goes through his progressions, which start and end with tight ends. There is also an expectation for Iowa's safety position, that he be a fair complected walk-on, who develops into the leader of the defense. Hmmm, seems we co-opted that expectation.

    I bring this up because it's pretty clear that the expectations for the QB position at the University of Michigan have been raised this season. We will now expect our backup QB to be a first string WR, and if our starting QB gets hurt, we will expect him to become a 100 yard per game running back. Shane, you might want to work on your route running and learn how to read your blockers.

* After what happened to Fitz, that will be the last time I mention AIRBHG. I suggest we all retire that meme.
    
Link: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/111712aaa.html

Burst of Impetus
* Did Iowa ever really have a chance in this game? They kicked a FG to make it 14-10 in the 2nd quarter, but I never got the sense they would challenge us. There are only so many times you can throw to a tight end before Mattison adjusts, and you sort of need to be able to stop a team from scoring touchdowns every single time they get the ball.
* Brady did go for it twice on 4th down. I guess those were big plays. He has shown a propensity to try to break the will of the opponent early in games, especially when playing an opponent that doesn't match up with us.

Malachi Crunch
* 21 players recorded defensive stats, led by JR3 with 12 tackles. I would guess that most of those were after Iowa tight end receptions. Bolden and Ryan each had 6 tackles. Yay! three linebackers led us in tackles. That, of course, will happen when Iowa averages 9.5 yards per pass attempt. Michigan was at 17.4 by way of comparison.
* We tallied 8 TFLs, 2 sacks and broke up 2 passes, but were again shut out in QHs.
* The last two names listed were Brandin Hawthorne and Floyd Simmons. Each had an assisted tackle. I think Brady Hoke mentioned them earlier this week when he was being asked repeatedly about Denard's last home game. I would guess that Hawthorne and Simmons had larger dreams than being special teams contributors, but in keeping with, "The Team, The Team, The Team" theme, those two guys took on their roles and were every bit a part of the team as the two Ermahgerd guys.

Ermahgerd Berthoftherm
* Devin Gardner was 18 of 23 passing for 314 yards. His first half would have made for a nice game - 204 yards, 2 TDs running, 2 TDs passing. He passed and ran for two more TDs in the second half for a total of 6.
* Denard Robinson became the #1 back after Fitz' injury, and probably got more carries than Brady wanted as a result. He ended up with 98 yards on 13 carries for a 7.5 yard average.

Bunches of Funchess
* I don't know if our receivers were that good, or Iowa's DBs were that bad, but it seemed like our guys were always a step or two away from the Iowa DBs, except for those few times our guys were open by 10 or 20 steps.
* Gallon caught a 51 yard bomb and tallied 133 yards on 5 catches.
* Roundtree also caught 5 for 83 yards and a TD.
* Funchess caught another TD, and Vincent Smith scored a TD on his patented throwback screen play, that was assisted greatly by Denard's being on the field.

And Justice for Rawls
* Fitz had 31 yards on 3 carries before his injury. I'm sure we all wish him a speedy recovery.
* Rawls' running plays was the one area we struggled. He ended up with 2.8 ypc on 8 carries. A lot of his runs were short yardage situation things, but we'll need more than 2.8 ypc in the shoe.

Norf and Souf
* We only punted once, and as a result, special teams weren't much of a factor this week.
* Iowa's punter is named Kornbrath. I'm not making that up.

Zonkeys
* Two of the officials were named "Carr." I don't know if they were related to Lloyd. The Field judge was Ed Rohan, which seems fitting considering the Vincent Smith mini-Balrog YOU SHALL NOT PASS haiku from earlier this week.

Opponent bullets
* L. Trinca-Pasat had 4 tackles. Apparently, Iowa's hypenated name thing is spreading to their DL.
* When he was awake, Collin Sleeper had 4 tackles, and when he wasn't hyding from our WRs, Micah Hyde had 8 tackles and an INT.
* Steve Bigach had 3 tackles. I bring this up because his name is a perfect metaphor for the BIGGG TENNNNN this year. BIG ACK! (Hey, bonus points for me for working in a cat photo.)

Outside the Boxscore
    We're nearing the end of another season, and I've started to reflect on the meaning of all this. It's just a game, right? And should big-time athletics really be associated with academic instutions of higher learning? Well, I'd answer no and yes, respectively. Back yard football on Thanksgiving is just a game. Preparing year round to go out in front of 110,000+ fans and a national TV audience, risking your health, while reporters and bloggers track every play, suggests that it's not just a game. There is something larger at stake, and I don't mean the millions awaiting some of the players upon graduation. There are life lessons to be learned along the way, that are completely in line with the goals of an academic institution. Let's look at Devin and Denard. Devin's dream was and is to play QB. When he found himself playing behind Denard, he didn't sulk or limit himself to being the backup. He found a way onto the field to help the team. When it was his turn to play QB, he prepared and performed incredibly well considering the circumstances. When Denard was injured and couldn't throw the ball anymore, did he sulk? Did he leave the team? No, he found another way to help the team, first as a mentor to Devin, and then as a contributor on the field. There will be situations those two individuals face later in life, where they will have to decide between doing what is best for themselves individually, versus what is best for the business they are working for or the family they are part of. I'm pretty sure I know how they will choose. Every now and then, sports teach us some pretty important life lessons, if we are willing to pay attention.

If Denard Robinson plays this weekend and in what would likely be the remaining two games of his collegiate career beyond Saturday, then this will definitely get updated (in this diary, to save space). I wanted to take a moment, however, to show folks graphically what Denard’s production on the field has looked like at a high level. What I have done is taken his game-by-game rushing and passing totals as well as rushing and passing touchdowns (data courtesy of MGoBlue’s archive) and charted them below.

One thing that should be pointed out is that what you see here, even if Robinson does not play again, is the production of the Wolverines’ 5^thall-time rusher regardless of offensive position, and among quarterbacks, the 4^thbest in terms of total passing yards, as well as the 4^thbest in passing touchdowns and yards per pass attempt. Even at this juncture, certainly it is a storied career based on these numbers, forgetting how exciting he is to watch for just one second.  

Indeed, if we see him out there on Saturday against Iowa, not only will it add to this data,  but it will be one of the more poignant moments in Michigan football as it will be his last game in Ann Arbor. In looking at these numbers, it gave me a very clear perspective on just how electrifying he has been on the field. Of course, it is not just the numbers that will be missed, or the sheer athleticism, but the leadership and the personality and the fact that he has been the face of our University even to people who have never watched a snap of Wolverine football in their lives.

Not enough for a full post from this game, but wanted to drop these off anyway:

Also, Tim Hardaway Jr. photo spectacularr is definitely still a thing:

A nice little article by Angelique Chengelis (UofM beat writer) about Denard through the perspective Rich Rodriguez. 

Remember, this is about Denard and not Rich Rodriguez so lets all keep the RichRod flaming out this. There are few people who can talk about Denard as a player and as a person so I found it nice to see the love that Rodriguez still has for him even though he is no longer here.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121114/SPORTS0201/211140327/Rich-Ro...

With all the "Denard sucks, lolz" and "Denard can't play QB" and "That wasn't one of his best games" coming out of the internet, I thought we could take a look at where Denard is for some pretty awesome milestones, NCAA wide, and Michigan wide:

He's already got these records under his belt:

College records

—NCAA (all divisions)

• Only 1500-yard passing/1500-yard rushing season

—Division I FBS

• Rushing yards by a QB (season)
• Division I FBS 200-yard passing/200-yard rushing regular season games (career and season)

—Big Ten Conference

• Rushing yards by a QB (single game and career)
• Total offense (single-season)
• Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards (career)
• Silver Football Award Winner

—Michigan

• Total offense (single-game)
• Rushing yards on the road (single game)
• Passing yards (single half)
• 200-yard rushing games (career)

—Other

• Notre Dame Stadium longest run from scrimmage

In addition to being Michigan's all time total yardage leader, beating ND, MSU, OSU, and winning a BCS Bowl in 2.5 years as a starter, let's see how he's doing elsewhere:

Single Game Michigan Records:

Total Offense: Denard has the top 8 and 9 of the top 10 games from a total offense perspective. John Navarre's 368 yards against Iowa in 2003 is the only game record that isn't his.

Passing Yards: He sits at #9, #10, and 20.

Passing TDs: Tied for the record (with many others) with 4TD passes in a single game. (ND 2011)

Rushing Yards: Numbers 5 and 7 belong to #16, with the 2010 ND and Purdue games.

Career Michigan Records:

Passing Yards: With 6195 Yards so far, he trails only Henne, Navarre, and Grbac, with Elvis in his sights less than 300 yards away.

Passing TDs: He's #4 again behind the same 3. The 22TDs he needs to pass Grbac here might be harder to do before he graduates.

Rushing Yards: At 4129 Denard trails only Hart, Thomas, Morris, and Wheatley. He needs 912 yards to pass Hart, but as of right now Hart has an extra 439 carries to his record.

Rushing TDs: Again trailing only Wheatley and the A Train he's now tied with Mike Hart with 41. If he can get 15 more he'll pass Thomas and be the highest in the official record books. *

*Willie Heston's 71 TDs from 1901-1904 aren't included in the official database because the pre-1949 stats are incomplete.

Career NCAA Records:

The big one, QB Rushing Yards. Pat White's 4480 is in reach 351 yards away.  Denard has 5 more B1G games, and he'll need to average 70.2 per game to have this record by the time the clock hits zeros in Columbus.

Criticize his decision making, throwing off his back foot, etc. but to say he hasn't been awesome to watch the past few years and that he hasn't had a remarkable career... I'd respectfully disagree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_football_records

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denard_Robinson#Michigan.27s_all-time_total_offense_leaders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_Michigan_Wolverines_football_statistical_leaders