Heismanpunit.com on Denard

Submitted by dosleches on

Some nice perspective on Denard's "bad" game [ed: no quotes necessary... it was a bad game for Denard, but not THAT bad when put into perspective]:

http://heismanpundit.com/2010/10/09/what-we-learned-about-denard-robins…

Far more important than the fact that Robinson’s team lost and far more important than the three interceptions is the fact that, in a game where he was slowed down considerably, he still had over 300 yards of offense (217 passing, 84 rushing) against a ranked team that was determined to stop him.  It’s become clear that an ‘off’ day for him is still an ‘on’ day for most players.  Furthermore, it has still not been demonstrated that he can be ‘stopped’ the way most players can.

Hearken back to game six of the 2007 season.  Tim Tebow was held to 158 passing yards, 67 rushing yards and two total touchdowns in a loss to LSU (the second-straight for the Gators).  That loss did little to slow down the Tebow train because he was able to maintain his record-setting pace, just as Robinson was able to against Michigan State.  Had Robinson been completely shut down, his Heisman hopes would’ve suffered immensely, but that’s not what happened.

lilpenny1316

October 11th, 2010 at 12:16 PM ^

He's going up against an Iowa defense that is more highly regarded than MSU's.  Throw on top of that a primetime game at PSU.  Oh, and OSU on national television.

Him and the entire team will have more chances to show they are for real this year.

RadioSimon1983

October 11th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

Iowa showed last year they had trouble defending against Michigan's offense.  Losing by 2 points while turning the ball over 5 times on the road actually showed a lot of positive for Michigan's offense.

Penn State is a shadow of the team people thought they'd be.  They're completely decimated by injuries.  That game looks winnable.

As for OSU... frankly by that point if Robinson keeps on his current pace he can have a MSU-type game and still have the Heisman locked up.  Especially if he's remotely close to the 2k/2k mark.

lilpenny1316

October 11th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^

Plus I agree that PSU is definitely a winnable game.  I've just learned to respect night games in Happy Valley and conference road games in general.

The thing is that while we see these teams like Iowa and PSU all the time, the national people don't.  It's just like how the ND game put Denard at the top of most people's lists.  ND's D is comparable to MSU's D in my opinion, but because it's ND and it's on national TV, people hype the game more.

Iowa's D has a great reputation and Penn State is still Penn State to a lot of Heisman people.  You do well against them and people will give you attention.

Hopefully by the OSU game, Denard is past 2k rushing and is approaching 3k passing.

Durham Blue

October 11th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^

gave me more confidence that we can beat them in Happy Valley.  Illinois runs a very similar offense that we do, yet our offense is arguably much better.  Granted, our D is much worse than Illinois' but if PSU had trouble stopping Illinois, they're going to have lots of trouble stopping us.  To boot, PSU's offense this year is borderline awful.  This should be a nightmare matchup for PSU.

jayman065

October 11th, 2010 at 1:13 PM ^

He had one bad game... he wont be held in check like we was the last game on a regular basis.  Plus unlike so many of the other offensive hieman contenders he doesnt have a defense that will bail him out if he makes a bad play.

Phil Davison

October 11th, 2010 at 5:11 PM ^

I like that we get Iowa at home after this loss. Great chance for Denard and the whole team to rebound and without the pressure and buildup that the MSU game had been getting for what seemed like the day after the ND game. If we can play well against Iowa it's the type of game that builds character and teaches a team "how" to win.