Denard Robinson on a "short leash"
I cannot believe how many comments I've read talking about how Denard should be on a "short leash," and that we should see what Tate and Devin can do.
Were you guys under a rock for the first 5 games? Denard is the future of this program, and yesterday all that happened was he showed that he's human. He single-handedly brought us to a 5-0 start, is the most electrifying player in college football, is at the top of almost every Heisman list, leads the nation in total yards, and you guys want to pull him because he had a game where he didn't play that great yet still picked up over 300 total yards.
He's young, he's inexperienced, and he's going to make mistakes sometimes. But he's still Denard, he's still the future of the program, and there's no way one game should put him on a "short leash" considering all that he's accomplished to start this year.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:15 PM ^
...right. No one likes to lose, and no one likes to lose to one of our rivals (yes, MSU is a rival). But it's one loss and if you thought we weren't going to have losses this year, I'm pretty sure you've been smoking maize and blue crack.
Optimism (which I have in abundance) is not the same thing as clinging to unrealistic expectations.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:15 PM ^
That we're yelling at eachother so much after a lose. Don't you see this is exactly what MSU wants us to do? They're trying to tear this family apart! Instead of yelling at eachother and calling one another doo-doo heads, can't we just have a good ol' pos-bang circle-jerk, get drunk and do things we're gonna forget later or never speak of again?
October 10th, 2010 at 6:19 PM ^
Denard should have given the Tebow speech after the game.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:59 PM ^
According to this thread on Scout, he did give a Tebow-esque speech in the locker room after the game. He just didn't do it in front of the media.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:12 PM ^
He did.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:38 PM ^
Denard's performance Saturday was inevitable, RR has predicted such, from game one. Watching how Denard responds to his sub-par outing, starting with Iowa and going forward is what I am most interested in.
Denard may have another tough outing against Iowa, either way, the kid is tough as nails, eventually he is going to figure it out.
This is a hard nosed team and there is much to admire about them, I expect them to gut out a victory against Iowa, Penn State, or Wisconsin and put a smile on everybody's face. Well almost everyone, I know some of you are more depressed in victory than defeat.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:50 PM ^
There was about a 20 min. period yesterday where I had some horrible thought's, and to be frank, as a "true Michigan fan" I'm completely ashamed of myself...I had to put a pillow over my head an repeat, nah-nah- na- nah-nah like 50 times and they went away.
October 10th, 2010 at 7:01 PM ^
I was at the game and was amazed by the amount of M fans that wanted to pull DROB. It was if they thought he was a lost cause. I was embarassed for these people, how quickly they forget about his abilitites.
October 10th, 2010 at 8:26 PM ^
dont forget all the pundits including Koendyke of MSU rivals.com and Smith from OSU...saying that he will be injured if not during this game but soon.
Learn from your mistakes and move on....Beat Iowa and Go Blue
October 10th, 2010 at 9:35 PM ^
everyone had a bad game.
The dropped balls, the bad play calling, the gashed D line, etc.
There are a lot of teams with a loss now.
Alabama got whipped but I still think they are the best team in the nation - better that OSU and Oregon.
October 10th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^
Yes, I know that was against Bowling Green but he led us to several TDs while both running and passing well. I certainly hope that Denard learns from this past game as other posters have suggested. I just don't think he needed to stay in the whole game to know he was not performing well or to learn a lesson
As others have stated many of his passes were well off target, even many of the completions. Tate is now healthy and our offensive line is arguably better than last year. Denard was not getting the job done. Why NOT give Tate a chance? He did it against Sparty last year.
Last year when Tate struggled against Iowa Denard came in and led us downfield for a TD. We almost won that game. If any QB is struggling late in a game, I say give another of our good QBs a chance. It does not mean he is being replaced permanently. After all, I would rather give us a chance to win over allowing the starting QB to continue to struggle in order to learn a lesson that replacing him would also achieve. Perhaps switching other QBs in also gives them a greater incentive for practicing hard during the week. Just my opinion.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:45 AM ^
because Denard has been the most dominant player in the entire country this year, & if you want to come back you rely on your best players to do it. Denard is our best player, the future of our program, & having one off day doesn't change that. He's capable of breaking one at any time & he gave us the best chance of coming back yesterday. You don't want Denard to be looking over his shoulder after every mistake he makes even though, according to you, he only deserves to stay in the game if he plays a perfect one. It was his worst game of the year & the dude still had 300 total yards & 2 touchdowns.
October 10th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^
serious?
October 10th, 2010 at 10:30 PM ^
I would say I am surprised to see this even being brought up but there were many comments along these lines in the Liveblog too. Look, I will always love Tate for that performance against Notre Dame and for gutting it out through injuries last year but come on. Tate seems to have matured a lot this year and is a fantastic backup but he's just not in Denard's league.
October 10th, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
While Denard was great for the first five games this year, Tate was equally great for the first four games last year (and was getting the same sort of Heisman hype that Denard has been getting this year) and really only stopped being great when he got hurt, at which time he continued to play pretty well through a lot of pain. Last year and this year, both were great against the weaker part of the schedule. And, FWIW, this year the one time Tate got in, he was 12 for 12 and took the team right down the field for a touchdown on every single drive. Without taking anything away from Denard, it seems to me as if it may well be that a passing quarterback who can run would be better, especially against tougher competition, than a running quarterback who can pass. While Tate may be less likely to take it to the house than Denard, he may well take us on longer more ball control oriented drives. That is exactly what he did until he got hurt last year and the one time he got in this year. But, I must admit, I was rooting for Tate to be the starter from the beginning and still think we might be better with him. I continue to think we may well be better with him passing and occasionally running while handing the ball to the running backs. Who knows?
October 10th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^
Tate was equally great for the first four games last year (and was getting the same sort of Heisman hype that Denard has been getting this year)
No, he was not. People need to stop saying this. No one seriously ever considered him Heisman material.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:00 AM ^
Scout, 9/16/09:
In the nearly 75-year history of the Heisman Trophy, a freshman never has won - though Georgia's Herschel Walker in 1980 and Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson in 2004 were deserving candidates.
Freshmen seem to be the only group excluded from the exclusive award. Yet after last week, the question has to be asked: Could the final frontier be conquered by Forcier?
Michigan freshman quarterback Tate Forcier was absolutely remarkable in leading the Wolverines to a 38-34 upset of Notre Dame. He passed for 240 yards and rushed for 70 while accounting for three touchdowns, including the game-winner in the waning seconds after he weaved through the Irish rush and found Greg Mathews for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Bleacher Report, 10/4/09:
After another near comeback victory for Michigan's Tate Forcier against Michigan State on Saturday, his performance begs one question.
Should the freshman be considered as a runner in the Heisman Trophy race?
After five games, the answer is yes.
Yes, it's only the beginning of October and the college football season isn't even half over, but Forcier has been electric in his first five starts this season.
He led Michigan to a thrilling victory over a then-ranked Notre Dame squad in Ann Arbor and also threw a go-ahead touchdown to Martavious Odoms to lead the Wolverines past Indiana.
You are wrong. He was considered, and at the time he was a true freshman without the year of seasoning that Denard had received by the start of this year.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:02 AM ^
Well if Bleacher Report said it, it must be true.
October 11th, 2010 at 1:27 AM ^
October 11th, 2010 at 6:45 AM ^
Because the backup QBs (Nick Sheridan, Denard Robinson) absolutely SUCKED last year.
October 10th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^
This is coming from a Michigan fan and a West Virginia fan. I read on this blog all the complaining about coach rod and his coaching decisions. I want my coach back you guys do not deserve him. All the bullshit you hear about coach rod coming from wvu fans is because we know we will never have a coach like him ever again. We are hurt cause we know the best thing to ever happen for the mountaineer program is gone. We sit here in West Virginia watching the wolverines turning into a something very deadly and it's eats us up because we know he should still be our coach. I watch Michigan and think Denard would be a Mountaineer so would odoms, roundtree, shaw, tousaint, and many others. I also believe we would have just picked up the best all purpose back in the country in dee hart coming to Morgantown next year man it would be so lovely. Imagine denard and devine in the same back field right now talk about a powerhouse. I mean michigan fans already want to bench denard because he threw 3 picks against state yesterday I mean are you guys serious. He's has to learn from his mistakes it is so obvious denard is a winner. Sometimes it seems people are not happy with denard because he is so different from what you guys are use to at michigan. Is it because he's black and not one of your golden boys like brady or henson someone please answer this one for me? I know tate is good but he is no denard you guys have the most lethal weapon in college football and michigan fans are upset. I know I will get killed for this post but I had to say it if you don't want Coach maybe he will come home.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:41 AM ^
"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?" (mcwvu75 responding to a post by bigyellowtaxi)
October 11th, 2010 at 1:03 AM ^
Watching the game, Denard looked very hesitant to run. On each of the three INT's, he probably should have tucked the ball and ran. In the first 5 games, that is probably what he'd have done, but against MSU, the thought didn't seem to cross his mind. I don't think he needs to be kept on a leash, but he needs that big game experience.
October 11th, 2010 at 9:11 AM ^
but I have to say, while sitting a highlight reel explosive weapon like Denard for any period for any reason seems absurd, so too does relegating a very impressive second year starter to be to perma-backup and not even discussing whether that is altogether the right move. Having two very good QBs is a nice position to be in, and I believe that Tate does do some things better than Denard, and probably always will. I am all in, but if Denard is our every down quarterback in every situation, I believe that our red zone struggles from the MSU game are only beginning. Rich Rod is captain innovation. I wish he would innovate a way to effectively use possibly the second best player on our team. Just sayin.
October 11th, 2010 at 7:49 PM ^
Rable Rable Rable..... bench him after one bad game!! every player has an off game now and then. Should OSU have benches pryor at Illinious should Alabama have benched McElroy? our problem is that bad offensive performance = a loss due to our defenses inability to stop anyone.
October 11th, 2010 at 9:27 PM ^
I agree with the general sentiment of the OP. Even Tebow had a couple rough games his first year as a starter, and the team finished with 3 losses in the regular season.
Denard has this program off to a 5-1 start while we have one of the worst defenses in football. I think the young man has earned some breathing room.