The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/106890
It was no joking matter when Robinson began literally running out of his shoes on the way toward Michigan history. Nobody chuckled in Notre Dame Stadium, when he bolted away on an 87-yard touchdown run, part of a 502-yard performance by the then-sophomore quarterback. Blue & Gold Illustrated editor Lou Somogyi cited that effort — which included 258 yards on the ground — as the greatest-single game ever played by an opponent in Notre Dame Stadium. And Robinson was just getting warmed up. He set a Michigan single-season record for total offense (4,272) on his way to the Chicago Tribune's Silver Football as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player, among a flood of other honors. But even while Robinson ascended, the coaching staff that brought him to Ann Arbor spiraled toward the on ramp toward I-94 West. When that season ended, the Wolverines skidding to an ignominious 52-14 burial in the Gator Bowl against Mississippi State, change came quickly. Rich Rodriguez and his staff packed their bags, and everyone wondered if Robinson might skip town as well. Some received an extra injection of anxiety in learning the new boss preferred the polar opposite of the spread offense fireworks, defenseoptional show of Robinson's first two years. Brady Hoke knew he could employ someone of Robinson's considerable talents, but getting him to remain in Ann Arbor became job one. As it turns out, it wasn't that hard at all. A Michigan Man Robinson didn't want to leave. He'd experienced football Saturdays at Michigan Stadium, life in Ann Arbor, and two years of the college experience in one of the most highprofile football venues in America. He certainly harbored questions about what was to come, but didn't do so with one eye on the door. "When you look at Michigan, you come there and look at the institution, school-wise, The Big House, nothing can compare," Robinson said. "It's still a dream for me. I never really thought I'd be here to talk with you, be here making a lot of plays at Michigan." He quickly came to the point of assuring teammates he'd be around to make them. "His dedication showed when RichRod left, and there were people thinking he was going to go, too," Beckmann recalled. "When he told the team, 'What are you guys thinking? I'm a Michigan guy. I'm not leaving,' I think that tells you a lot about him." Teammates learned even more two seasons later when, coming down the home stretch of his senior year, he couldn't play quarterback anymore, at least in the way he'd known. The ulna nerve injury to his right elbow not only robbed Michigan of its best shot at a Big Ten championship, it thrust Robinson into an eventual role as a running back and occasional non-throwing QB.