The Wolverine

2014 Michigan Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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THE WOLVERINE 2014 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 255 lar season. The second game may have been his best, when Robinson completed 14 of 17 passes (82.4 percent) for 167 yards with three touchdowns in a win over the Buckeyes. He also rushed for 170 yards and two scores on 26 carries (6.5 yards per attempt), providing a glimpse of the dominant dual-threat QB he potentially could be. 3. Jeremy Gallon vs. Indiana, 2013: Most re- cords fall when a player eclipses the previous mark incrementally. Tell that to Gallon. In his senior year, the Wolverines' No. 1 receiver destroyed the school single-game receiving yards standard of 246 yards (Roy Roundtree versus Illinois in 2010) when he went off for 369 yards on 14 catches against the Hoosiers. Gallon's performance is unequaled in the annals of Big Ten history and it ranks second all time nationally for yards by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) receiver (Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards, 405 in 1998). 4. Denard Robinson vs. Nebraska, 2011: When the Cornhuskers rolled into town, the two Legends Division rivals were both pining for a shot in the Big Ten title game and were prepared to ride the legs of their run-first QBs. But Robinson made his impact with his arm, throwing for 180 yards and two scores with 83 yards rushing and a touchdown in producing more than twice the output through the air than he did on the ground. Robinson posted a 170.67 pass-efficiency rating in leading Michi- gan to the 45-17 blowout of Nebraska, while NU's Taylor Martinez put up a modest 98.03 passer rating. 5. Jeremy Gallon vs. Notre Dame, 2013: Gallon took his turn piling up big numbers versus Notre Dame, catching eight balls for 184 yards and three touchdowns in 2013's win over the Irish. In accumulating his haul, Gallon had receptions of 22, 41 and 61 yards, scoring on the latter, in addition to touchdowns of 12 and 13 yards. A then-career-best evening for the senior, the 184-yard effort also bettered the previous U-M best of 165 yards against the Blue and Gold (Junior Hemingway in 2011), while his three touchdowns matched a U-M high in matchups with Notre Dame (Mario Manningham in 2006). 6. Denard Robinson vs. Air Force, 2012: In his career, Robinson achieved the 200-200 mark three times, twice in 2010 and one last time in 2012 after he threw for 208 yards and two scores and ran for 218 yards and two scores against Air Force. Incredibly, Robinson scored on touchdown runs of 79 and 58 yards, becoming the first Wolverine in school history to record two 50-yard touchdowns in the same game. With Michigan finishing with 422 yards of offense — the rest of the team was credited with minus-four yards rushing — Robinson actually accounted for more than 100 percent of the team's production. 7. Tate Forcier vs. Notre Dame, 2009: Be- fore Robinson dazzled, the keys to the offense belonged to Forcier, and he proved a capable spark for the Maize and Blue early in his fresh- man campaign. Forcier was terrific in a 38-34 win over the Fighting Irish, leading a pair of fourth-quarter TD drives, and throwing the game-winning touchdown pass with only 11 seconds left on the clock. Overall, he com- pleted 23 of 33 attempts (69.7 percent) for 240 yards with two scores while rushing for 70 yards and a touchdown. He put U-M ahead 31-20 with his 31-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter and connected with Greg Mat- thews for a five-yard pass to clinch the game in the final seconds. 8. Vincent Smith vs. Minnesota, 2011: Smith was not an every-down back for Michi- gan, but he was a multi-faceted threat that put every skill to good use in a win over the Golden Gophers. On that day, Smith accounted for a touchdown as a rusher, a receiver and a passer, becoming the fifth Big Ten player since 1996 and the first FBS athlete since Clemson's C.J. Spiller in 2009 to produce a TD in each of the three manners. He scored first on a three-yard run, then threw a 17-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, and capped his day with a 28-yard touchdown reception before the first half had even expired. 9. Fitzgerald Toussaint vs. Illinois, 2011: Toussaint enjoyed a career season in 2011, rushing for 100 yards or more in five games in totaling 1,041 yards on the year (and 818 in Big Ten play). The redshirt sophomore had his best afternoon in Michigan's 31-14 win at Illinois, rushing for a career-high 192 yards and a score on 27 carries (7.1-yard average). Toussaint went 65 yards on his second carry of the game and added 25- and 27-yard gains, the latter reach- ing the end zone in putting the final touches on the Wolverines' victory. 10. Denard Robinson vs. UConn, 2010: Making his first career start, Robinson con- firmed Rich Rodriguez's decision to play him over incumbent starter Forcier, accruing 383 yards of total offense in setting a then Michi- gan single-game standard. On U-M's open- ing drive, the sophomore signal-caller rushed for 58 yards, including a 22-yard romp, and completed both of his passes for 22 yards. He finished the day with 197 yards rushing and completed 19 of his 22 passes for 186 yards. In 2010 at Notre Dame, quarterback Denard Robinson became just the ninth quarterback in Division I history to both rush (258) and pass (244) for more than 200 yards in a game. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN 254-258.Class of 2009.indd 255 6/18/14 4:44 PM

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