The Wolverine

MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Denard Robinson's Passer Rating Varies By Venue F Denard Robinson may not seem like he's improved as a passer compared to his first two seasons, but offensive coordinator Al Borges has seen tre- mendous growth in his senior signal- caller. resh off a four-interception, five- turnover game at Notre Dame, "He understands better what to do," Borges said. "He's posing a threat as a runner more, even within our passing game, which is always good for him. He's a lot better — a lot better, and he understands so much better. "You had to be there in last year's dynamic as opposed to this year's dynamic, and be in the film room and listen to the feedback you get. It's a different kid. I think you'll see more and more of that as we go." Over the course of his enter career, including the first four games this season, Robinson has racked up a 140.25 passer rating that ranks him fourth among Michigan's starting signal-callers during the past 25 years. However, there is a decided difference in his play at home versus on the road or at a neutral-site game. In his first 17 career starts at The Big House, Robinson completed 63.2 Quarterback Years Rating Elvis Grbac Todd Collins U-M CAREER QB RATING IN PAST 25 YEARS Drew Henson 1998-00 140.82 Denard Robinson* 2009-12 140.25 Tom Brady 1989-92 148.14 1991-94 145.03 Chad Henne 2004-07 133.90 Brian Griese Scott Dreisbach 1995-98 125.99 John Navarre 2000-03 125.76 *Through four games of 2012 1996-99 136.43 1994-97 131.37 in front of him, he can identify it quickly," Borges said. "He'll get on the phone and tell you right away. He goes, 'Blah blah blah missed his block right in front of me. I just couldn't see the throw. The safety jumped in front, that's why I backed out and did this.' It's amazing how accurate it is." "Once I get off the field, I go to those headsets and say, 'This is what I saw, and this is what we should probably do,' or something like that," Robinson confirmed. "It's year two, and I made a lot of strides in the summer, looking at film and having another year under my belt." — Michael Spath In 17 career starts at The Big House through September 2012, Robinson had completed 63.2 percent of his passes with 28 touch- downs and 18 interceptions. In 10 road games, Robinson had completed only 53.6 percent of his attempts with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL percent of his passes with 28 touch- downs and 18 interceptions. He pro- duced a passer rating of 163.27 that would generally rank among the na- tion's top 10-20 in any given year. On the road, though, Robinson completed only 53.6 percent of his attempts with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 10 games, and posted a passer rating of 124.01 that this season would rank him 89th na- tionally among quarterbacks. A game is not won or lost solely by QB play, but U-M had a 5-5 record in those contests, while going 14-3 in Robinson's starts in Ann Arbor. Robinson pointed the finger at him- self following the Wolverines' loss at Notre Dame, and his ability to iden- tify where he errs on any given series has been one of his progressions. "The one thing about Denard that is amazing is if something goes wrong Venue Att. Comp. Pct. YPG TDs INTs Rating Away Home ROBINSON'S PASSING NUMBERS HOME VS. AWAY DURING 30 CAREER STARTS Neutral 239 128 53.6 321 203 63.2 88 47 53.4 185.8 11 12 185.4 28 18 190.3 5 4 124.01 163.27 117.57 RUNNING BACKS LOOK TO PICK IT UP IN CONFERENCE PLAY Some new terminology emerged during the non-conference portion of Michigan's football schedule. The Wolverines' "non-Denard rushing at- tack" became a point of scrutiny. Appropriately so, since senior quarterback Denard Robinson rushed 66 times for 441 yards and four touchdowns in Michigan's first four games. Meanwhile, five U-M running backs combined to carry 68 times for 287 yards and four TDs. Robinson averaged 6.7 yards per carry in non-conference play, while the tailbacks averaged 4.2. The latter group — in conjunction with Michi- gan's offensive line — simply has to improve in the weeks to come, head coach Brady Hoke noted. After the loss at Notre Dame, he commented: "I thought our offensive line with [Fitzgerald] Toussaint run- ning the ball … made some strides there. But I think we have a long way to go to win the Big Ten Conference." Toussaint hasn't found his stride yet, at least in the fashion he dem- onstrated in 2011. The redshirt ju- nior piled up 1,041 rushing yards in Michigan's 11-2 campaign, averaging 5.6 per carry and scoring nine touch- downs. That effort helped take the rush- ing heat off Robinson, who supplied 1,176 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground himself. Toussaint's slow start has put more of the onus on the U-M quarterback. Toussaint stayed home, suspended, when the Wolverines ventured to Dallas to open the season against Al- abama. He returned for the second game, but managed just seven yards OCTOBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 43

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