Re-Examining The Denard Robinson Legacy 10 Years Later

We continue to look back at Wolverines that generated enormous hype, asking whether they fulfilled that at Michigan. Next up: Denard Robinson.

The Hype Builds: Beginning in the mid-1980s with Jim Harbaugh, Michigan has featured a similar type of quarterback: pocket passers that took most, if not all, snaps under center. Running the football was not a skill set for most of these quarterbacks - in fact, from 1986-2007, only one QB (Harbaugh himself) had rushed for more than 80 yards in a career.

In 2007, Rich Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor with an up-tempo spread offense, very foreign to Wolverines’ fans, and was in need of a different type of athlete to run the offense. 

Tate Forcier was the heralded QB recruit in the 2009 class, a 4-star dual threat with the ability to make plays with both his arm and his feet. Denard Robinson was seen as a potential complement to Forcier. What Robinson had that Forcier didn’t, though, was a type of quickness and speed that fans had never seen from a Michigan quarterback before.

Although Forcier was playing well early in 2009, it didn’t take long for Robinson to catch the attention of Michigan fans. Late in the first quarter of the Wolverines’ season opener, Robinson trotted out to take his second snap as a Wolverine. With his shoelaces untied, Robinson initially fumbled the snap, but picked the ball up and zig-zagged to the end zone making half a dozen Western Michigan defenders miss on his way.

Instantly, Denard “Shoelace” Robinson became a fan favorite, and seeing him kneel in the end zone at the end of a play became a familiar sight.

At Michigan: Forcier held the starting job for the rest of 2009, but Robinson took over immediately in 2010 and never looked back. He averaged 328.6 yards of total offense per game during the 2010 season - a Michigan single-season record by more than 40 yards.

Although he was inconsistent as a passer - Robinson completed just 57.3 percent of his career pass attempts and threw more interceptions (39) in his career than any other QB in program history - Robinson made up for it with his unique playmaking ability. He finished his career with over 10,745 yards of total offense and 91 total touchdowns (both U-M records).

Was The Hype Real: It would be hard to argue that a player who made it onto the cover of the EA Sports NCAA Football video game after his career did not live up to the hype. There is plenty of debate about Robinson’s career as a quarterback, as his rushing ability was more dangerous than his passing ability, but his magic as a playmaker was second to none. He was a player that left fans (and his opponents) wondering “What is Denard going to do next?”

To truly say a player lived up to the hype, there also needs to be at least one significant victory throughout a career, and Robinson had multiple. 

For starters, Robinson is the last quarterback for Michigan to beat Ohio State (in 2011). In addition, he made a career out of breaking the hearts of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In 2010, Robinson had an 87-yard run in South Bend, which still stands today as the longest run from scrimmage in Notre Dame Stadium history, and he led a come-from-behind victory, scoring the game-winning touchdown in the final minute.

A moment that no Michigan fan will ever forget, in the first night game in Michigan Stadium history in Sept. 2011, Robinson hit W Roy Roundtree in the corner of the end zone with two seconds left to put the Wolverines ahead of the Fighting Irish and ultimately win the game 35-31. 

Robinson finished that game with 446 total yards of offense and accounted for five touchdowns, one of his seven Top 10 single-game performances in total offense in Michigan history. It was then and there he cemented his legacy.