Remember last year when Denard Robinson topped everyone’s Heisman Trophy list through the first four or five games?
The game that really caught everyone’s attention was Michigan’s 28-24 win at Notre Dame. Robinson threw for 244 yards and a touchdown, while adding another 258 yards and two scores on the ground.
Shoelace is back!
Robinson’s numbers in the first half Saturday night were far from Heisman-worthy. But Robinson’s second-half performance just may get him back in the conversation again this year. If Robinson wasn’t already, he will now be included with all of the Michigan greats after leading the Wolverines to 28 fourth-quarter points in a 35-31 win in the first night game at The Big House.
Robinson just threw a lot of passes up and let his receivers go make plays, but he finished with 338 yards and four touchdowns on 11-of-24 passing. He was also a running threat again as well. Robinson rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown.
The Irish appeared to have pulled out the win as Tommy Rees connected with Theo Riddick on a 29-yard score with 30 seconds to play. But Robinson was just getting warmed up. So how did Notre Dame get to this point and 0-2 in what was supposed to be a breakout season?
Turnovers.
Just one week after giving the ball away five times, including three inside the Red Zone, Notre Dame coughed it up four times against Michigan.
The Irish could have built an even bigger lead in the first half (17-7) if not for turnovers. If Notre Dame protected the ball, Brian Kelly’s squad would be 2-0 and ranked right now instead of reeling at 0-2.
Even when Michigan fumbled the ball near the end zone, it was the Wolverines who got the lucky break and the ball bounced their way —including Denard Robinson’s touchdown in the fourth quarter.
While Rees proved he should remain the starting quarterback for the Irish, he also threw two interceptions and had a huge fumble in the Red Zone late in the fourth quarter that could have sealed the win for Notre Dame.
Kelly and the Irish need to fix this problem immediately, or it’s going to be a long season in South Bend.
The Irish could have picked up a serious confidence boost with a win under the lights at Michigan Stadium. Instead, the Irish must now look ahead and see where that elusive first win will come from.
Notre Dame hosts No. 17 Michigan State next Saturday, and the Spartans look every bit as good as last year’s Big Ten championship squad. Last year’s game came down to a Michigan State fake field goal, but don’t expect anything like that this year.
What you have to like about Notre Dame going forward, though, is the play of Michael Floyd at receiver and the way the Irish’s big offensive line is being physical and giving Cierre Wood room to run.
If the Irish lose to Michigan State, watch out for Pittsburgh a week later. The Panthers have been pretty average so far, but Pitt seems to play Notre Dame tough every year.
If Notre Dame gets by those two and is sitting at 2-2 going into the Purdue game on Oct. 1, watch out for the Irish. The confidence will finally come back and the schedule is soft enough that Brian Kelly’s team could be 9-2 when it travels to Stanford in the regular-season finale.
Upset alert: Notre Dame can’t overlook Maryland on Nov. 12.
Now Michigan has been here before.
The final two years of the Rich Rodriguez tenure started off well, only to see the Wolverines struggle through the Big Ten part of the schedule. Just last year Michigan opened 5-0 before dropping three straight to Michigan State, Iowa and Penn State.
Can first-year coach Brady Hoke avoid the conference meltdown?
The easy answer is yes.
Robinson is not taking the beating that he did in Rodriguez’s spread offense, and the offensive line is better.
But Michigan must get better on defense to survive in the Big Ten. Fortunately for Hoke he has Greg Mattison as his defensive coordinator and not Greg Robinson.
Even though the defense looked lost at times against Notre Dame, the unit was tough on stuffing the run on third down. It’s also nice to have a leader like Jordan Kovacs making plays from his safety position.
Following this emotional win, the Wolverines catch a break with Eastern Michigan next week. The game with Hoke’s former team, San Diego State on Sept. 24 is a formidable challenge.
Michigan gets into league play on Oct. 1 vs. Minnesota, which should be a win.
Then it gets tough with Northwestern (Oct. 8) and rival Michigan State (Oct. 15).
