Denard Robinson has killed Notre Dame. Smashed their hearts and stomped on their souls. This is undeniable. The man called Shoelace is Enemy No. 1 in South Bend this weekend. He’s put to sleep more echoes and silenced more thunder than any opponent in the modern era of Irish football.
The Wolverines enter South Bend attempting to win their fourth straight over the Irish. It’s Michigan’s longest winning streak against Notre Dame since 1908, making Robinson literally the villain of the century in a rivalry that might be described as one filled with mutual admiration, but really one built on hatred, jealousy, and a mutual dislike between Midwestern neighbors. This might not be the Hatfields and McCoys, but for two schools build on traditional pomp and circumstance, it’s not that far off.
As Notre Dame and Michigan prepare to play for the 40th time, only Robinson stands in the way of the Irish’s best start in a decade, and an inside track to a BCS bowl that hasn’t been in the Irish’s crosshairs since 2006. Yet to get by Michigan, they’ll need to slow down Robinson, something Notre Dame hasn’t come close to doing since he took over as the Wolverine’s starting quarterback.
There’s no way to understate Robinson’s impact on the Wolverines. He is their engine. And while his (not quite) six-foot, 197-pound frame won’t intimidate, his 600 horse-power, V12 has blown away Notre Dame the past two seasons, putting up statistics that defy logic.
In 2010, Robinson put up 502 yards of offense himself in the Wolverines’ 28-24 victory, including the game-winning touchdown run with 27 seconds left. He accounted for 94.4% of the Michigan offense, with the next leading rusher chipping in 17 yards on seven carries. If 2010 was painful for Irish fans, 2011 was pure evil. Playing the role of Verbal Kint for three quarters (even with a 43 yard touchdown pass in the second quarter), Robinson turned into Keyser Soze in the games final fifteen minutes, storming Michigan back with 28 fourth quarter points. Robinson threw for 338 yards on just 11 completions, a back-breaking 30.7 yards a catch. Sure he only ran for a modest 108 yards, but the rest of the team ran for six yards on ten carries. Robinson’s domination is put into perspective when you consider he accounted for 98.7% of the Wolverines offense.
Matt Hinton, over at his Sunday Morning QB blog, wrote about Robinson’s uncanny ability to play at his best in one of college football’s biggest rivalries.Denard Robinson against Notre Dame is the ur-Denard from which all other versions of Denard follow and against whom they are all compared. With the possible exception of the Denard who played a nearly perfect game in the process of snapping a seven-year losing streak against Ohio State last November, the others almost always come up short. Denard against Notre Dame is the original formula. The idol to which thousands of No. 16 jerseys pay homage every weekend, hoping for a mere glimpse of what they got in South Bend in 2010, and under the newly installed lights in Michigan Stadium in 2011 – if not necessarily the best version of Denard, as they saw in the former case, then at least the version who abruptly forgot everything he’d ever been coached in the latter and proceeded to turn the fourth quarter into his own personal PlayStation at the Irish’s expense. No player in college football in the last decade has inflicted as much emotional damage on a single rival.
That’s essentially a matter of fact: It can be proven statistically, in two of the most prolific box scores in either school’s history. It can be proven narratively, in two late, improbable comebacks in the dying seconds, the details of which produce the kind of copy that practically writes itself. It can probably be proven financially, in terms of jersey and ticket sales and the record sums in the swear jars in Catholic kitchens. Since his second start at Notre Dame in 2010, that’s the Denard fans have paid to see, and opposing coaches have desperately hoped they don’t.
It’s also the Denard that Notre Dame’s defense is convinced it can beat. They were given a blueprint by Alabama, who executed a plan that turned Robinson into a mere mortal. Do the Irish have the defense that the Crimson Tide does? Certainly not. But with Kapron Lewis-Moore, Louis Nix, and Stephon Tuitt, they have a front three that should dominate the line of scrimmage. With edge rushers Prince Shembo and Ishaq Williams, they’ve got athletes that can crash off the edge and suffocate the pocket. And with Manti Te’o in the middle, they have a warrior that has one last enemy to cross off his list.
Much will be made about the inexperience of the back-end of the Notre Dame defense. It will face its stiffest test when Robinson scrambles and creates time, looking much like the running threat but capable (and eager) to throw deep and force somebody to make a play. Last year, those plays were made by Wolverines. But this game shouldn’t come down to defensive backs KeiVarae Russell and Matthias Farley.
Regardless of their preseason ranking, Michigan won’t have the better football team on Saturday night. They are struggling on both the offensive and defensive line, working in freshmen at linebacker, and looking for an identity. But as long as they have Robinson, they have a chance.
But after two superhuman efforts by Robinson, Notre Dame’s defense needs to put an end to Michigan’s dominance. Powered by a home crowd desperate to make an impact after watching the Big House will the Wolverines back from the dead, the scene is already set.
Now it’s up to the Irish to stop Robinson before he completes his very own superhero trilogy.