Some stock car named Denard Robinson suited up for Michigan today and accomplished more offense than the entire Michigan offense. This sounds impossible but it is not. Like the American financial system, college football's statistics attribute success to individual performance while collectivizing the losses. Michigan's offense as a group gave up some negative-yardage plays, and so Denard Robinson accounted for 426 yards while Michigan finished with only 422. Because 426 > 422, we must conclude that Denard Robinson > the offense he leads, even if we cannot pin the blame for that on Denard Robinson.
He had the fifth-best single offensive outing in Michigan history, trailing only four Denard Robinsons, which says something, even for a Denard Robinson. Today he ran for 218 yards and threw for 208 more yards. This sounds like he is maybe not all that great at passing but you must remember that he could not throw to any Denard Robinsons. If you are a runaway locomotive named Denard Robinson perhaps you decide your best option is to throw the occasional pass to a non-Denard Robinson just to keep the defense from figuring out your entire plan is to Denard Robinson them to death. This requires Denard Robinson to let go of the ball. It is a hard thing for a Denard Robinson to do, but at least it does ensure that the ball does not melt by the second quarter.
Alabama showed last week that Michigan is not all that good, beating the Wolverines 41-14. Air Force showed this week that Michigan is still not all that good, coming within a touchdown of upsetting the Wolverines at the Big House. We could ask whether a top-20 team has any right business letting one man, or even a cascading comet such as Denard Robinson, handle more than 100 percent of the offense. If that is Michigan's game plan then you have to give them credit for it working today but at this rate you must figure Denard Robinson will have to carry at least 115 or 120 percent of the Michigan offense if the Wolverines are to beat better teams. If that does not win games then they will simply have to turn to more Denard Robinson, for indeed Denard Robinson works in mysterious ways. Denard Robinson is cowbell. He is the prescription, and the prescription is more.
Robinson, Michigan Edge Air Force [CBS Sports]