What Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson is doing this season is completely absurd. But you already know that. Everyone — from die-hard Michigan fans that have watched every yard he’s gained live to SEC and Big 12 homers that could care less about the Maize and Blue — has seen enough of Shoelace’s highlights and stats to know the kid is special. But how special is he really? I mean Pat White put up monster numbers too, right? Didn’t Vince Young re-write a couple record books? Yeah, they both did…but not like this.
Exhibit A – 2010
Five games into the 2010 season (and remember he played only 9 minutes of one of those games), Shoelace has amassed 1,008 yards passing, 905 yards rushing, and 15 total TDs. At the end of the 2009 season (bowl games included) only SIX(!!!) quarterbacks had accumulated 1,000 yards passing and 900 yards rushing. DRob’s done it in a little less than 17 quarters of football. As a true sophomore, first-year starter. He’s an alien.
Exhibit B – All-Time
When you think of the all-time great dual-threat QBs, certain names come to mind. Vince Young, Tommy Frazier, Eric Crouch, Pat White, etc. Are you curious what the best statistical seasons for these guys looked like? I thought you were. Here they are (ranked by total yardage):
- Vince Young – (3036 passing, 1050 rushing)
- *Tim Tebow – (2895 passing, 910 rushing)
- Woody Dantzler – (2360 passing, 1004 rushing)
- Pat White – (1724 yards passing, 1335 yards rushing)
- *Troy Smith – (2282 passing, 611 rushing)
- Donovan McNabb – (2326 passing, 510 rushing)
- *Eric Crouch – (1510 passing, 1115 rushing)
- Michael Vick – (1840 passing, 580 rushing)
- Tommy Frazer – (1467 passing, 803 rushing)
*Player won the Heisman that season
As of now, almost half way through this — Denard’s first season as a starter — he projects to a final season of…are you ready for this?
Denard Robinson – 2620 passing & 2353 rushing (Seriously, he has to be an alien.)
Exhibit C – Heisman
Here are the complete statistics for the Top 5 Heisman Candidate quarterbacks in 2010 thus far:
| -Comp | – Att | – Comp % | – Yards | – YPA | – TD | – INT | – Sacks | – Rating – | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denard Robinson | 67 | 96 | 69.8 | 1008 | 10.5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 179.97 |
| Andrew Luck | 93 | 148 | 62.8 | 1253 | 8.47 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 157.53 |
| Terrelle Pryor | 80 | 123 | 65 | 1015 | 8.25 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 161.67 |
| Kellen Moore | 75 | 113 | 66.4 | 1069 | 9.46 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 176.19 |
| Cam Newton | 57 | 87 | 65.5 | 928 | 10.67 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 191.44 |
Without even talking about rushing yards, Shoelace easily holds his own with the elite signal callers in college football. Unfortunately for everyone else…rushing yards are talked about. And he’ll have more than 1,000 after next weekend, the half-way point of the 2010 season. Cam Newton, the closest of the above by far, is sitting with a respectable — but incomparable — 364 yards. He’s gonna be the first alien to win the Heisman trophy.
Exhibit D – Just General What Have You
Robinson has now put together two games this season in which he ran and threw for more than 200 yards.
Notre Dame: 24-40 for 244, 1 TD; 28 – 258, 2 TD
Indiana: 10-16 for 277, 3 TD; 19 – 217, 2 TD
Only eight other people in the history of college football have EVER done this in one game, the above-mentioned Pat White and Vince Young included. Vince Young is the only other person to EVER do it twice in an entire career. Denard Robinson has done this in five games, in less than a half of his first season as a starting quarterback. Dude’s an alien…and he might just be a ninja too.
– Warzecha –
Illegal Shift 
Posted by Tweets that mention Denard Robinson Is An Alien « Illegal Shift -- Topsy.com on October 4, 2010 at 3:48 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michigan Wolverines, David Stewart, Illegal Shift, Football, Jimmy, Evan Derman and others. Evan Derman said: Denard Robinson Is An Alien http://bit.ly/bN4W9U #Denarded #Heisman […]
Posted by Benjamin on October 4, 2010 at 5:17 pm
This is getting love over at Mgoblog.com
Posted by Jacob on October 4, 2010 at 6:42 pm
We love the MGoBlog. We’ve posted on there in the past and it’s got a ton of good stuff. Plus the comments are pretty funny.
Posted by Milky on October 4, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Should have given the picture of him antennae or colored it green.
Posted by Andy on October 5, 2010 at 8:54 am
I’m a big Spartan fan and will be the first to admit that Denard is the most exciting player in CFB right now. He has the capability of scoring at almost any given moment and also it probably the most improved player in the country from last year to this season.
With that being said look at the competition he’s played so far.
UCONN- 44th ranked defense
ND- 69th ranked defense
IU- 71 th ranked defense
BG- 110th ranked defense
UMASS- 31 ranked defense in FBS
Now that UM is getting into the meat of their schedule it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he puts up if he stays healthy.
Posted by Warzecha on October 5, 2010 at 9:03 am
Oh we Michigan fans tremble in the wake of your mighty Sparty defense. Sparty’s D is no better than Notre Dame or UConn’s. Denard will have another huge game this Saturday. Maybe not 200/200 (because I mean, seriously), but he will no doubt go 250+ passing and 100+ running. However, it must be conceded that MSU, like any other team, could potentially score 100 points against what is purported to be Michigan’s “defense.”
If only Denard could play against his own team’s defense. The world would never be the same again.
Posted by Luke on October 5, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Hey Andy,
Is it possible the defenses Denard has played against are so bad because Denard put up such big #’s against them? I would be interested to see where they ranked if you took out the game those teams played against him.
Posted by Jacob on October 5, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Good thought. Would be interesting to see
Posted by Steve on October 6, 2010 at 2:57 pm
If you take away the UM game from Notre Dame they’d be 50th ranked, UConn would be 15 spots ahead of MSU, and so on…this is the problem with giving lay people access to statistics–they lose meaning if argued in the wrong context
Posted by Jacob on October 6, 2010 at 3:11 pm
So, in what context would you argue these stats?
Posted by Steve on October 6, 2010 at 3:20 pm
In the context of their rankings without playing the michigan offense.
Posted by Andy on October 5, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Warzecha- I never mentioned State having a dominant defense nor did I say they would contain DR. State tends to struggle agains spread offenses but they do play the run very well. Actually State’s D is better then the teams mentioned. Not a ton but they are better. I know UM runs a totally different Offense than Wisconsin but State handled them pretty well w/ the exception of a few drives. I misprinted UCONN also. They are 51 ranked.
Luke- I don’t think that if you take away DR’s numbers against the teams they have played it would make that much of a difference. 5 games into the season it might sway their rankings a few but not much. I doubt a team ranked 70 would jump top 25 w/ out DR’s stats. When you’r ranked that low its for a good reason.
Posted by Warzecha on October 5, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Fair enough, but when you say DR is about to hit the “meat of the schedule” Sparty is up first. Then Iowa, who like last year is ranked very highly defensively. Remember, DR came in for Tate in the 4th qtr at night in Kinnick Stadium last season and drove UM all the way down the field for a TD on his first drive. That was when he was only authorized to run 3-4 plays. Outside of Ohio State I don’t think any team on UM’s schedule has any chance of holding him to less than 225/100.
I think your premise is that he will slow down, and amazingly, averaging 250ish and 125ish would in fact be slowing down. However, I really don’t think anyone slows him down any more than that – assuming he DOES remain healthy.
Also, I don’t mean to belittle MSU either. They have a very good football team this season, and as a lifelong UM fan, I’m very thankful the game is an Ann Arbor this year. Be sure to check out our CFB lead-pipe locks tomorrow if you doubt my respect for Sparty. Thanks for reading the blog!
Posted by Steve on October 6, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Andy your argument follows very….caveman-ish, dumb, spartan–that’s the adjective we were looking for–logic. If you break off two 50 yard rushes, you’re average is going to be sky high until you get stopped for a loss of one on your next touch; you’re ypc goes from 50 to 33. Similarly, if you have a solid defense and give up around 300 ypg, but then play D Rob’s Michigan offense and give up over 500 yards, that is going to completely skew their defensive ranks. As I posted above, UConn’s total defense per game is currently ranked 10 spots worse MSU. Take away the UM game (and average it by one less game) and they are 15 spots above MSU. To assume is to make and ass out of u and me.
Posted by Andy on October 10, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Did you not read my post? When your defense is ranked low it’s b/c they probably aren’t that good. You take away DR’s stats and it may move some but even if you are ranked in the 40 or 50’s and move up 10-15 it doesn’t make your defense look that much more intimidating espeically after 5 games into the season.
Posted by Scott on October 6, 2010 at 11:47 am
Good post. FYI: VY never won the Heisman (I’m still crying about it).
Posted by Warzecha on October 6, 2010 at 12:10 pm
LOL…good catch. Freudian slip there…
Posted by LaMichael James – A Heisman Candidate « Illegal Shift on October 6, 2010 at 12:47 pm
[…] to catapult towards the top of the Heisman race. Although James may be playing for second place if Michigan’s Denard Robinson keeps racking up stats the rest of the season. LaMichael James sits *3rd in the Illegal Shift Heisman Poll through 5 […]
Posted by Pedro on October 6, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Your list is missing both Ryan Mallett and Greg McIlroy.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=232007
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=191494
Mallett’s only played four games and he’s 400 yards ahead of everyone in terms of yardage, has 10 TDs and the 3d highest QB rating, all AFTER playing the best team in College Foosbal (Alabama). Greg McIlroy will benefit from Saban, being on a team with Inman, and being on a likely undefeated national champion team.
Keep in mind that Mike Vick, the greatest double threat QB ever, finished 3rd in the Heisman voting at best (6th in 2000).
Also, Michigan still has a LOT to prove. Bottom line: keep dreaming. Ain’t gonna happen.
Posted by Warzecha on October 6, 2010 at 1:27 pm
McIlroy – that’s hilarious. That is like Brad Johnson winning NFL MVP in 2002. “Man, did you see his form when he handed that ball off? Breathtaking!!”
Mallet – yeah he’s in the mix. It’s pretty much impossible to argue that he has outperformed Denard to date though. In his big game he choked monumentally. He’ll have opportunities to get back in there though.
Vick – that’s the point. Shoelace is CRUSHING Vick’s numbers.
Denard – you’re right. Maybe he won’t win it THIS year. Michigan is likely to lose 3-4 games along the way because of their defense. But he’s a sophomore. He WILL win it before he is done.
Posted by Andy on October 6, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Warzecha-
I agree w/ all your points. I think Denard is one of a kind player. I don’t think there has ever been a QB w/ his speed.
After 5 games in , I think the B10 is down this year. Ouside of OSU and Iowa there really aren’t any team’s that should scare UM’s offense. Yes, I do think Denard will slow down some. He’s putting up video game numbers and honestly the teams Um has played have not given much resistence. That being said DR will probably average around the 250pass/125 rush like you mentioned simply b/c of his big play capability.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out!