B The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com I October4, 2010 SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN Discussing a n Michigan's second play first five weeks (383, 504, 345,189, from scrimmage Saturday, 494), you've said the same thing to I yourself as he sprinted away from looked on as the mere mortals that were left in sophomore his dust. virtuoso Then, as the dust cleared from Denard Robin- Robinson's near-eclipsing of the son sliced and sound barrier, that word crept into diced, bobbed my head. and weaved It's too early, I thought. It's only and outright RYAN beenfive weeks, and thosefive teams embarrassed KARTJE weren't even that good. the Indiana But then it began to fester. My defense for a friends were talking about it. Your 72-yard run that made him look like friends were talking about it. ESPN a grown man dominating a peewee was talking about it. There was no game. Media members from Indi- escaping it. ana looked impressed, but I was You could talk about how bad shocked and appalled by my own Michigan's defense was, but that lack of astonishment. wasn't the story. It was Denard Rob- After all, I had seen this before, inson. It was the obliterated Michi- um, nine or 10 times. gan record books. In fact, Denard wasn't even to the It was the H-word. second level of defenders before I I still cringe a little bit when I say whispered to myself - He's gone. it, but it's not worth ignoring any- Chances are, if you've followed more. Denard Robinson is no longer Robinson's performances in the just great. He's blurring the lines certain between hyperbole and reality. Still I searched for every possible reason not to start the discussion, to battle against the omnipresent power of the national media hype machine. It has only been five games after all. But the last five Heisman winners' stats through five games offer little consolation to the doubt- ers. Last year, Alabama running back Mark Ingram had just 487 yards and six touchdowns through five games. The year before, Sam Bradford had accumulated almost 1,700 yards and 18 touchdowns by game five, but most of that came through the air. Going back even further, Tim Tebow, in one of college football's greatest seasons, accumulated 1,730 total yards (1,297 passing, 433 rush- ing) and 19 touchdowns by week five of the 2007 season. And in 2005, if you can still consider ita Heisman year, USC running back Reggie Bush notched 791 yards and eight touch- downs. trophy Solid seasons - for someone with his shoes tied. But Robinson's numbers tower over the award's modern winners through five games of their legend- ary seasons. His 1,008 yards passing nearly eclipses 2006 winner Troy Smith, and Smith rarely ran for any yards. Robinson's 905 yards on the ground are closer to Ingram and Bush's total combined than either of their separate contributions. And though itgoes without saying, his total yardage makes every member on that list look pedestrian through five games. There's only one candidate in the history of the honor who Denard looks like through five games. And it's the most staggering comparison of all. Barry Sanders' 1988 season is arguablythe best of any collegiate football player in the game's history. He ran for 2,850yards and tallied 39 touchdowns from all over the field, See H-WORD, Page 3B THROUGH FIVE GAMES... Denard Robinson's performance so far this year compared to past Heisman Trophy winners through the same number oftgames, IoDenard Robinson, Michigan 20101,913 total yards, 15 TDs Mark Ingram, Alabama 487 rush yards, 6 TDs Sam Bradford, Oklahoma 1 665 pass yards, 20 TDs Tim Tebow, Florida 2 0 1,730 total yards, 19 TDs Troy Smith, Ohio State 26 1070 pass yards, 14 TDs Reggie Bush, USC* 792 total yards, 8 TDs RETURNYARDS NO T INCLUDED IN TOTALS With Shaw out, Smith "replaces admirably Robinson bails out 'D' in close win By NICOLE AUERBACH Daily Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON - Denard Robinson's explosive speed, a struggling defense and a final- minute victory - same old, same old for the Michigan football team in its win over Indiana. There was one slight difference in this game. Five-feet-six-inches, to be accurate. That's the height of sophomore running back Vincent Smith. For the first time all season, the Wolverines used just one tailback in a game. It was a far cry from last week's merry-go-round of backs against Bowling Green (six running backs had carries). Smith rushed nine times for 80 yards, including a 56-yard touch- down run late in the third quarter to put Michigan ahead by a touch- down. "I'm sure it helped him get into a bit of rhythm, being out there every play," senior offensive line- man Steve Schilling said. "A lot of times with the run game, they'll hit one, two, three yards and then a big one, like he did. "Denard's been having most of our big plays so far, but Vincent's See SMITH, Page 3B By TIM ROHAN recalled telling Robinson through Daily Sports Editor a headset before the drive started, "Let's go win this ballgame. Go do BLOOMINGTON - The score- it for us, again." board read 35-35 with 1:15 remain- Three quick sprints from the ing in the fourth quarter. Both speedy signal caller got Michigan Michigan and Indiana had already just past midfield with less than 30 amassed preposterous yardage, but seconds remaining. Then, the Wol- the ball was in Michigan's hands verines called for vertical routes, now - sophomore quarterback with redshirt junior wide receiver Denard Robinson's hands, in par- Junior Hemingway lined up to the ticular. far right. And just as he had against Notre Robinson had overthrown a Dame weeks earler, Robinson did it couple of passes earlier in the quar- again - leading a clutch last-min- ter, but this time he threw it up and ute drive to deliver a 42-35 victory let Hemingway make a play on the for the Wolverines in the confer- ball. Hemingway adjusted to the ence opener on Saturday afternoon, ball and leaped to make the catch at extending their winning streak the four-yard line. over the Hoosiers to 17 games. "He threw it and I had to come Quarterbacks coach Rod Smith back, go up, high-point it and catch it," Hemingway said after the game. When the team returned from a timeout, Robinson took the ball, kept it in his own hands and slipped around the left side into the end zone for the game-winning touch- down with 17 seconds remaining. It was an ending that seemed inevitable throughout the game: whoever had the ball last would win. Indiana entered the game with the Big Ten's top passing attack. And fifth-year senior quarterback Ben Chappell played like it, fin- ishing with 480 yards, setting an all-time record for passing yards against Michigan (5-0,1-0 Big Ten). On the very first drive, Chappell connected with his three veteran wide receivers: Tandon Doss, Dam- arlo Belcher and Terrence Turner. The Hoosiers (3-1, 0-1) dinked and dunked their way down the field throughout the game, taking bits and pieces here and there. And it worked against Michi- gan's defense in the first half. Indi- ana had three drives that lasted 10-plus plays and 70-plus yards to tie the game 21-21 at the half, including a gutsy call at the end of the half to go for a touchdown with just enough time for a single play. While the Hoosiers were din- king and dunking, Michigan took full-sized bites out of the Indiana defense. It started with a 72-yard touchdown run that Robinson broke on the Wolverines' second See ROBINSON, Page 3B RUSTY PERFORMANCE U The Wolverines opened their season with coach Berenson looking for his 700th win. But after blowing a four-goal lead, 'M' was lucky to escape the supposed 'tune-up game'. Page 2B SWEET REVENGE * The Michigan men's soccer team got some revenge yesterday against Penn State, who knocked the team out of the Big Ten Tournament last year. Page 2B