0 0 0 0 0. 0 0r a--.- SHOELACE From Page 5 To those who follow the Michigan football team, he's a sav- ior and an enigma. He doesn't say much. He's quiet, always reserved. His eyes give nothing away. Ann Arbor wonders. Who is Denard Robinson? How can someone so young be capable of so much? Can he really handle the weight of a pro-, gram? His parents wonder. Have they done all they can? Has he learned enough to be ready? There are so many questions. Here, around this television, there are answers. Denard Robinson was just a boy - 10, almost 11-years old - and he didn't like this feeling. His team lost. The Rattlers were his team, he was their quarterback. He could have won that game. He could have been better. So it must've been his fault, he told himself. It wasn't any of his teammates' faults. It wasn't coach's fault. It was his fault. He couldn't stop thinking about that as his parents drove him home. He had to get better. He asked his dad what to do. His dad was the hardest work- ing person he knew. He would know how to get better. To those on the outside, it seemed like he was doing more than enough. The Rattlers practiced five days a week. They had film study. But it wasn't enough for him. So he came home and played in the street, throwing balls across the pavement between his grandparents' houses to anyone willing to catch them. - Sammie Huggins saw this. The Packer Rattlers' coach knew Robinson wasn't the fastest guy on the team - that was Denard's friend, Adrian Witty. But his decisionnwas easy: Rob- inson was a quarterback, plain and simple. Huggins couldn't keep the ball out of his hands. "He loved to run that ball," Huggins says, looking over his old stomping grounds at Westside Park. "He'd tell me, 'Coach, call quarterback sneak!' I'd tell him no, to hand it off, and so he'd fake the handoff and keep it and run for a ton of yards." Witty and Robinson became the dynamic duo. They were a perfect cocktail of speed and athleticism, magic and might. Everyone knew they couldn't be stopped if they were at their best. And Robinson played the game with his shoes untied. Kids would go for his shoes on tackles, and he'd come up to the huddle in just socks. His coach couldn't stand it at first and neither could his parents. They'd tie wristbands around his shoes. When that didn't work, they tried athletic tape. They even rolled his socks over his shoes. He was a marvel, and he wasn't even finished with the sixth grade. He was just different. "He listened," Huggins says. "That's the difference. We had some guys on that team that didn't listen. Denard's attitude was always great, that's why you know he's going to go some- where." But he was still hurting after that particular loss. He couldn't shake that feeling - the pain of losing. He told his dad what he was feeling and that he wanted to get better. So the two took the seat of a swing that they had found lying around, tied a thick rope to it and looped the rope around a tire. Thomas Sr. put the swing around his son's waist. And Denard took off. The young quarterback ran 40 yards and walked back. Then 40 more. And 40 after that. He ran 40 yards till his calves burned and his lungs ached and he couldn't run anymore. Minutes before the game begins, the seat next to the televi- sion is filled. Thomas Sr. is finally home. He came straight from his work with the City of Deerfield Beach, rushed and weary. He's wearing his Michigan shirt and hat. Breakdown: Illini Defense, dual-threat QB could pose problems for Wolverines "Ifyou wanna win..." ...put Shoelace in." SAMMIE HUGGINS DENARD'S PEEWEE FOOTBALL COACH "He listened, that's the difference." He is quiet like his son, never speaking unless necessary. But at this moment, he turns to the family members in the first two rows and speaks for the first time as words like "Heisman" and "superstar" blurt out from the television. "My hands are getting sweaty," he says, laughing weakly. He wipes them on his jeans and turns back to the television where the game is seconds away from beginning. The TV analysts continue in the background. More ques- tions. "How can Iowa shut down Denard Robinson?" a voice asks from the television. "Ain't no shutting him down," Thomas Sr. answers. "You can try to contain him." There's not even a touch of humor in his voice. He has seen too many athletes look silly trying to tackle his son, too many out of desperation try to yank off his shoes just to slow him down. He's seen too much success to ever assume Denard will fail. A fire burns inside of him, as it does inside his son. "He just hates to lose, more than anything," Thomas Sr. says. After choosing to kick off at the game's start, the Michigan defense stops Iowa's offense on its first drive - three-and-out. It's time. At that moment, every eye huddled around Rose Robinson's garage stares straight at the screen as Denard Robinson makes his way out onto the field. "My hands are still sweaty," Thomas Sr. tells Kent, his brother. on the second play of the drive, Denard takes his first carry of the game straight into the Hawkeye defense for four yards. The tailgate erupts. "If you wanna win..." Dorrell yells. "... put Shoelace in," his cousin Roscoe answers. But Thomas Sr. isn't listening. His body is in this chair, sur- rounded by his family, but his heart is a thousand miles away in Ann Arbor. He gets anxious in the chair as his son gets anx- ious at the Iowa 40-yard line. He is forced to watch, helpless, hoping that he showed his son enough. Robinson looks like a grown man to most watching this television, but to his dad, he's still that little boy with a swing around his waist, dragging that tire. By JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Editor Going into the game against Penn State a week ago, the Michigan football team was facing a walk-on at quarterback and a defense that has been severely depleted by inju- ries. Despite all of that, the Nittany Lions handled the Wolverines for the majority of the game before allowing a brief fourth-quarter comeback. Michigan will be taking on a very different and much better beast Sat- urday at noon. Illinois boasts a middle-of-the- road offense statistically - its 26 points per game ranks 62nd in the country - but one of the nation's better defenses, which ranks 12th in points allowed. The Illini at 5-3 have no quality wins but some very quality losses. No team they've beaten has cracked the top 25, but they lost to Missouri by 10 in the first game of the year and to Ohio State by 11 on Oct. 2. Though they have identical records, Illinois and Michigan are on opposite trajectories. The Illini have won two in a row and are looking to continue their hot streak. Michigan has lost three in a row and are trying desperately to make sure this season doesn't end up like the last. MICHIGAN RUN OFFENSE VS. ILLINOIS RUN DEFENSE Sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson is coming off a very good bounce-back game against Penn State in which he completed nearly 50 percent of his passes for 190 yards and a touchdown without an interception. He was knocked out of the game briefly and hurt his hip, but it shouldn't bother him this week. Illinois's secondary has beens improving this year, but has a reputation of giving up the big play. Michigan has plenty of wide receiv- ers who are due for some big plays and if they can take advantage of some holes in the Illini defensive backfield Robinson will have a big day through the air. EDGE: MICHIGAN MICHIGAN PASS OFFENSE VS. ILLINOIS PASS DEFENSE After being declared healthy for the first time in weeks before Penn State, Robinson had a great day on the ground, racking up 191 rushing yards and three touchdowns. While that was against Penn State's deplet- ed defense, there's little doubt he'll be able to run the ball against Illi- nois because he's Denard Robinson. The question is whether the Michigan running backs will shoul- der any of the load. Last week, soph- omore Vincent Smith gained just 25 yards on nine carries and freshman Stephen Hopkins ran for 14 yards on five carries. ter to run all over tI the back accounted f yards on the ground. Leshoure has alr 780 yards rushing o combination of him will be very tough fo to defend. Their productio Michigan wants t rushing attack. The Illinois def opponents to gain carry, but Robinso opponent. ILLINOIS RU MICHIGAN R Michigan's fro dealing with Sche game almost as m ary will be dealini The freshman is leading rusher be Mikel Leshoure a downs on the grou Junior nose ta the anchor of Mi line, is listed as which means he full strength after early in the game, Even so, the W Penn State runnin in needs to go up if ILLINOIS PASS OFFENSE VS; o have a sustained MICHIGAN PASS DEFENSE Michigan must have done some- ense is allowing thing to really piss off the secondary just 3.6 yards per gods. n isn't just any After losing senior Troy Woolfolk in the preseason to a season-ending injury, the Wolverine secondary was EDGE: MICHIGAN already painfully thin. This week we learned that redshirt sophomore IN OFFENSE VS. J.T. Floyd, Michigan's most consis- UN DEFENSE tent cornerback, will be out for the nt seven will be remainder of the season because of an elhaase in the run ankle injury in practice, leaving the uch as the second- secondary with one non-freshman g with his passing. starter - senior James Rogers, who the Illini's second- started the year as a wide receiver. hind running back The young backfield will have' nd has two touch- its hands full. Illinois quarterback nd this season. Nathan Scheelhaase is a dual threat ckle Mike Martin, and quite accurate, completing 61 chigan's defensive percent of his passes. probable to play The secondary will likely have likely won't be at trouble keeping an eye on him and 'injuring his ankle wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, Illinois's against Penn State. best at the position. Illinois kicker Derek Dimke is 15-for-17 on field goals on the year and has a career long of 52 yards. This one's easy. hem last week as SPECIAL TEAMS or more than 150 Michigan is still going through special teams changes and that's 'eady racked up not good at this point in the season. n the season. The Freshman punter Will Hagerup, and Sheelhaase handled almost every kickoff against r the Wolverines Penn State and there's no reason to believe that will change. Field goals will be kicked by sophomore Seth EDGE: ILLINOIS Broekhuizen, but he has been unim- pressive so far. FINAL SCORE: EDGE: ILLINOIS MICHIGAN 42, ILLINOIS 37 INTANGIBLES Michigan is fighting to save its season and the Fighting Illini are trying to keep its two-game winning streak going. The Wolverines are playing at home, but it may be a bit of an awk- ward homecoming given the tremen- dous disappointment at Penn State. Michigan continues to assert that this season is not like last season, and this is the game to prove it. EDGE: MICHIGAN 'olverines allowed sg back Evan Roys- EDGE: ILLINOIS FootballSaturday, November 6, 2010 TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com 3