QB Robinson shines in Michigan’s victory over Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – If Denard Robinson’s performance last week was a jaw dropper, what he did against Notre Dame on Saturday topped it.

He broke off the longest run in the history of the Irish’s fabled stadium – an 87-yarder for a TD.

That’s just for starters. How about a school-record 502 yards total offense for a QB, including 258 yards rushing on 28 carries and 244 more passing?

And oh, yeah, he directed the game-winning TD drive, scoring from 2 yards out with 27 seconds left to send Michigan (2-0) to a pulsating 28-24 victory.

No wonder Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez said the spectacular new star of his spread offense might sleep on the trip back to Ann Arbor. He deserves some rest.

“Man, I didn’t even know that,” Robinson said of his record-breaking day – the second week in a row he snapped single-game Michigan quarterback marks for total offense and rushing.

“Our offense came together,” he said. “The offensive line blocked, the receivers catching, everything was clicking. … I’m a team player and I don’t look at stats.”

Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist missed most of the first half after getting blurry vision from hitting his head on the ground during a run in an opening TD drive. But he brought the Irish back in the second half and connected with tight end Kyle Rudolph on a 95-yard TD pass to put Notre Dame (1-1) ahead with 3:41 left.

Then Robinson showed that not only is he fast and strong, he’s a clutch player, too. He led Michigan on a 12-play, 72-yard drive, capped his game-winning TD – a fitting end.

Notre Dame (1-1) had one last chance from the Wolverines’ 27 with six seconds left, but Crist threw the ball out of the end zone on the final play.

On the game-winning drive, Robinson carried to pick up a crucial first on a fourth-and-1 at the Notre Dame 35. Then on a third-and-5 from the 17, Robinson drilled a 15-yard pass to Roy Roundtree to the 2 to set up his TD.