Either way, Michigan was embarrassed in primetime on national television. With that said the members of team 133 did not give up, played hard and earned the respect of many Alabama players and fans (Editor’s Note: First-hand account). As Michigan fans, that is not good enough.
Michigan entered the game with a Heisman Trophy candidate in Denard Robinson. He was expected, as usual, to get his fair share of explosive runs. What was unknown was whether he could improve as a passing quarterback. He did show signs of improvement but also showed signs of his play from a year ago with continued deep prayers and lack of understanding defenses. Despite that you have to feel for the senior quarterback. A few early dropped balls shook his confidence while an inept running game allowed Alabama to play complex zone coverage’s which really rattled Robinson. Robinson has been known to be a shaky, over excited starter. Establishing a run game first would have been nice, not just for Robinson, but Gardner also. Receivers were able to get separation a few times however on those plays Robinson threw off of his back foot and missed open targets. He did fire a nice bomb to Jeremy Gallon which resulted in 7 points. He also hit Gardner for a 44 yard score late in the game thanks to a nice route and blown coverage. His best pass of the night is when he was able to step up in the pocket and hit Gallon on a third and long for a 19 yard gain. He showed signs of improvement but also showed that he is not quite where he needs to be.
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