They call him

“Shoelace.” His shoes are never tied, yet he’s the ultimate

duel-threat offensive weapon in college football, the reason for

his team’s undefeated first month of the season and the

front-runner in the Heisman trophy race. Meet Denard

Robinson.

Giving credit to a

Michigan player, being the Buckeye fan that I am, is something I

rarely do. I feel like the wrath of the Ohio State gods are coming

for me and a lightning strike to the face is in my near future. It

disgusts me to say, it makes my stomach churn, it even makes my

eyes water, but the quarterback from Deerfield Beach, Florida is

good, and that’s an understatement.

In his first five

games this season, he has completed nearly 70 percent of his

passes, throwing for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns and one

interception. The best part about Robinson is his running ability,

as he leads the nation in rushing yards with 905 yards, 193 more

than Oregon’s LeMichael James. All James did last weekend was rush

for 257 yards and three touchdowns for the “Quack Attack”. Robinson

has also scored eight times on the ground and averages nearly 10

yards per carry. Did I mention the nation’s leading rusher is a

quarterback?! I don’t put these numbers up in NCAA Football ‘11,

and I beat teams 90-0 on a consistent basis.

Video game-like

numbers are all peaches and cream in October, but what happens when

Michigan’s lackluster defense starts giving up points that Robinson

can’t keep up with in November? What if their golden boy gets

injured? Michigan’s defensive unit has given up 127 points in their

first five games, and their best opponent was Notre Dame (insert

Fighting Irish joke here). Michigan could be heading down the same

bumpy road as last year when they started 4-0 if their defense

doesn’t start tackling.

I can’t think of

another duel-threat quarterback that has experienced this type of

success on offense ever. The first person that comes to mind is

Eric Crouch, who threw for 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns and

rushed for 1,118 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2001. The only detail I

left out of that stat line was Crouch’s stats were for the entire

season; Robinson has matched that in just five games. Oh, and yes,

Crouch won the Heisman.

Some college football

fans might say Tim Tebow had success similar to Robinson’s and you

might be right. But Tebow and Florida had something Robinson and

Michigan don’t: talent on both sides of the ball. If Tebow was off,

Florida would still find ways to win and Tebow’s Heisman chances

survived. If Michigan loses more than once, Robinson’s chances,

regardless of statistics, are diminished, if not slashed

completely.

My advice to college

football fans is simple; watch and respect the show. These

individual performances may not be seen for quite some time. As for

Ohio State’s sake, let’s hope we don’t see one come November 27.

And to the Ohio State football gods, be gentle.