SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Denard Robinson
capped another electrifying performance Saturday by running for a
2-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left, sending Michigan to a 28-24
victory over Notre Dame
Robinson also had an 87-yard TD run
and finished with 502 total yards offense, easily eclipsing the Michigan
quarterback record he set against UConn (383) a week earlier. He
carried 28 times for 258 yards – also a Michigan quarterback mark – and
two touchdowns while passing for another 244 with a TD. He completed 24
of 40 passes.
Notre Dame's Dayne Crist, who missed
most of the first half after being banged up on an opening TD drive, hit
Kyle Rudolph with a 95-yard TD pass to put the Irish ahead with 3:41
left.
But Robinson then led Michigan (2-0) on a 12-play, 72-yard drive, scoring the game-winning TD himself – 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 final 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.
His most spectacular moment came late
in the second quarter, when Robinson took the snap from his own 13, went
to the right side, made a little cut and sprinted right past the Irish
defense for second-longest run ever by an opponent against Notre Dame
(Dick Panin broke off an 88-yarder for Michigan State in 1951) and the
longest run ever at Notre Dame Stadium. It put the Wolverines up 21-7.
Earlier, the strong-armed Robinson
found a wide-open Martavious Odoms for 31 yards to the Irish 1, setting
up Stephen Hopkins 1-yard run for a touchdown late in the opening
quarter that made it 14-7.
Crist led the Irish on a 71-yard,
13-play drive to start the game, doing most of the work by completing 5
of 7 passes and carrying three times for 30 yards before sneaking in for
the TD.
But he spent the rest of the half on
the sidelines before finally beginning to warmup with about six minutes
to go after first Tommy Rees and then Nate Montana — neither of whom had
ever played in a college game – struggled to get the offense going.
Each threw an interception – the one by Rees leading to Michigan's tying
touchdown. On the very next play after the pick, Robinson hit a wide
open Roundtree for a 31-yard TD.
Montana, the son of NFL Hall of Famer
Joe Montana, who also was a standout at Notre Dame, heaved a 37-yard
pass to Theo Riddick to the Michigan 3 with 3 seconds to go in the half,
a completion upheld by video replay.
But on the final play of the half, Montana's pass sailed way out of the end zone as the Wolverines held on for the two-TD lead.
Crist came back in the third quarter
and on his second play threw a 53-yard TD pass to TJ Jones to get Notre
Dame within 21-14. On the next series, he hit passes of 17 and 11 yards
to Michael Floyd to get Notre Dame to the 6 before the Irish settled for
David Ruffer's 24-yard field goal.