For those looking forward to the electric offensive exploits of Denard Robinson being on full display, you would’ve came away from Michigan’s annual spring game sorely disappointed.
The Wolverines’ starting quarterback saw very limited action in the game, participating in just one series -- six plays in the 70-play scrimmage -- before giving way to his backups in the Mott Spring Game, played in front of and estimated crowd of 25,000. In his brief stint, Robinson went two-of-three passing for 13 yards in what turned out to be a 17-0 “win” for the offense. He also carried just once for zero yards.
For the game, the run-heavy Wolverines passed for just 93 yards, with presumptive No. 2 QB Devin Gardner completed just 2-of-7 passes for 36 yards, one interception and no touchdowns. Thew running game wasn’t any more productive, averaging just 3.1 yards on 40 carries.
Despite the fair-to-middlin’ QB play specifically and the offense in general in what amounts to a meaningless exhibition “game”, head coach Brady Hoke was not ready to deem the controlled scrimmage anything but what it was: just one part of the spring equation.
“I think the body of work throughout the spring is what you (want to focus on),” Hoke said. “It’s always difficult once you get done with a practice or a scrimmage situation like we just had to say who was bad, who was right, who did wrong.
“We can all perceive what we want, but you’ve got to look at the tape.”
The Wolverines also suffered a couple of injuries, with sophomore linebacker Desmond Morgan (leg) and sophomore wide receiver Jerald Robinson both prematurely leaving the game after getting dinged. Fortunately, neither injury is believed to be serious in nature.
The best part of the day for the Wolverines? A total of $260,888 was raised for the Mott Children’s Hospital. In the end, that was really the only stat of the day that mattered.