Denard Robinson is an amazing talent. Especially when he’s playing Navy. Or San Diego State. Or worse, today’s Notre Dame, which is not your father’s Fighting Irish.

Visit any intramural field on any college campus today and you’ll find a flag-football quarterback whose throws resemble Robinson’s. His deep ball is often left up for grabs for whoever can jump the highest.

In the open field he’s dangerous. The problem is, he won’t see the open field Saturday night. Alabama will contain Denard Robinson, hedging him in and forcing hime to beat them with the pass…which he can’t do.

The team that held the most dominant offensive college football player in 30 years to 39 yards on the ground…a player who towers over Michigan’s mighty might QB by half a foot and outweighs him by close to 60 pounds…will spend the evening containing him and forcing him to use his arm rather than his legs. Cam Newton, could also pass, but even then had some freak of nature things go his way in one of the more unlikely games of the century. Denard ain’t no Cam, and the planets don’t appear to be aligning for him this Saturday night.

On the occasion that Robinson does get loose, in his tenure at Alabama, Nick Saban has brought the best of open field tackling to Tuscaloosa. Defensive players don’t get out of position, and they don’t whiff at air as you run by. Arm tackling in T-town left with Mike Shula as he packed up the U-Haul for Jacksonville.

On the flip side, Bama’s offensive and defensive lines are beastly compared to the Wolverines. This may be the best offensive line Alabama has ever put together on one unit. Eddie Lacey will have an array of holes to run through all night, as will TJ Yeldon, poised to introduce himself to America as the next great Alabama running back.

This will open up the field for the Tide’s new receivers to shine. Amaari Cooper. Remember the name.

Look for Robinson to have a flash or two, just enough to give Brent Musberger something to gush about. But don’t count on him giving Bama’s defense more than a flesh wound.

The ITK final score prediction?

Michigan 13
Alabama 33


(Follow me on Twitter for Bama news, commentary and smack.)

6 thoughts on “Why Alabama will beat Michigan”

  1. Pingback: FOOTBALL: Keys to the Alabama vs. Michigan Game | Capstone Report

  2. I agree.

    I like Michigan. I really do. Ann Arbor is gorgeous, the stadium is the biggest in the nation, and the program is literally the winningest team in college football history. Michigan is rebuilding the right way and Hoke is hiring the right people on his staff to build for longevity. I even like Denard Robinson a lot—-he’s not my favorite player, but if you like college football you have to like Robinson’s ability.

    I don’t explicitly want Michigan to lose. But of course I want Alabama to win.

    However, I think you’re right. I think Alabama doesn’t just win, they crush. Saban doesn’t like to run up scores, we know that. But I have seen enough of our secondary, regardless of replacements. An interception can turn into a touchdown on the same play. McCarron takes advantage of opportunities like an entrepreneur with a billion-dollar trust fund. Talent is everywhere and the players are hungry (I still think Circle Button has been underrated nationally). And Michigan is at a pretty big pound-for-pound disadvantage.

    I don’t like to talk smack, and I definitely don’t want to put Michigan down. But I think Alabama is just too stacked for this game to call it close, especially in the second half when Saban always seems to exploit the weaknesses he notices in the first half. And make no mistake, the team that wins will be ranked #1 in the polls.

    Also, this is Alabama vs Michigan. That’s huge any week, let alone week one. This IS as good as it gets for college football. I’m glad both teams are who they are and willing to play each other. I wish more teams had big matchups like this, and I know it’s game 1, but soak it up, this one is history in the making and we’ll remember this one for decades. Roll Tide.

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