Michigan Thursday: Wolverine Ties To Illinois QB

Your first thought might be, "Yea Bob, we get it, Brandon Peters played at Michigan".  Which he did, I have a terrible memory of him sleep walking through an Outback Bowl.   Someone still owes me at least a $1000 for that awful experience!

That isn't the Illinois QB I'm talking about.  It's projected starter (as we expect Peters will be held out with the concussion he suffered last week) Sophomore QB Matt Robinson out of California.  

Your second thought might be, "Did we recruit him or something?"  No, Michigan didn't.

Let me give you some more background information.  Illinois current OC's is Rod Smith who was on Michigan's staff under RR and now pretty much runs Rich's offense.   At that time, Michigan had a DC named Greg Robinson, who failed miserably and motivated the defense with a stuffed gopher.  Illinois QB Matt Robinson is the nephew of Greg.

It seems Greg called up Rod and laid this quote on him during Matt's recruitment:  "He called and said, 'My nephew has re-opened his recruitment and you need to take a look at him. He reminds me of a kid we had at Michigan in Tate Forcier,'" Smith said.

As Matt's height was an issue for some bigger schools recruiting him.  He is listed at 6'1 but I'm pretty sure that is inflated a few inches.  “Everyone else worries about the 6-foot, Matt Robinson’s been 6-foot his whole life," Smith said. "He’s been making plays his whole life. It doesn’t bother him."  

So there you have it, more ties to Michigan and the legend of Rich Rod and Tate Forcier.  

This is the third game in a row that a former Wolverine has been on the opposite sideline.   Part of me hopes Brandon can play, another part of me hopes he just sits out and gets a 100% healthy. 

• If your wondering who to root for this weekend.   Wisconsin to beat MSU and Iowa to upset PSU as a home dog.   Iowa is a bit more important as MSU already has a loss in the Big Ten.  We don't have a dog in the race in the Nebraska at Minnesota but that could be an interesting game.  Martinez is questionable which could benefit the Golden Gophers.