During a phone interview Monday, Warren Central (Ind.) football coach John Hart said true freshman quarterback Tre Roberson has "a lot of similarities" with junior Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.
Remember, as a senior at Lawrence Central (Ind.), Roberson helped knock Warren Central out of the 2010 IHSAA playoffs. The Warriors of Warren Central were defending state champions, and Roberson passed for 174 yards and two touchdowns while adding 121 yards on the ground and three scores.
One can see how Hart could make this comparison.
When Robinson made that play as a true freshman at Michigan, Rod Smith was his quarterbacks coach. Smith, now Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at IU, chuckled when asked to compare the two.
"Well, that's tough," Smith said, "because Denard is pretty special."
Robinson ran for over 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns while passing for 18 more during his sophomore campaign, earning the 2010 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Smith, who also coached dual-threat quarterback Pat White at West Virginia University, said Roberson and Robinson have different strengths as runners.
"He's actually a more skilled runner than Denard is," Smith said. "Denard is more of an explosive kid. Denard hits a hole and he just shoots out of a cannon, where Tre is more skillful when he's running."
Smith went on to draw a closer comparison between Roberson and White or quarterback Woody Dantzler, who played for Smith at Clemson.
"He's like Pat in terms of his running ability," Smith said. "He sees things, he's gifted in how he runs and finds crevasses."
Another difference Smith pointed out was that Roberson's progression as a quarterback has been quicker than that of Robinson. Early in the season, the coaching staff had a formation drawn up for Roberson, out of which he almost exclusively ran the ball. As the season has gone along, Roberson has thrown the ball more and more, attempting 17 passes against Illinois and 24 against Iowa last Saturday.
During his freshman year, Robinson attempted just 31 passes, throwing twice as many interceptions as touchdowns (two touchdowns, four interceptions). When number 16 trotted onto the field as a freshman, a run play would almost certainly follow.
"He's doing more offensively than Denard did his first year," Smith said of Roberson. "He's way ahead mentally, as far as what we're putting on his plate than what we did with Denard. It was a package for Denard the first year. And I mean a very simplistic package the first year"
