Robinson’s shiftiness makes foes’ heads spin
Sophomore RB adds twist to an already formidable attack
AUSTIN — TCU linebacker Dee Winters wriggled through Texas’ offensive line and found himself on a collision course with Bijan Robinson. And with Winters’ forward momentum and proximity, the Longhorn tailback never should have made it back to the line of scrimmage.
But Robinson vanished like a wisp of smoke on the wind, twirling away from Winters and into a crease just inside the right edge. He shed one arm tackle, then another, before TCU safety Nook Bradford finally dragged him down for a gain of eight yards.
It was an impressive bit of maneuvering, another glimpse of Robinson’s flair for willing a negative into a positive. All told, the 6-foot, 214-pound Heisman Trophy contender forced 15 missed tackles (per Pro Football Focus’ stat tracking) in No. 21 Texas’ 3227 road win over the Horned Frogs.
Robinson has a dazzling array of moves he can call upon whenever a collision looms. He’s just as likely to bowl over defenders or stiff-arm them away as he is to employ a series of sly feints or jukes, and that extensive repertoire has helped the Texas sophomore rise to first in yards from scrimmage (819) and second in rushing yards (652) among all FBS players.
But the spin has become Robinson’s signature move. And it can seem unstoppable, unguardable, a devastating go-to that terrorizes opponents like Dirk Nowitzki’s one-legged fadeaway or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook or Barry Sanders’ lethal jump cut.
“Yeah, that spin move is pretty dangerous in space,” said Robinson, who’s forced 51 missed tackles on the season. “Sometimes it’ll work, sometimes it doesn’t. I just gotta keep timing it up.
“But I think that setting up defenders and then making that spin move, they’re just not looking
for that, they’re looking for a head-on tackle. But when you spin they just get shocked. I like to use that move, especially in between tackles because they never know where you’re going to go and it’s just hard to stop.”
Robinson utilizes the spin for more than mere deception — he also uses it as a stabilizer.
On one determined 12-yard run against Texas Tech a couple weeks ago, Robinson made a sharp cut and blasted out of the backfield. One defender glanced
the tailback as he accelerated, destabilizing Robinson’s balance.
Rather than let gravity win, Robinson spun off a shoulder pad-first tackle and regained his footing. The extra five or six yards gained granted Texas a fresh set of downs.
“Yeah, actually I do practice it,” Robinson explained of the spin. “You know, it’s just contact balance. When I see the defender leave his feet, spinning is a good move to have because you can spin and they can hit you and it’ll
pop you back up so you can try to get some more yards. But just using their force against them and seeing that angle to take, it’s an effective move.”
Robinson will have to dig deep into his bag of tricks this Saturday when the Longhorns (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) meet No. 6 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0) inside the Cotton Bowl.
The Sooners own the nation’s No. 7 rushing defense, limiting opponents to just 79.4 yards per game and 2.69 yards per carry. And defensive coordinator Alex
Grinch has a bevy of imposing playmakers to throw at Robinson and Texas’ offensive line, including All-American linebacker Nik Bonitto and All-Big 12 linemen Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey. That trio has combined for 35 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks on the season.
Still, as talented as Grinch’s defense is, head coach Lincoln Riley will still carry what Spurs coach Gregg Popovich likes to call the “appropriate fear” into this matchup with arguably the nation’s best running back.
“He jumps off the tape,” Riley told 247Sports’ OU Insider site. “You kind of halfway see from afar as you’re getting prepared for your opponents each week and playing your games, and you hope when you turn on the video it’s going to be hype and not real. But in this particular case it matches.
“I liken him to — I think back to the guys that jump off the tape. I think about the Christian McCaffreys, I think about the Derrick Henrys, the Nick Chubbs. That doesn’t take you very many snaps to see, ‘OK, this looks different.’ So, I think if he’s not the best one out there, he certainly is one of the best.”
Texas opted to monitor Robinson’s workload this week after he carried the ball a career-high 35 times against TCU. Because if the Longhorns are going to beat Oklahoma for just the fourth time since 2010, they’ll need their star at 100 percent.
For his part, Robinson feels terrific. And if Texas’ whirling dervish needs to tote the ball 30plus times against Oklahoma, he’ll do so without pause.
“I can handle as many as a team needs,” Robinson said. “It doesn’t matter what (the number) is.”