On Robinson & Concussions

[JonDMiller]

Jon, nobody is even sure (at this point) that Robinson suffered a concussion.

Which is what I said in my write up, which is why I am not ripping the staff on this stuff. As I said, I am not in possession of all of the factors that went into the decision.

It's just questionable to me that Robinson was still in the game. If some folks think that is being too critical, there will be others that think I am dealing with it with kid gloves.

I just think its questionable as to why Adam Robinson was in the game in the fourth quarter getting carries, whether he has a concussion or not.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

Which is what I said in my write up, which is why I am not ripping the staff on this stuff. As I said, I am not in possession of all of the factors that went into the decision.

It's just questionable to me that Robinson was still in the game. If some folks think that is being too critical, there will be others that think I am dealing with it with kid gloves.

I just think its questionable as to why Adam Robinson was in the game in the fourth quarter getting carries, whether he has a concussion or not.

I get all that; it's also questionable why all the starters were in the game at that point. This is an issue because Robinson may or may not have been hurt.

I tend to side with hawkeye777; I think Kirk was sending a message to his team that nothing was going to be taken for granted. The flip side of putting in the backups is that maybe Coker (or whomever) loses a fumble, MSU gets a quick touchdown, successfully execute and onside kick, and get another quick score. Robinson has never lost a fumble, so I can understand the rationale of leaving him in.

 

[EddyP]

I get all that; it's also questionable why all the starters were in the game at that point. This is an issue because Robinson may or may not have been hurt.

I tend to side with hawkeye777; I think Kirk was sending a message to his team that nothing was going to be taken for granted. The flip side of putting in the backups is that maybe Coker (or whomever) loses a fumble, MSU gets a quick touchdown, successfully execute and onside kick, and get another quick score. Robinson has never lost a fumble, so I can understand the rationale of leaving him in.

Shada, the game was won and I agree with you that all starters should have been out of the game. The second team should have been in getting some work. Hell if I'm not mistaken the starters were in after Cousins went out. It makes no sense to me. You are only asking for trouble(see Vandy rolling around on the ground).

 

[OlePeep]

The flip side of putting in the backups is that maybe Coker (or whomever) loses a fumble, MSU gets a quick touchdown, successfully execute and onside kick, and get another quick score. Robinson has never lost a fumble, so I can understand the rationale of leaving him in.

Up 31 to start the 4th? With his importance to the O? W/ 4 B10 games to play? I think it was a huge mistake. I had asked others at halftime if it would be wise to consider sitting him the entire 2nd half. It's not about making players "*******". It's about protecting a critical player from unnecessary risk, particularly considering the "shut down" mode the O went into. It gives the D the opportunity to do exactly what MSU did: stack 8 or 9 guys up, stand up the RB and tee off on him. Worked out well.

 

[Imlivingthedream]

I get all that; it's also questionable why all the starters were in the game at that point. This is an issue because Robinson may or may not have been hurt.

I tend to side with hawkeye777; I think Kirk was sending a message to his team that nothing was going to be taken for granted. The flip side of putting in the backups is that maybe Coker (or whomever) loses a fumble, MSU gets a quick touchdown, successfully execute and onside kick, and get another quick score. Robinson has never lost a fumble, so I can understand the rationale of leaving him in.

Coker carried the ball in the 2nd quarter and also the series prior to ARob getting hurt.

crazy Kirk, roling the dice and taking a HUGE risk having Coker handle the ball in the 2nd quarter!

 

[wdmhawk]

Leaving Robinson in late probably has more to do with keeping his body and mindset used to getting the ball 25 plus times a game for 4 quarters. He is our work horse and there will be very few games where he is not needed for the full game. I personally wouldn't have left him in, but my guess is this is what the coaching staff was thinking.

 

[hawk44]

It's amazing how many coaches there are with a computer. The decision to play or not play a someone is not always as simple as you may think. I didn't see a lot of complaining when Shonn Green was getting 30 carries a game. Let the coaches do their job - I can't think of many coaches with a better record over the past few years that what we have in Iowa City.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

It's amazing how many coaches there are with a computer. The decision to play or not play a someone is not always as simple as you may think. I didn't see a lot of complaining when Shonn Green was getting 30 carries a game. Let the coaches do their job - I can't think of many coaches with a better record over the past few years that what we have in Iowa City.

How many games were there where Greene was getting carries when we were up by 30 in the second half? Greene also had a solid backup by the midway point of the season, unlike Robinson. Even the best coaches make stupid decisions sometimes. Who are you to say we can't criticize them? It comes with the job, you're going to make tons of money but there's also a lot of scrutiny that comes with it. It's not like Ferentz stays up at night worrying that people are criticizing him on message boards.

 

[JonDMiller]

It's amazing how many coaches there are with a computer. The decision to play or not play a someone is not always as simple as you may think. I didn't see a lot of complaining when Shonn Green was getting 30 carries a game. Let the coaches do their job - I can't think of many coaches with a better record over the past few years that what we have in Iowa City.

Greene had 30 carries in a game just twice in his career, and it was exactly 30 carries.

Through 8 games in 2008, Greene had 177 carries. Robinson has 172 through 8 games this year.

To me, if we are going to draw comparisons, the biggest issue is this; Greene was 235 pounds, Robinson may be 200 pounds. Robinson takes a lot more abuse than he gives, where it was the opposite with Greene.

Coincidentally, Greene had 10 rushing touchdowns through eight games, the same as ARob.

ARob is just 116 yards behind Greene in total offense through eight games. In rushing, Greene had 1,154 yards through eight games, Robinson 806.

 

[JonDMiller]

How many games were there where Greene was getting carries when we were up by 30 in the second half? Greene also had a solid backup by the midway point of the season, unlike Robinson.

Hampton had 91 rushes in 2008. This year, Hampton had 27 before the injury and Coker has 26.

ARob has 56.7% of the carries this year, with Stanzi credit for 34 which have mostly been sacks.

In 2008, Greene had 59.6% of the carries, with Stanzi having 56

 

[tm3308]

Greene had 30 carries in a game just twice in his career, and it was exactly 30 carries.

Through 8 games in 2008, Greene had 177 carries. Robinson has 172 through 8 games this year.

To me, if we are going to draw comparisons, the biggest issue is this; Greene was 235 pounds, Robinson may be 200 pounds. Robinson takes a lot more abuse than he gives, where it was the opposite with Greene.

Coincidentally, Greene had 10 rushing touchdowns through eight games, the same as ARob.

ARob is just 116 yards behind Greene in total offense through eight games. In rushing, Greene had 1,154 yards through eight games, Robinson 806.

This. To use military vehicle analogies here: Greene was a Sherman tank, able to deliver a big blow and hardly feel anything that hit it. A-Rob is a Jeep: not going to deliver a blow, but will take almost anything hurled at it, and keep chugging along.

You wouldn't expect a Jeep to handle the same duties as a Sherman, would you?

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Greene had 30 carries in a game just twice in his career, and it was exactly 30 carries.

Through 8 games in 2008, Greene had 177 carries. Robinson has 172 through 8 games this year.

To me, if we are going to draw comparisons, the biggest issue is this; Greene was 235 pounds, Robinson may be 200 pounds. Robinson takes a lot more abuse than he gives, where it was the opposite with Greene.

Coincidentally, Greene had 10 rushing touchdowns through eight games, the same as ARob.

ARob is just 116 yards behind Greene in total offense through eight games. In rushing, Greene had 1,154 yards through eight games, Robinson 806.

Jon,

You're not accounting for the physics of the contact that Greene and Robinson took. When Robinson takes on contact at higher velocities, he often uses his "spin-move" and that then makes a lot of the contact that he gets "glancing blows." As a result, he's contending with a smaller impulse force being exerted on his body.

In contrast, Greene took on direct contact more. Furthermore, he's a more massive guy. The direct implication there is that he has more momentum. Thus, the impulse forces he feels upon hits often produced a larger change in momentum for him ... thereby implying that he was then feeling larger forces on his body.

Lastly, in 2008, Greene's conditioning wasn't all that great at the beginning of the season. As a result, he simply couldn't handle too many touches without getting completely gassed. That's part of the reason why he didn't have as many touches as Robinson. Furthermore, Greene had a significantly larger YPC than ARob. As a result, Iowa didn't need to run quite as many plays in order to move the ball down the field. And that too ended up reducing the number of carries that Greene had.

Of course, Greene also had Hampton to spell him. And, the coaches are still working on getting Coker more prepared to spell ARob.

 

[OlePeep]

Jon,

You're not accounting for the physics of the contact that Greene and Robinson took. When Robinson takes on contact at higher velocities, he often uses his "spin-move" and that then makes a lot of the contact that he gets "glancing blows." As a result, he's contending with a smaller impulse force being exerted on his body.

In contrast, Greene took on direct contact more. Furthermore, he's a more massive guy. The direct implication there is that he has more momentum. Thus, the impulse forces he feels upon hits often produced a larger change in momentum for him ... thereby implying that he was then feeling larger forces on his body.

LOL. I'm not arguing that AR is fragile, b/c he has more than proven he is not, but this Physics I analysis is silly. It's a violent game, and both guys took a beating. ARob shouldn't have been in, given the lead, the time left in the game, our game plan shift to run headlong into waiting 9-man fronts, our depth issues at RB, and 4 games left on the B11 schedule (3 road games). It was a stupid risk, and it may have lasting consequences for the season and AR, personally.