It was another historic carry for Robinson, giving him his 40th career rushing touchdown, making him the eighth player in Football Subdivisionhistory with 40 rushing and 40 passing touchdowns.
Though Robinson was removed for good at the start of the fourth quarter, U-M's offensive reserves understood this was their chance to shine as well and tailback Thomas Rawls seized on it with a 63-yard touchdown run, pushing the margin to 45-0.
Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker said an erroneous call by the replacements that decided a game was bound to happen sooner or later.
"I think the biggest shame of it is that anybody with half a brain could see this coming," said Tucker, who played for Washington, Dallas, Buffalo and New England. "If you watched the preseason games, if you watched the first two weeks of regular season games, it was inevitable."
Tucker said he thinks the controversy could spur a resolution between the league and the regular officials.
"I do think they'll get something done in the next few days because of the pressure," Tucker said. "But it's so frustrating, because why did it have to come to this? This could have been done last week. Maybe the league was hoping this wouldn't happen, or it wouldn't be this bad if it did happen. But you could see it coming from a mile away. They could have avoided this train wreck and yet they chose not to."
Drew Brees led the Saints' offense onto the field with a chance to complete an unlikely comeback in the final minutes, only to throw another errant pass.
Washington safety DeJonGomes snagged Brees' overthrown ball for receiver Lance Moore and returned it to the New Orleans 4, setting up the decisive touchdown in the Redskins' 40-32 victory over the Saints on Sunday.
Brees completed fewer than half his passes for the first time since Dec. 24, 2006, part of a sloppy, penalty-marred performance as New Orleans lost at home for the first time since 2010.
"It's hard to believe we even had a chance to tie it at the end," Brees said. "When you make that many mistakes, you don't deserve to win."
For a long time, the door to manager Joe Girardi's office remained closed at Rogers Centre. Across the way, the Yankees were preparing to head out into a Saturday night after a win against the Blue Jays. In Girardi's office, other plans were being made.
CC Sabathia's achy left elbow had turned the day inside out. The discussion began well before Saturday's first pitch, "just trying to decide what we were going to do," Girardi said. "Should we just skip him a start? Should we DL him? What do we do in this instance?"
Girardi, general manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees' staff came to the conclusion that the disabled list was the best place for Sabathia, forcing the Yankees ace lefty to skip two starts. Officially, it's a "low level" of concern, mostly due to a stealth MRI conducted prior to his last start.
Al McCray, an assistant coach at Fort Hays State, said when he woke up at his Kansas home Monday he found a message on his cellphone from the player, thanking him for everything he had done for Murdock and his family.
The athlete concluded the text with an apology that baffled McCray, who said he had known the 25-year-old since Murdock was in middle school.
"At the end, he goes: 'I apologize.' And I don't know what he's talking about. I woke up, and I'm thinking he's apologizing because he texted me so early. ... I wish he had called instead."
"Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic," he added. "I think I'm a good fit for the team, and we have a great team, we're a contender, that's all incredible, too. But as far as getting over the hump and being able to be a Laker after being a Sun and trying to beat the Lakers in the playoffs all those years, the reality is it was too great of an opportunity to pass up as far as my children were concerned. And fortunately for me, it's a great basketball situation."
The 38-year-old Canadian says he spoke to Bryant by phone Monday to see whether he wanted to work together. Bryant took a break from his basketball camp in Santa Barbara to confirm he thinks Nash would be a perfect fit in the Lakers' backcourt, providing a dimension they never possessed even in Derek Fisher's best years — a playmaking talent Los Angeles hasn't seen since Magic Johnson was running the show.
A victory in California's wine country would make Ambrose the reigning champ on both road courses that host Sprint Cup events. The fifth-year driver prevailed at Watkins Glen, N.Y., last season for his first win in NASCAR's top series.
Although his road savvy often gives him a competitive edge, Ambrose shrugs off the notion he's a road-racing specialist. Three weeks of solid finishes have elevated him to 17th in points, and wins at Sonoma and Watkins Glen could place him in the wild-card picture for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. To make his first postseason appearance, Ambrose knows he has to excel on ovals as well.
"I apply myself the same every week," Ambrose said. "The pressure is not much different, it's just the weight of expectation I guess this weekend and for Watkins Glen as well, the expectation of success is what we have to balance out. I can't change the way I drive. I've got to keep doing my best out there. If I do my job well and the team does, we know we'll be a contender for the race win."
