Sugar Bowl 2012: Can Denard Robinson Raise Bar Higher Than New Year's Games?

Times Square was not the only place that lights were flashing this past New Years. The past New Years Bowl games saw scoreboards burning bulbs as teams that lost put up 30 and 38 points. 

Every football fan knew that Oklahoma State and Oregon would score heavily and they did, the Cowboys with their explosive air attack and the Ducks with their Chip Kelly trademarked spread. 

With the Sugar Bowl on the horizon, fans will continue to see quick paced games as David Wilson and the Virginia Tech Hokies face off with Denard Robinson's Michigan Wolverines.

With all of the talk about program validation in the media, the only question fans in Vegas are asking is will Denard Robinson make New Years look like a warm up for scoring? 

The answer: Yes.

Looking at Virginia Tech, the only team to knock off Frank Beamer's team is Clemson and there was one common denominator in both of those loses: Clemson's running game.

In these two loses, the Hokies gave up a combined 336 yards on the ground while Tajh Boyd was still able to pass for 478 yards. Furthermore, the Hokies gave up at least six yards per carry to Clemson's leading rushers in both games.

While Michigan features a much different looking offense as compared to Clemson, Denard Robinson has been one of the most difficult quarterbacks to game plan for. While his arm pales in comparison to his legs, his accuracy has greatly improved from last year with the coaching of Brady Hoke.

Robinson and the Michigan offense have overwhelmed traditional defenses such as Nebraska, Iowa and Penn State with their two headed rushing monster of Denard Robinson and Fitzgerald Toussaint, both 1,000 yard rushers.

With Toussaint and Robinson as valid threats, the play action will allow for Robinson to show just how improved his arm is. If Robinson is accurate with these kinds of passes, expect to see the Hokie defense play a dangerous game of chicken with their defense, having to chose between air or ground defense.

Finally, throw in the fact that the Hokies are likely to score early as the Michigan defense looks for footing against "Beamer Ball" and Denard Robinson will be forced to have a big game. 

There is no reason to think that this game will have any less scoring than the New Years bowls that featured high scoring offenses thanks to Denard Robinson's mismatch with the Virginia Tech defense.

The over/under for this game 52 points. If Robinson gets going early with his legs and Virginia Tech can keep pace, there is no reason to take the over as Robinson puts all others to shame...again.