Brandon “Pop” Robinson entered the game with just over 7 minutes left in the first quarter as Liberty lined up for a 2nd and goal at the 2 yard line. It was the first play of the redshirt-freshman’s career. He took the snap and kept the ball on the designed keeper and rushed into the end zone for a touchdown.
As he returned to the sideline, he met backup quarterback and true freshman Johnathan Bennett. They both jumped in the air in celebration and Bennett injured his left leg as it bent awkwardly underneath him when he returned to the ground.
With Bennett’s injury, Robinson suddenly becomes the backup quarterback. With Liberty routing Hampton, Robinson entered the game in replace of Buckshot Calvert with 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
“Pop came in, did a nice job,” Hugh Freeze said of Robinson. “We’ve been working on a package for him because he’s big and strong in short yardage. You saw it early in the tight red zone. When he got in the game, I thought he did some nice things.”
He finished the game with 7 rushes for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns with a long of 75 yards. Robinson only attempted one pass as the game plan in the 2nd half was to run the ball and milk the clock.
The 6’4″ Robinson red-shirted last year after joining the program out of Irvington High School in Maplewood, New Jersey.
“It was great,” Robinson said of getting on the field. “I was waiting for this moment since November 2017. They needed me to run the ball, so I got it and did it. It felt good. It was good to get in and get my feet wet. It was my first time touching the field in a long time. I got to see the speed of the game. It was different.”
This week in practice, the Flames will work on getting Robinson more reps as well as the rest of the quarterbacks behind Buckshot.
“We didn’t play Buckshot but one series in the 2nd half,” said Freeze. “You got to get (Robinson) some reps and now Landon (Brown’s) got to get some reps and probably Henry (Van Dellen) too. Henry can really throw it. We will have to get everybody a look in practice and see where we go from there. We will hopefully be healthy with our starter and not have to worry about that, but you’ve got to prepare for it.”
