Bijan Robinson does his best Darnell Jefferson to move on from late-game fumble
Bijan Robinson was strong as usual versus Texas Tech during regulation. He had 16 touches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The seventeenth touch, though, is what many will remember from the game.
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On the first play of overtime, Robinson had the ball knocked out of his hands at the line of scrimmage by Tech’s Krishon Merriweather. The Red Raiders jumped on the ball, and later kicked a field goal to seal the 37-34 win in Lubbock.
Come Monday, Robinson had an assignment from Texas running backs coach Tashard Choice.
“Today, I have football in my backpack,” Robinson said. “I’ve been walking around with a football in both hands everywhere I go. Coach Choice walked in, he walked in there, he looked at me, and he was like ‘just do it. Make it muscle memory. Just fix it and just learn it.'”
While Robinson does his best Darnell Jefferson impersonation, there are others trying to help recreate the famous scene from The Program. Fortunately for Robinson, he has kept control of the ball while in classes on the Forty Acres.
“Everybody’s trying to knock it out of my hands,” Robinson said. “There was a student who tried to knock it out of my hands.”
That student was unsuccessful, Robinson noted.
Fumbling isn’t typically a problem for the Longhorns’ star runner. The one in Lubbock on Saturday was only the fourth of his career. Though a rarity, Robinson wants to make that fourth fumble his last.
“It’s rare,” Robinson said. “It was in that moment that I fumbled, but it was a big moment. I don’t ever want that to happen again. I’m trying to do it now so I can fix it.”
Aside from movie-inspired coaching tips, Robinson also said Choice’s ability to empathize with him as a former NFL running back has helped him both on and off the field.
“Coach Choice was the guy who came up to me and said ‘it’s okay man, I’ve done this before, too,’” Robinson said. “He told me his experience when he fumbled in a game. It’s really good to have a coach that’s done it before.”
Of course, the goal is to have no more fumbles. In order to help that process, Robinson is moving past it instead of harping on it.
“It’s already gone,” Robinson said. “In the moment, obviously it sucks. For me, it’s a learning lesson.”
Robinson is a key part of the Longhorn offense. If Choice’s movie-inspired tip works, it’ll help Robinson keep the ball in the Longhorns’ possession at critical junctures.
