UW Has History of Robinsons Making Things Happen as Freshmen

It's been a while since the University of Washington football team had a Robinson come in and make a big splash as a freshman.

Twenty-three years ago to be exact, the supremely-talented Nate Robinson momentarily fancied himself as a football player and became a starting cornerback as a first-year player for Rick Neuheisel's Huskies.

Then, of course, there was Nate's dad, Jacque Robinson, who concluded his first season in Montlake by becoming the 1982 Rose Bowl MVP after coming off the bench to rush 20 times for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 28-0 win over Iowa.

"I know he's a freshman because I checked the roster," legendary coach Don James quipped in the Pasadena postgame media session when asked about Jacque.

The latest UW roster offers up Dylan Robinson, no relation to the others yet similarly advanced as a young cornerback after starting for the first time against No. 1-ranked Ohio State last weekend and emerging from the spectacle with passing marks.

"I thought Dylan played confident and showed up with some physicality, which was awesome to see," defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said.

Meeting with the media for the first time, this Robinson from La Verne, California, was asked about playing in front of a Husky Stadium crowd of 72,485 against the top team in the country and whether he felt big-game jitters when it began.

"I wouldn't say nerves -- I would say I definitely got butterflies in my stomach. but that was excitement," he said, able to compartmentalize everything. "From a crowd standpoint, it was definitely loud. I feel that football is football. So when I'm out there playing football, I can't really be affected too much by all the stuff that's going on outside the game."

Dylan Robinson played much of the second half of the Apple Cup. | Dave Sizer photo

Robinson acknowledged it was so loud, it wasn't easy to hear the play calls. He also confirmed having a few words with the Buckeyes' All-America wide receiver Jeremiah Smith along the way.

"I was out there," he said. "I was out there, yes sir."

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Robinson was a fill-in starter for Tacario "Bobo" Davis, the UW's senior honors candidate at corner who is dealing with a rib injury, which happened when was fully extended for an interception and landed on the football against UC Davis.

Robinson had no allusions about beating out either Ephesians Prysock or Davis, both 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior corners, only that he had to be ready is one of them wasn't unavailable, which is what happened.

Dylan Robinson (6) and Rahshawn Clark (2) share an Apple Cup moment. | Dave Sizer photo

"I've learned so much, especially being behind Ephy and Bobo, with them being kind of my build and doing kind of what I'm looking to accomplish," Robinson said.

He emerged from Southern California's Bonita High School as a highly touted 4-star recruit, drawing even more attention than most because people were pursuing him as a cornerback, safety and wide receiver.

While Robinson certainly enjoyed scoring touchdowns, he's found his calling as a coverage guy able to deal with the momentary setback.

"Being a defensive back, It's a game kind of losing, where you're going to get balls caught on you and you're going to have plays caught on you, and it's learning how to get over that and have it stay out of my mind," he said.

So now Robinson is part of a elite group of UW freshmen, with four of them already pulling starting assignments just four games in the season.

Dylan Robinson takes his turn in a DB drill in fall camp. | Dan Raley

He's been joined by first-year wide receivers Raiden Vines-Bright and Dezmen Roebuck, and offensive guard John Mills as early starters, with safety Rylon "Batman" Dillard-Allen not far behind in pulling a game-opening assignment and all-everything linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale finally getting cleared to practice this week without limitations.

"I'm super proud of my guys," Robinson said. "I think our freshman class is a super special one, and we knew that coming in, and that's kind of why we all decided to come here and make something special."

Not only that, the Huskies were way overdue for another top-notch athlete named Robinson to pull on a gold helmet and purple jersey and be ready to compete right away.

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