When he took the field against USC, Dylan Robinson was 35 miles from his La Verne family residence in suburban Los Angeles as he made himself more at home as a University of Washington starting cornerback.
Husky coach Jedd Fisch said the 6-foot-3, 210-pound sophomore defensive back had the best game of his still fledgling career in the UW's 25-21 defeat at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
"He by far played the most confident," Fisch said of a player now holding up 10 career starts over two seasons. "I think the confidence is what we saw, the confidence of being able to step up."
Clearly Robinson had an unusual, action-packed outing against the Trojans.
On the first defensive series of the game, Robinson came up and took the feet out from under USC quarterback Jayden Maiava on a third-and-6 play and held him to no gain, forcing a punt.
A short time later, he appeared to recover a muffed punt at the Trojans 1 only to have possession reversed by the replay booth, a major near-miss for his team.
In the third quarter, Robinson and USC wide receiver Tanook Hines each had position in the end zone and got their hands on what would become an 11-yard touchdown pass, but only because Hines maybe got a little lucky or had a better grip.
"I don't know how it snuck through one person's hands and into another," Fisch said.
And finally, Hines, showing himself to be a savvy, veteran pass-catcher, drew a pass-interference call in the third quarter on Robinson, though TV replays revealed the Trojans player actually committed any offense himself by grabbing onto the corner's jersey rather blatantly and pulling the Husky defender into him.
The call led to a USC field goal and the final four-point margin that prevented the UW from kicking one of its own to win the game at the end.
While any FBS team no doubt would gladly welcome the tall and talented Robinson to their secondary, the cornerback position is one of the reasons why the Huskies are 3-2 and winless in a pair of Big Ten games.
Robinson has opened all five games so far, but he's been paired with three other players who have been his fellow cornerback starters in Virginia transfer Manny Karnley, freshman Jeron Jones and third-year defender Elias Johnson, limiting continuity in their coverage.
Opposing teams repeatedly have gone right after some of the other guys trying to exploit their youth and inexperience.
Robinson looked more like a veteran against USC with 5 tackles and a pass break-up, and drew high marks from the coaching staff.
"It was definitely his best game," Fisch said. "What I loved about it is he's each week gotten better."
USC wide receiver Tanook Hines (16) wrestles the ball from Huskies cornerback Dylan Robinson (6) for a touchdown. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Robinson should continue to better establish himself and his reputation across the Big Ten and someday become an NFL player. Good or bad, he shows up in the middle of everything these days.
"It certainly looked like he's got better playing football and it will continue," Fisch said of his USC performance.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/washington as Dylan Robinson Had Unusual Outing Against Trojans .
