Michigan’s Denard Robinson gets back in a big rush

So much for Brady Hoke just being a nice guy.

There was speculation the Michigan coach would allow quarterback Denard Robinson to take the field for one final play as the Wolverines played host to Iowa at the Big House on Senior Day.

Robinson has been the face — and the arm and the legs — of Michigan football for four years, but he’d sat out the previous 21/2 games after suffering nerve damage in his right (throwing) elbow. So Hoke, the thinking was, would be making a nice gesture.

The coach even went on a radio show and gave the impression he would consider putting Robinson on the field for a ceremonial play.

Or, as it turned out, a whole bunch of plays.

Robinson played running back, gaining 98 yards in 13 carries as Michigan ended a losing streak against Iowa at three games. His contributions were important because Wolverines running back Fitzgerald Toussaint suffered what appeared to be a broken leg on Michigan’s first drive.

No shot for the under(Bull)dogs

There won’t be a mid-major Cinderella at the Bowl Championship Series dance this year. The team with the best chance, No. 20 Louisiana Tech, fell to Utah State, 48-41, in overtime.

Not that the Bulldogs didn’t give it a dogged effort. Louisiana State rallied from a 27-3 third-quarter deficit against a Utah State defense that statistically was among the nation’s best.

The Bulldogs forced overtime on a 32-yard field goal by Matt Nelson as time expired in regulation, but Louisiana Tech couldn’t match Utah State’s touchdown in overtime.

Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron, a senior from Newbury Park High, had his NCAA-record number of passes thrown without an interception ended at 445 late in the second quarter.

Utah State won for only the second time in 52 games against a ranked opponent, and it was its first win in 40 games against a ranked opponent on the road.

Close doesn’t count

Michigan State started the season with designs on a Rose Bowl appearance. With five losses in seven conference games, that’s not going to happen.

But even with that 2-5 record in Big Ten Conference play, the Spartans can actually claim they almost had a great season. Michigan State’s five conference losses — the latest a 23-20 setback to Northwestern — have come by a total of 13 points.

For that matter, the Spartans’ two wins were by a total of seven points — one in overtime.

See Johnny run, and pass

Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M; established a freshman record for total offense in the Aggies’ easy win over Sam Houston State. Manziel had the 34 yards he needed after the sixth play of the game, when he gained five yards on a run.

Manziel finished having completed 14 of 20 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns in 16 carries. He has 4,163 yards in total offense this season. The previous record was held by Jared Lorenzen of Kentucky, who had 3,827 in 2000.

Manziel is the fifth player — and first freshman — in Football Bowl Subdivision history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He has run for 1,114 yards, surpassing the previous record for a freshman quarterback, 1,029 set by Missouri’s Brad Smith in 2002.

Tide keeps rolling in

More evidence that football programs such as Alabama’s don’t rebuild, they just reload:

Derrick Henry, who has committed to Alabama, has broken a record many football followers thought might be unbreakable. He surpassed Ken Hall’s national career high school rushing record.

Henry, a 6-foot-3, 238-pound running back from Yulee (Fla.) High, has 11,612 yards and 148 touchdowns. Hall held the record for nearly 60 years with 11,232 yards.

Henry broke it Friday night with some flair, on a 52-yard touchdown run. He finished the game with 482 yards and six touchdowns in 58 carries.

Hall has run for 3,752 yards this season and has not been held to fewer than 200 yards in 11 games. He has surpassed 100 yards rushing in all 45 games in his career.

One liners

Harvard defeated Yale for a sixth consecutive time, a first in a rivalry that started in 1875. ... Trent Steelman has an Army-record 44 career rushing touchdowns, one more than Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis accumulated in the mid-1940s. ... Wisconsin’s Montee Ball ran for 191 yards against Ohio State and scored his 78th career touchdown, tying the major-college record set by former Miami Ohio running back Travis Prentice.

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

Times wire services contributed to this report.