Robinson heads toward Penn State record by leaps and bounds

STATE COLLEGE - It has become basically routine for Allen Robinson. If a jump ball is thrown in his direction, there is a good chance he will come down with it.

And recently, it has been in astonishing fashion.

The 6-3 wideout has established himself as one of the top receivers in the nation, aided Penn State's offense in a massive manner and added to his highlight reel in the process.

For the most memorable grab of his collegiate career, Robinson elevated over a Michigan defender for a catch inches shy of the goal line, which set up a game-tying touchdown on the Nittany Lions' way to a four-overtime victory. The grab was dubbed No. 1 on "SportsCenter's" Top 10 plays, and Robinson followed it up with a similar grab on a 50-50 ball against Illinois on Saturday.

Robinson by no means struggled last season (he had 1,013 yards), but said one area of his game he wanted to improve was winning balls against defenders one-on-one.

"Coming into the offseason, these are some of the things I wanted to work on," Robinson said. "Coming down with 50-50 balls, that's something that I studied last year on what was going wrong."

To work on making these catches, Robinson - who boasts a 37-inch vertical leap - hit the practice field in the summer and went against some of his teammates from the secondary. It's paid off.

"If it's in the right place where you can't get it, because of his ability - running and jumping and being 6-3 - if you put it in the right place, he's going to go get it," cornerback Adrian Amos said.

A junior from the Detroit area, Robinson turned heads last season, and his 77 catches were a single-season school record. That mark certainly does not look as if it will stand the test of time, however, as Robinson is well on his way of shattering it himself.

With four games remaining in 2013, Robinson has 66 catches for 1,043 yards and six touchdowns, and his 130.4 receiving yards per game rank second in the country. He has 2,085 yards in his Penn State career, the fourth-most of any receiver in program history, and with 42 more yards this season, Robinson will break Bobby Engram's single-season mark set in 1995.

Robinson acknowledged he was honored to be in the company he's in, but said he doesn't pay too much attention to records. Neither does his coach, who, when asked about Robinson being close to the record, responded by asking "Is he?"

"We don't talk about records," coach Bill O'Brien said at his weekly news conference Tuesday. "We talk about doing the best we can to make sure we're ready to go for Minnesota"

The Nits will visit Minnesota at noon Saturday.

While many more people have taken notice, going up and making plays is nothing new for Robinson - he just used to do it on a different surface. Robinson also was a standout basketball player at Orchard Lake St. Mary's High, and he garnered some looks from a few schools about playing in college.

Robinson said he got attention from some lesser-known basketball programs such as Cleveland State and Grand Valley State. He also said nearby powerhouse Michigan State, as well as Iowa, gave him a look, though he never got in serious talks about playing for either.

Thanks to a growth spurt in his junior year of high school, Robinson excelled in both sports, but more so on the gridiron. His basketball background is evident, and he still plays occasionally, but he said the choice to play football collegiately was a rather obvious one.

"I had basketball interest, but definitely a lot more in football," Robinson said. "So it wasn't too much of a decision at all. I knew that's where my future was headed."

Robinson will have another large life decision to make after the season ends: Enter the NFL draft or play his senior season at Penn State. He said leaving early is "definitely a possibility," and he will talk it over with his coaches and family once the season is over. But Robinson also listed some reasons he would considered playing one more season in Happy Valley, where fans would not mind watching him take flight over defenders for another season.

"One of the reasons is to finish out what I started with my teammates," Robinson said. "We've come this far playing together, that would definitely be a reason. And first and foremost would be to get my degree."

When Penn State visits Minnesota, Golden Gophers coach Jerry Kill, who has suffered from seizures, said he will remain in the coaching booth and not return to the sideline this week.

Kill left the team to seek more treatment for his epilepsy a month ago. He returned to watch the game against Northwestern from the booth and has done the same for victories against Nebraska and Indiana.