Robinson had initially hoped to play for
Florida State, which was located just a few miles from Leon High School, and had taken several Leon players in the past. Florida State, however, showed little interest in Robinson until late in his recruitment. His high school coach, Gene Cox, suggested it was because of Robinson's race, noting that Florida State had never had a black quarterback. Florida State head coach
Bobby Bowden denied this, however, stating that he was concerned with Robinson's relatively skinny frame (he was listed at 6'4", 170 pounds, coming out of high school). "I really didn't think he could take the pounding," Bowden said. Robinson eventually signed with
Tennessee. Volunteers head coach
Johnny Majors had also waffled on Robinson's recruitment, expressing concern over a roster already packed with quarterbacks, but made up his mind at the last minute and offered Robinson a scholarship. He led Tennessee's junior varsity team to a 3–1 record, however, completing 15 of 29 passes for 412 yards and seven touchdowns, and rushing for 109 yards. Robinson remained a backup to Cockrell during the 1983 season. He received his only significant playing time in
Tennessee's 37–3 win over
Georgia Tech, completing 6 of 12 passes for 123 yards and a 35-yard touchdown.
1984 season Disappointed over lack of playing time, Robinson contemplated leaving the team. He was suddenly vaulted into the starting slot, however, when Cockrell decided to skip his senior year to play
Major League Baseball. After suffering a leg injury, Robinson missed all of Tennessee's game against
Army (allowing quarterback
Daryl Dickey to get his first start), and struggled in the Vols' 29–10 loss to
Auburn. Robinson's breakout performance came in Tennessee's shootout against
rival Florida on October 13, 1984. He completed a school-record 29 passes for 371 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown pass to Tim McGee in the first quarter, and a 48-yard touchdown pass to Joey Clinkscales that pulled the Vols to within a score in the fourth quarter. He also had 18 yards rushing, giving him 389 yards of total offense, which was also a school record. Tennessee's defense was unable to stop Florida's running back tandem of
Neal Anderson and
John L. Williams, however, and the Gators prevailed 43–30. Robinson delivered another strong performance in Tennessee's game against
rival Alabama on October 20, 1984. With Alabama leading 27–13 midway through the fourth quarter, Robinson engineered a scoring drive which culminated with a 17-yard touchdown pass to McGee. Teammate Andre Creamer then returned a punt to the Alabama 11-yard line, and Jones scored from a yard out a few plays later to cut the lead to 27–26 with just over two minutes remaining. Majors opted to go for the
two-point conversion, which Robinson scored by faking a pitch to Jones and diving over the goal line, giving Tennessee a 28–27 victory, and setting off a wild celebration at
Neyland Stadium. Robinson was named "Southeast Back of the Week" by the
Associated Press for his performance. In Tennessee's 24–21 win over
Georgia Tech on October 27, Robinson completed 20 of 26 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown, and connected with tight end Jeff Smith on a 31-yard, fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter to set up
Fuad Reveiz's game-winning field goal. In the Vols' 41–9 win over
Memphis State two weeks later, Robinson threw three touchdown passes, including a 34-yarder to McGee and a 24-yarder to Smith, and scored on a 25-yard run. In Tennessee's 17–12 loss to
Kentucky — the Volunteers'
last loss to the Wildcats until
2011 — Robinson engineered a drive to the Kentucky 13-yard line late the fourth quarter, but time expired as he was trying to down the ball. Robinson threw touchdown passes of 55 yards and 19 yards to McGee to lead Tennessee to a 29–13 win over
rival Vanderbilt to finish the regular season. In the 1984 Sun Bowl, with Tennessee down 28–27, Robinson led a late drive into
Maryland territory, but lost the ball on a fumble, allowing the Terrapins to escape with the win. Robinson finished the 1984 season with 153 completions on 256 passes for 1,963 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions, falling just short of Alan Cockrell's school single-season record of 2,021 passing yards. He also rushed for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving him a school-record 2,089 yards of total offense. His 61.7% completion rate also set a record, surpassing Johnny Majors' 1956 mark of 61.3%. He was also considered a contender for the
Heisman Trophy. In Tennessee's season opener against 10th-ranked
UCLA, he threw for a school record 387 yards and two touchdowns, including a 68-yard bomb to Clinkscales, and rushed for 30 yards, giving him 417 total yards to break his own school record for total offense. The Bruins rallied to score 16 points late in the fourth quarter, however, to escape with a 26–26 tie. On September 28, 1985, Tennessee hosted #1
Auburn, which featured eventual Heisman winner
Bo Jackson at running back. On Tennessee's first drive, Robinson broke loose for a 39-yard
scramble to set up the Vols' first score. Following an Auburn turnover, Robinson connected with McGee for a 37-yard touchdown. In the second quarter, Robinson engineered a third scoring drive, capped by an off-balance touchdown pass to Vince Carter. When Auburn cut the lead to 24–6 in the fourth quarter, Robinson led the Vols downfield on another scoring drive, which featured a long pass to McGee and a touchdown pass to Clinkscales. After Auburn scored again, Robinson responded with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Eric Swanson, and the Vols held on for a 38–20 win. Robinson finished with 259 yards passing and a school-record four touchdown passes. After a hard-fought victory over
Wake Forest, Tennessee traveled to
Gainesville to face #7
Florida, who had not lost since the first week of the 1984 season. Robinson completed 26 of 36 passes for 300 yards, but managed just one touchdown pass — a 20-yarder to McGee in the fourth quarter — the Florida defense successfully executed a "bend-but-don't-break" strategy. Late in the fourth quarter, with Tennessee trailing 17–10, Robinson led the Vols to midfield, but the drive ended when his pass was tipped by Florida defensive tackle
Rhondy Weston and intercepted by linebacker
Alonzo Johnson to seal the victory for the Gators. On October 19, Tennessee traveled to
Birmingham to play
Alabama, who were ranked #15 and entered the game with a 4–1 record following a 19–17 loss to
Penn State. Both offenses struggled to move the ball for most of the game, though Robinson and freshman running back Keith Davis had garnered enough offensive production to give Tennessee a 13–7 lead after three quarters. Following an Alabama turnover, Tennessee had driven inside the Alabama 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter. On a 2nd-and-1 scramble, Robinson was sandwiched between linebacker
Cornelius Bennett and defensive lineman
Curt Jarvis, tearing the
anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. He recalled Bennett saying, "T-man, stay down, you're hurt. I can feel it." In the days following the Alabama game, doctors determined that Robinson's injury would require
arthroscopic surgery, effectively ending his season.
Records Robinson completed 253 of 411 passes for 3,332 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions, and rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns, during his career at Tennessee. Robinson's single-game record of 417 yards of total offense against UCLA in 1985 was broken by
Peyton Manning, who accumulated 475 yards against
Florida in 1996. Robinson's tally is now the school's fourth-highest single-game total. His 389 yards of total offense against
Florida in 1984 remains the school's eighth-highest single-game total. His single-season record of 2,089 total yards was broken by
Jeff Francis in 1988, and has since been surpassed several times.
Collegiate statistics ==Professional career==