| Darnell Robinson |
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 | Class:
Senior
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| Hometown:
Sacramento, Calif.
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| High School:
Valley High School
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| Height / Weight:
5-11 / 227
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| Position:
Strong Side Linebacker
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| Birthdate:
03/16/1978
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| Experience:
3V
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PERSONAL--Born 3/16/78 in Los Angeles, CA...son of Andrea Robinson...his mother is a hairdresser...he is in the College of Liberal Arts and is a sociology major...has three sisters, Charmelle, 20; Micoe, 16; and Erica, 14...hobbies include lifting weights and working on computers...Tim Brown is his favorite athlete...selected OSU because, "OSU stuck by me when no one else did and they gave me a chance to prove myself and they are a family."
OSU--(2000-Senior)--Darnell enters his senior year having played in a total of 34 with 12 starts, all consecutive...he has the honor of playing his final season as one of OSU’s five team captains for the 2000 season on a vote from his teammates...he has 403 career defensive points, based on 95 tackles, including 69 solo, 4 sacks and 8 tackles for loss, 6 passes broken up, 3 interceptions, 5 recovered fumbles and 2 caused fumbles...Darnell has a chance to be one of the premier linebackers in the Pac-10 Conference this year...one of the hardest hitters on the Beaver football team, plus with his speed he has the ability to cover receivers in man pass coverage...had an outstanding spring practice and is a solid fixture as OSU’s strong linebacker...in winter conditioning he posted weightlifting bests of 380 in the back squat, 315 in the bench press and 264 in the power clean.
OSU--(1999-Junior)--Darnell entered spring drills listed No. 2 on the depth chart at strong linebacker...Darnell completed spring drills also listed No. 2 at strong linebacker behind Micah Moore...Darnell and Micah Moore and Terrence Carroll have been acknowledged by teammates as the hardest hitters on the football team...Darnell gives OSU great depth at strong linebacker and he will continue to be one of OSU's top players on special teams...Darnell had by far his best spring since he has been at OSU and he will be a quality defensive performer for the Beavers in 1999...it was his hit on the goal line, stopping Ken Simonton on the one foot line to preserve a 31-24 victory for the White squad over the Black squad in a thrilling finish to the spring game at Hillsboro on May 1...in fact, Darnell was the leading tackler for the White squad with 8 solo tackles and a tackle for loss and a pass broken up...Darnell has 117 career defensive points, with 20 solo tackles, 9 assisted tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 fumble recoveries, a pass interception and a pass broken up...in the weight room, Darnell has produced personal bests of 275 pounds in the hang clean, 330 in the bench press, 405 in the back squat and 300 in the incline...his vertical jump best is 32.00 inches, plus he was tested for only 8.41 percent body fat.
(1998-Sophomore)--Darnell got some valuable experience in 11 games last year and he entered spring drills ready to compete for playing time...Darnell has proven he is a big hitter and entered spring drills listed No. 3 at strong linebacker and he finished the spring No. 3 at weak linebacker, behind three-year starter Bryan Jones and James Allen...OSU had more depth at linebacker than any other position on the team in 1998...it is one area where the Beavers can go three-deep with experience...Darnell will once again be included on several key special team units...Darnell played in all 11 games as a backup to Brian Rogers and Micah Moore...also played in special teams where he was outstanding...accounted for 71 defensive points, 15th best on the team...Darnell had 8 solo tackles, 4 assisted, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 pass broken up and 1 pass interception...his best game of the year came in the opener vs. Nevada when he had 3 tackles, a pass broken up and his first career interception for 20 defensive points...had three other double figure defensive point games, 10 vs. USC on a recovered fumble; 10 vs. Arizona on a recovered fumble; and 13 vs. Oregon on a solo tackle and a recovered fumble...his fumble recovery in the Oregon game was at a crucial point of the game...with Oregon leading 24-17, OSU's Mike Fessler punted from the Beavers' 34 yard line with 6:47 to play in the game and the Ducks' Michael Fletcher fumbled at the Oregon 33 and Robinson recovered...four plays later, OSU scored on a 5-yard run by Ken Simonton to tie the score at 24-24 with 5:11 remaining in the game.
(1997-Redshirt Freshman)--Darnell played in all 11 games at linebacker and special teams as a redshirt freshman in 1997...produced a total of 46 defensive points, which ranked 19th among Beaver defensive players...had 12 solo tackles, 5 assisted tackles and 1 tackle for loss...had his best game against California when he posted 5 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle for 16 points...after playing linebacker as a true freshman, Darnell was moved to the secondary by Coach Mike Riley's staff at the start of spring drills...Darnell was put in the strong safety position...completed the spring as the No. 3 strong safety behind lettermen Armon Hatcher and Byron Lane...due to some injuries at linebacker, Darnell was moved back to strong linebacker early in the 1997 season, a position he has been at ever since.
(1996-Freshman)--Darnell signed a letter of intent with OSU in June after getting a late qualifying test score...he was an option quarterback and linebacker as a prep and he played middle linebacker for the Beavers while redshirting in 1996.
VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, Sacramento, CA (1993-95)--Darnell was the Valley High School Vikings starting quarterback and also played linebacker, while playing for Coach Dave Hoskins...earned three letters as a quarterback and started two years as an option quarterback...Valley produced a 20-5 record during his three seasons...earned all-league (Delta) and all-city honors at quarterback his senior year...in 10 regular season games as a senior, Darnell carried the football 35 times for 424 yards, for an average of 12.1 yards per carry and rushed for 8 touchdowns...completed 41 of 63 passes (.650 percentage) for 1,029 yards and 12 touchdowns...was intercepted 5 times and his longest TD pass was for 92 yards...completion average was for 25.1 yards per catch...against Laguna Creek High School his senior year he carried the ball 3 times for 100 yards and 1 touchdown...his best individual game in his prep career was against Jesuit High School as a junior when he rushed for 128 yards and passed for 113 yards...Darnell also lettered in track as a high jumper (6-6) and he was an all-city and all-league (Delta) pick in basketball as a senior...was recruited by several Pac-10 schools but he did not have a qualifying test score during the initial February signing period and signed with OSU when he qualified in June.
