"Don’t start off trying to create something that’s not there."

"Let’s not create something that’s not there, guys."

"I understand all the quarterback questions, but let’s not make more of what it is."

—Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez on his late-game quarterback decision.

IOWA CITY — Okay, Rich Rod. We get it. There's not something there.

Wait. What?

Michigan was down two points with 90 seconds remaining, and the one person nearly no one expected to lead the two-minute drill lined up in the shotgun — freshman quarterback Denard Robinson.

The reason?

"I decided to get a little spark," Rodriguez said amid the three not-a-big-story disclaimers cited above. "We had almost put him in earlier, and I don’t know, it’s always a feel thing."

And apparently Rodriguez had a completely different "feel" than everyone else. Sure, Robinson put together a solid, run-heavy touchdown drive on Michigan's previous series. But who didn't expect Tate Forcier — the leader of three late comeback drives and, consequently, two wins — to lead the Wolverines to victory? Rodriguez even grabbed Forcier by the pads to keep him from going onto the field. (Usually a coach tells the quarterback if he is benched, right?)

Asking us to take his decision at face value is ridiculous.

After Forcier's second game in the maize and blue, the 38-34 comeback win over Notre Dame, Rodriguez couldn't praise the first-year signal caller enough for his poise.

"Some guys, when everything's going crazy around them, you can see them change their personality," Rodriguez said. "Tate’s just the opposite."

Kinnick Stadium would definitely qualify as the craziest atmosphere Michigan has played in all year. It was a "blackout" night game broadcast on national TV in a stadium with about a foot and a half between the bench and the first row of fans. And there was a very small Michigan fan contingent there, especially compared to when the Wolverines played in East Lansing.

So there must have been something there — even though Rodriguez kept returning to the same point: "Don’t start off trying to create something that’s not there." There's no one that wants to win more than the head coach, and that was clear when Rodriguez reluctantly and at-first hastily answered questions about the quarterback decision. For the first time this season, neither quarterback was allowed to speak to the media.

But I don't know what that "something" was.

Maybe something happened in practice or a film session during the week. Maybe Forcier's head just grew too big, too quickly. Or maybe Forcier talked back to Rodriguez on the sideline when his coach was screaming at him (or coaching him, depending on who you ask) on national television.

But why would Rodriguez, who wants to win more than anyone else, teach his comeback quarterback a lesson with 90 seconds remaining in a game against the No. 12 team in the country?

Perhaps Rodriguez was in a bad mood and let it cloud his decision making — he was visibily angry at multiple players on the sideline, including redshirt freshmen J.T. Floyd and Roy Roundtree. But you don't notch 112 career wins as a head coach if you let anger get in the way.

One explanation is that Forcier was just playing poorly and Rodriguez felt more confident in Robinson leading the offense. Forcier was having his worst statistical game of the season, going 8-for-19 with an interception and a fumble. But he wasn't exactly making a case for the Heisman Trophy before he led game-tying drive against Michigan State.

The most plausible explanation might be what happened on Forcier's last two drives.

After the flimsy defense came up with its biggest stop of the game — a fourth-down goal-line stand on the one-yard line — with nearly 13 minutes remaining, there was a huge momentum shift.

Forcier took over, standing in his own end zone. First and second down went for zero yards. Then, on third down, with one tick left on the play clock, the offense was blatantly out of whack. Center David Moosman snapped the ball through the back of the end zone as running back Brandon Minor called Michigan's second timeout so the unit could collect itself. No one seemed to know what was going on.

The decision to use a timeout then was critical. The clock wasn't moving, and the Wolverines would have been penalized half the distance to the goal line — just a half of a yard — if they were called for delay of game.