There’s a new rivalry brewing on the Michigan football team, and it has nothing to do with Columbus, South Bend or East Lansing.

In fact, it’s a chasm that’s been widening within the team as coach Rich Rodriguez continues to recruit heavily in talent-rich Southern states. But before you start thinking about any rumors of team disharmony like those raised in Detroit Free Press allegations — this is actually quite the opposite.

States like Florida and Texas are known for producing some of the fastest recruits in the country. And Wolverine athletes from those respective states are locked in a battle to prove that their native brethren are faster.

“Texas has speed,” sophomore Darryl Stonum, a native of Stafford, Texas, said after Saturday’s game. “All these Florida boys up here talking about speed, Texas has some too.”

Stonum showcased his own 4.4 40-yard dash speed Saturday, splitting the Notre Dame kickoff unit and racing 92 yards for the Wolverines’ first kick-return touchdown since former Michigan return specialist Steve Breaston took one back in 2005.

For the electrifying touchdown, Stonum received Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week Honors.

“I know where the wedge is supposed to open up, and the kick return guys did an excellent job of opening up that wedge,” he said. “I just knew I had to make one guy miss, the kicker, and if I got tackled by the kicker, then I didn’t need to be out there.”

The wide receiver laughed after his pseudo-dig on the 10 Wolverines from the Sunshine State. Senior punter Zoltan Mesko said the team is much closer and feels more camaraderie this year — and this “rivalry” is an example of that.

Junior safety and Sugar Land, Texas native Troy Woolfolk said the rivalry used to be a three-state race, but Texas, which boasts five players on the Michigan roster, and Florida have clearly distanced themselves.

“There’s the top three fastest states in the nation: there’s California, Texas and Florida,” Woolfolk said. “And California, we already beat all them, so now there’s Texas and Florida, and you got all the Florida boys up here claiming they’re the fastest, and the Texas boys know the truth.”

The competition also turns to the track, because most if not all of the Texas and Florida teammates ran track in high school. Woolfolk is also a sprinter on the Michigan track and field team.

“There’s some fast guys from Florida, and there’s some fast guys from Texas,” said sophomore wideout Martavious Odoms, who hails from Pahokee, Fla. “You know, there’s one in each position group, so there’s always someone who thinks he’s the fastest guy on the team.”

Odoms, who runs a 4.5 40-yard dash, also added that he should probably be one of the fastest guys on the team when asked if he was high on the list.

One inevitable result of the Texas-Florida battle is a footrace between freshman quarterback Denard Robinson and Woolfolk, who was arguably the fastest man on the roster before Robinson came to Ann Arbor from his home in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

“Yeah, that’s something I would like to see,” Odoms said.

Back in March, Robinson, who was still in high school at the time, had Michigan fans all giddy when he ran a 10.44 in the 100-meter dash, the second-fastest time recorded in the country.

''I was kind of disappointed in myself to run a 10.44, but I will accept that,'' Robinson told the Miami Herald after the race. "Running the No. 2 time in the nation is pretty good. I was trying to run a 10.3, but there was strong wind. I'm working harder on it and expect to hit a 10.3 by states.''

He did reach the sub-10.3 mark at states, but that time is in dispute, because it was allegedly hand-timed.

And of course, there was also that 43-yard sprint to the end zone in the Western Michigan game, the one where Robinson picked up his fumble, broke to the sideline, slipped a tackle, cut back in and slipped through two defenders on his way to a touchdown — all in under 10 seconds.

“He’s fast,” quarterbacks coach Rod Smith uttered at Michigan Media Day. “He, well, he’s, he’s fast.”

So it sounds like Woolfolk has every reason to be worried.

After all, Woolfolk, a 2008 First Team All-Big Ten honoree in track, boasts a personal-best 10.58 in the 100-meter dash. That’s a whopping .14 seconds slower than Robinson’s official personal best.