His name means "male child born on Wednesday." But it will be a Thursday night when junior defensive end Kwakou Robinson gets the chance to prove that he belongs with the men of the trenches in ACC football.
Luckily for him, Robinson will take more than just an interesting name to Scott Stadium when the Virginia Cavaliers (4-0, 1-0 ACC) line up to face the Clemson Tigers (1-3, 1-2 ACC) for ESPN's nationally-televised Thursday night game. Robinson will bring starting experience to the game, as well as a strong desire to create an even more distinct name for himself.
Robinson will be replacing fan favorite defensive lineman, Chris Canty, whose season ended with a leg injury in Virginia's most recent game. The whole Cavalier squad will tell you that it is not Robinson's job to try to match Canty as a player, but rather, to just play his own game.
"We're not trying to replace Chris," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "It's unrealistic and it's unfair to say we're going to replace that player. We're going to put a new player in with different skills and a whole different persona to him. It's like if you have a baseball lineup. If you take a .320 hitter out and you put a good solid .275 hitter in."
Robinson also acknowledged the need to differentiate himself from Canty as soon as the clock starts on Thursday night.
"I don't want anyone to look at it as if I have to be Chris Canty," Robinson said. "I want to be judged on what I've done, not what Canty has done. Hopefully, I'll do well."
While Canty was more of a pass-rushing defensive end, Robinson's strength is in defending the run. And some people may not recall that this ".275 hitter" is the same highly-touted recruit that started six games his freshman year and was put on the All-ACC Freshman Team by "The Sporting News." However, Robinson will be the first to say that much has changed since his freshman starting experience.
"There is no comparison [between my freshman season and now]" Robinson said. "There's no comparison in terms of weight, technique -- everything. My weight is down, my stamina is up. My endurance is up. I feel like I'm on a totally different level."
So far this season, Robinson has been spot-filling in for Canty, playing around 15-20 plays a game. Now that he will be playing the full 50-60 plays that come with being a starter, his former role still needs to be filled. Freshmen Chris Long and Chris Johnson will take on Robinson's old role, and Robinson expects no drop in performance from those two.
"I have nothing but confidence in Chris Johnson and Chris Long that they are ready to step up," Robinson said. "I watch them everyday in practice and they have done well in practice and in games. Chris Long is young, but he is getting it pretty fast."
The ultimate responsibility for making sure the loss of Canty does not have a huge impact belongs to the whole Cavalier defense. Anchoring the line will still be senior nose tackle Andrew Hoffman and junior defensive end Brennan Schmitt, and they will look to make sure Robinson blends in smoothly with the defense.
But as for Robinson, it is yet to be determined whether his name will be remembered for what means or how he plays.
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