Sitting at home on a chilly Saturday afternoon, I watched an 18 year-old kid from San Diego, California lead a rebuilding football program to a near spectacular comeback. In that instant, I realized that Tate Forcier is a God. The poise that Forcier displayed that weekend against inter-state rival Michigan State University made me realize that even in a loss, Forcier has already established himself as a quarterback to be remembered in Michigan football history.
It amazes me that someone so young can travel half the country, play in a football game to its highest collegiate level and please 110,000 fans. Forcier has shown tremendous poise this season. Sure, he still has some things to work on, including taking a sack, not forcing any bad throws and NOT getting any more intentional groundings. But Forcier has been nothing less than spectacular this year in the maize and blue uniform.
In just his second college game, Forcier was put on the hot seat; forced to produce in front of 110,000 plus fans in a critical situation against a rival, Forcier came through. Two weeks after that, the kid sent from Mt. Olympus throws another game-winning touchdown pass with just minutes to spare against Indiana.
Although these games ended in Michigan victories, I was most impressed during the Michigan State game. Dealing with the adversity of his receivers dropping half of his passes, his lineman not giving him enough time to throw and a group of terrific running backs who produced negative rush yards on the day, Forcier played wonderfully. His numbers were splendid, and finally, with the game on the line at the end of the fourth quarter, the team started to come together. Forcier led two touchdown drives in less than five minutes, including a 93-yard set of plays that was capped off by a Forcier passing touchdown with two seconds left in the game.
Forcier did not give up throughout the whole game. He kept on fighting through the tough times, and was eventually rewarded. Watching the game, I saw the look on his face; he was exhausted, yet focused on the goal at hand. After each play, each devastating, bone-crushing hit, Forcier was able to pick himself up and call out the next play. During the entire last drive, it seemed Forcier was having an asthma attack; he was always breathing heavily, and on one of the plays, he was so tired he couldn’t catch the ball when it was snapped to him.
Yet he kept on fighting, all the way to very end. He has shown us an attribute that it seems very few recent Michigan players have had; the ability to perform against rivals. Forcier was terrific against both Notre Dame and MSU, two of our top three rivals. Maybe this would be the year we pressure Ohio State for once. I believe that Jim Tressel has finally found his match – yet it’s not in an opposing coach, but in Michigan’s young quarterback.
Forcier tries. But he needs help, some support from his talented offensive players. This man-child needs to be praised. That’s exactly what my friends and I were doing on that chilly Saturday afternoon. After he threw the game-tying touchdown, we danced, sang, kneeled down and worshipped him. So thank you Tate, for working hard, for picking up the slack – as a freshman.
