Posted on Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 6:59 p.m.
Tate Forcier leads another late touchdown drive as Michigan survives upset-minded Indiana, 36-33
By Dave Birkett
Tate Forcier lay crumbled on the ground late in the fourth quarter of Michigan’s Big Ten opener Saturday against Indiana.
His team was down by four points, his right shoulder was throbbing from the hit he just took diving for a first down, and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez saw calm on his face.
“When I looked at him he was smiling and he said, ‘Coach, I’m all right, I’m just doing what you tell us to do, laying on the field a little bit,’” Rodriguez said.
Forcier showed another dose of the remarkable poise he’s become acquainted with Saturday, leading the second last-minute, game-winning touchdown drive of his young career to lift 23rd-ranked Michigan past Indiana in the Big Ten opener for both teams, 36-33. Five plays after his injury, on third-and-eight, Forcier found a streaking Martavious Odoms in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score. “The kid’s got something about him,” quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said. “He knows how to win ballgames.” Forcier, who led Michigan to a thrilling last-minute upset of Notre Dame earlier this month, finished 11-of-21 passing for 184 yards Saturday. He threw a careless first-half interception and was rather pedestrian before his late-game heroics. In the fourth quarter, Forcier capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a leaping 7-yard touchdown run and diving two-point conversion to give the Wolverines a short-lived 29-26 lead. Indiana (3-1) answered a play later with an 85-yard touchdown run by Darius Willis, and after two three-and-outs Michigan took over again. Forcier converted a third down early in the drive with that diving 5-yard run, sat two plays with a bruised shoulder, then fired a 26-yard strike to Odoms, who beat safety Nick Polk across the middle of the field. Donovan Warren intercepted Indiana’s Ben Chappell on the next play from scrimmage, jumping a slant route and wrestling the ball away from receiver Demarlo Belcher, to seal the win. “I didn’t sense any panic at all,” Rodriguez said. “There was some concern, certainly, but no panic and again all we have to do is make a play at the end. I would like to say there won’t be any more games that go down to the wire, but I have a feeling a whole bunch of them will.” Carlos Brown provided most of the scoring early for Michigan, which struggled to stop Indiana’s imaginative pistol offense throughout the game. Brown took a screen pass 61 yards down the Michigan sideline on the Wolverines second offensive snap, and scored two series later on a 41-yard run up the middle. He finished the first quarter with 109 total yards - 48 rushing, 69 receiving - and two touchdowns, then sat most of the second and third periods as Michigan rotated Michael Shaw and Brandon Minor into the backfield. Minor scored on a 12-yard run with 2:49 left in the first half put the Wolverines ahead, 21-20. Denard Robinson fumbled inside the Indiana 25 on Michigan’s next offensive series, and Nick Freeland kicked his third of four field goals to give Indiana a 23-21 halftime lead. Willis finished with 16 carries for 152 yards. The redshirt freshman had 69 yards rushing for his career entering the game. Chappell was 21-of-38 passing for 270 yards for Indiana, which outgained Michigan, 467-372. Brown finished with 83 yards on 11 carries for the Wolverines, who enter next week’s showdown with rival Michigan State a perfect 4-0. “When I first came in older guys like (Shawn) Crable, Jamar (Adams), those guys, they instilled in me that we hate those guys over there,” Warren said. “We’re going to do everything we can this week in practice to be ready and be prepared so that come Saturday we can battle and we can outfight them.” Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
Man in the Mirror
Sun, Sep 27, 2009 : 6:57 a.m.
RR better add more qb's while he's at it. Forcier is not going to be able to keep taking those hits. The teams are going to be getting bigger and stronger down the road and as well as looking at game film on him and Robinson and next thing you know...serious injuries.
Engineer
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 9:02 p.m.
Nice to get another win. The lack of depth is showing up more and more. The spartans will be desperate and this game will make or break their season again. I hope Rich Rod can fire them up with all of Dantonio's disrespectful comments from the last year. The worst was after their wonderful bowl performance or lack of when instead of admitting his team was not up to the challenge and embarressed he says embarressing would have been going 3 and 9 and not going to a bowl. It is time to pay back little brother except I would not even admit Dantonio was part of the family.
dzuck
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 7:26 p.m.
Michigan 38 MSU 35. Gonna be scary up there. Our defense is suspect.
azwolverine
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 5:23 p.m.
Metric, I don't know if you're being sarcastic, but I don't see Michigan winning by "two or three touchdowns." Despite MSU's 1-3 record, they have lost every game competitively and our only common opponent, ND, was almost a mirror image game. Both teams seem to be playing better on offense than defense, so I'm projecting another high scoring, down to the wire game....if Tate is healthy, that is.
funkwazzie
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 4:26 p.m.
Can anyone explain why Carlos got less touches than Minor? Simply, amazing. The guy comes out and scores on two big plays then doesn't play for the rest of the first quarter. Thought the team played hard though. If Robinson would just be aggressive with the D and disguising of coverage I think we'd be talking a lot differently about the D. It's like watching the Defense on a video game 80% of the game. They come out and stand in one spot until the ball is snapped. Oh well, a win is a win. Go Blue!
obamayomoma
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 3:51 p.m.
michigan needs to keep forcier health and keep that replay offical in their pocket.
azwolverine
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 3:29 p.m.
Hopefully Tate is not injured or we are in trouble. I was glad to see Denard add more of a passing dimension to his game today, but I can't see Michigan being nearly as successful if we have to go to him as our full time starter, especially with MSU and Iowa coming up. Also, the way our defense has been playing is really starting to scare me. They are missing tackles and giving up big plays time and again. They have shown a propensity to make a play when absolutely needed, but with the toughest part now coming up on the schedule, they've got to improve quickly. MSU must be chomping at the bit to get a piece of that D. I'm very happy (relieved) to get the win today, but the reality is we barely beat a bad team with two very tough road games coming up.
BlueAlum
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 3:17 p.m.
Defense, we need big improvement. Tate is great but I am worried about his right shoulder. Did you see the pained expression on his face when a team-mate slapped him on the right shoulder? Exciting game to say the least. Continue to GO, BIG BLUE!!!
BlueAlum
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 3:14 p.m.
Exciting to say the least. Defense, we need improvement, but we all know that don't we? Tate is great! I am worried about the way he dangled his right arm at the end of the game. Did you see the painful expression that he had when a team-mate slpped him on the right shoulder? Continue to Go, Big Blue
1bit
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 : 3:05 p.m.
Got lucky... Maybe looking ahead to Michigan State, but given last week's game and this one I think the bad news is that our defense has been figured out (and they are figuring out our offense as well). We don't have enough depth on either side of the ball. But a win is a win and congrats again to the players and coaches! However, if you keep this up I will send you the bill for all the antacids I'm downing and for the defibrillator they are going to have to implant!