EAST LANSING - Tate Forcier laid square on his back on the Spartan Stadium turf, forced for the first time to swallow a disappointing finish.

Like he had twice before in his highlight reel freshman season, the Michigan quarterback engineered a heart-stopping comeback Saturday afternoon, giving the Wolverines a chance of remaining among the ranks of the unbeaten.

Only minutes before, Forcier - fighting a sore shoulder and exhaustion - had fired a bullet pass to the back of the end zone, finding Roy Roundtree with 2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Michigan's Captain Comeback appeared to be working his magic again, having helped the Wolverines force overtime with two touchdown passes in the final 4:03 to erase a 14-point deficit against rival Michigan State.

By overtime, Forcier was running on adrenaline.

He drove Michigan to the 9-yard line, mixing footwork with short passes, moving the Wolverines closer to the goal line.

Facing a third-and-five play, Forcier took a shot at the back of the end zone, trying to connect with Martavious Odoms at a critical time for the second straight week.

But when Odoms stopped running and Michigan State safety Chris Rucker didn't, Forcier's pass was tipped, leaving Michigan's hopes of extending its win streak to five games up in the air.

Rucker secured the ball as Forcier fell to the ground. Three plays later, Larry Caper made his way down the sideline and into the end zone.

Michigan State 26, Michigan 20.

"Everybody has their off days," Forcier said, surrounded by a horde of reporters and television cameras after the loss. "And today wasn't the day for us."

For the first time, Forcier, who had made a living out of living on the edge, wasn't beaming, forced instead to explain the stark reality of Michigan's first loss.

After struggling to kick-start Michigan's offense, Forcier's 60-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Stonum with 4:03 remaining kept the Wolverines' chances alive. And when Michigan regained possession with 2:53 remaining, Forcier went into comeback mode, driving the Wolverines down the field.

All thoughts of shoulder pain and running on a low battery were put aside.

"Sometimes, the youth helps you, sometimes it hurts you," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I'm really proud of the way Tate battled. He made a few plays in the end.

"We never got into rhythm the whole game, but at least we hung around long enough to have a chance."

And as he had proven in the first month of the season, that's all Forcier needed.

After Forcier's dramatic touchdown pass to Roundtree with 2 seconds remaining tied the game at 20, Michigan walked onto the field in overtime, hoping to build on the momentum of its late surge of offense.

"I was never worried about moving the ball even though we didn't move it (throughout the game)," receiver Greg Matthews said. "We had the momentum going into the last drive and I was very confident."

So, too was Michigan's young quarterback. But when Forcier attempted to give the Wolverines the lead in overtime, Michigan State's Rucker abruptly dashed Michigan's hopes.

"He just tried to sit in the window, and I thought he was going to keep coming," Forcier said. "The safety was the one who kept coming and I just threw it.

"Freshman mistake."

Afterward, Rodriguez praised his young quarterback for his moxie, but reminded reporters that Michigan was still operating with a true freshman.

Rodriguez characterized Forcier's competitive drive as "remarkable," but just as quickly said that he will learn from his mistakes.

And as he was swarmed by reporters behind a trailer just outside the Spartan Stadium tunnel, the true freshman answered every question before being pulled away toward Michigan's team bus, making a concession that until Saturday, he hadn't be forced to go to address.

"We can't always win - we can't win all of 'em," Forcier said. "Today wasn't the day."

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2554 or jeffarnold@annarbor.com