Tate Forcier Leads Michigan to 38-34 Upset of Notre Dame

By Sean · Monday, September 14, 2009 · 5:03 AM |  Share | 2 Comments 

Photo by AP/Bill Fundaro

Tate Forcier may have only had one collegiate game under his belt going into Saturday’s matchup with Notre Dame, but he played more like he was an experienced senior rather than a true freshman.  He did make a couple mistakes, including a tough interception, but he shook it off and played like it never even happened.  What’s more, when the game was on the line and he needed to make plays, he made plays.  His performance will go down as one of the greatest ever in the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry, mainly because of what he did at the end of the game.  Trailing by 3 with only a couple minutes on the clock, Forcier led Michigan down the field and threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Greg Mathews with 11 seconds left, giving Michigan a 38-34 win after a last-ditch effort by Notre Dame was stopped half a field short of the end zone.  It was truly a legendary drive that showcased his creativity on the field and his resilience, both of which helped Michigan pull off the upset.

1st Quarter

• Notre Dame got the ball to start the game and moved the ball very effectively.  Armando Allen first got the drive moving with a 24-yard run right up the middle of the field.  After a Jimmy Clausen pass went for 24 yards a few plays later, Notre Dame was suddenly deep in Michigan territory.  The U-M defense played a bend but don’t break style of ball all day long, and on this drive it came up with a stop before ND could get into the end zone.  Even better, ND couldn’t score at all, as a 28-yard field goal attempt was pushed wide right, keeping this game tied at zero for the time being.
• Michigan moved the chains on an 11-yard pass to Kevin Koger on its first offensive play of the game, but after that it was unable to do much, leading to a Zoltan Mesko punt.
• Notre Dame had similar trouble moving the ball when it got back and quickly went three and out.
• It looked like Michigan was on its way to a three and out on its next drive, but Tate Forcier had other ideas.  He lofted a pass downfield and Greg Mathews came up with a tremendous catch for a gain of 40 yards.  Mathews basically jumped over the defender and then brought the ball in with one hand initially to make the catch.  The big gain moved Michigan into ND territory, but a holding penalty on the next play backed the Wolverines up to around midfield.  Michigan chipped away at the 20 yards needed for a first down with a 3-yard pass to Carlos Brown and a 10-yarder to Darryl Stonum, who fought for a couple extra yards at the end of the play.  Facing a 3rd and 7, Forcier found a wide open Brown on the sideline for a gain of 12 and a first down.  Brown juggled the catch initially since it got to him so quick, but he managed to bring it in.  Two plays later Brandon Minor rumbled down the field for a gain of 22, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run on the very next play.
• Notre Dame quickly got into a rhythm when it got the ball back, as Allen ran for 14 and then Golden Tate picked up 14 more on a pass from Clausen.  Allen went for 4 more before going all the way on a perfectly executed screen pass.  Michigan was completely out of position, allowing Allen to run down the sideline for a touchdown.  A replay was shown on the scoreboards and it sort of looked like Allen stepped out of bounds.  The replay was then paused right at the moment when Allen’s foot appeared to be on the line, and Rich Rodriguez immediately called for a timeout to get the referees’ attention.  He challenged the play, and after a review it was overturned.  Allen was ruled out at the 22-yard line, which proved to be a big call since ND only ended up getting a field goal (from 34 yards) out of the drive.
• The call itself was a tough one to make, and looking back I’m a little surprised the play was overturned.  From one angle it looked like Allen was clearly out of bounds, but from another it appeared he stayed in, albeit not by very much.  It didn’t seem like there was enough evidence for the play to be overturned, but I’m glad it went Michigan’s way.  Take a look at one angle of the play for yourself.
• Darryl Stonum sent the crowd into a frenzy on the proceeding kickoff by taking it back 94 yards for a touchdown.  Stonum ran up the left side of the field and got through the first line of coverage with ease.  After that all he had to do was make a cut to the right side of the field and he was gone.  The only Notre Dame player in sight was the kicker, and there was no way he was catching Stonum, who was so far out in front that everyone knew it was a touchdown when he was still at ND’s 30-yard line.  Just like that Michigan took a 14-3 lead.

2nd Quarter

• Needing to get something going before this got out of hand, Notre Dame responded with a 7-play drive that ended with a touchdown.  Jimmy Clausen moved the ball through the air with a 37-yard pass to Michael Floyd and a 15-yarder to Golden Tate, putting the Fighting Irish in position to score a couple plays later on a fade to Tate.  Boubacar Cissoko, as was the case many times during this game, was simply out of position and couldn’t make a play on the pass.  The TD again made this a 4-point game.
• Following a Michigan three and out, the pendulum continued to swing in Notre Dame’s favor.  The Irish moved the ball with ease yet again despite facing 1st and 25 to start the drive because of a couple penalties.  Floyd quickly made up the yardage and more when he caught a pass for a gain of 33 yards.  Cissoko was again the one burned on the coverage.  Notre Dame continued to move the ball down the field thanks in part to a roughing the passer penalty.  Shortly after Clausen threw a great pass to the back of the end zone, where Floyd got some air and made the catch for a touchdown.  This time Donovan Warren was the one responsible for allowing the catch to be made, though it was a great play by Notre Dame.
• Suddenly trailing 17-14, things didn’t get any better for Michigan, as it went three and out yet again.  To make matters worse, Zoltan Mesko had an awful punt that went for only 18 yards.  Notre Dame was only able to turn the excellent field position into a field goal, but the Irish now led 20-14 with halftime looming.
• Michigan really needed to get some more points before halftime, and that is exactly what they did.  Forcier got the drive rolling with a 24-yard pass to Stonum, and then Denard Robinson came in and ran for 14 yards.  The next few plays didn’t go quite as well, and Michigan faced 4th and 11 at the ND 37.  Being too far out for a field goal and too close to punt, Michigan decided to gamble by going for it.  Forcier rolled out to the right, stepped up, and calmly delivered a perfect pass to Greg Mathews for a gain of 15.  That set up a 39-yard Jason Olesnavage field goal, making this a 3-point game at the half.

3rd Quarter

• Michigan picked up where it left off to start the second half by putting together another solid drive.  Forcier hit Stonum for 11 yards and then ran for 7 and 4 on the following two plays.  Brandon Minor then took over and moved Michigan from the ND 49 to the 1-yard line with two big runs.  Unfortunately that’s as far as Michigan got, as it was unable to punch the ball in for the touchdown.  Minor was stuffed on first down and Forcier fumbled the snap on second down.  On third down Minor got the ball on a toss and lost a couple of yards, bringing up fourth down.  Michigan intentionally took a delay of game penalty to cut down on the angle of the field goal, but Olesnavage shanked it from only 26 yards out, making for a disappointing finish to a once promising drive.
• Notre Dame thankfully balanced things out by committing a crucial mistake of its own 3 plays into the proceeding drive.  Jonas Gray fumbled the ball as soon as he got the handoff and Jonas Mouton quickly pounced on it.  Michigan suddenly had possession again, taking over at the ND 26.
• Minor ran for 6 and 13 yards to give Michigan 1st and goal.  He fumbled the ball on first down and Denard Robinson came in and ran for 5 yards on second down.  It looked like we were going to see the offense fail to score from inside the 5 for the second straight drive, but this time third down was a great play.  Forcier rolled out to the left side and had two Notre Dame players in his face.  Somehow he got the ball off to Kevin Koger, who made the catch and fell into the end zone for a touchdown, putting Michigan back on top 24-20.
• Michigan got the ball back after a Notre Dame three and out and looked like it was going to ride the wave of momentum for another big drive.  Forcier hit Carlos Brown on a screen to move the chains on third down, and it appeared that Kelvin Grady was going to do the same on the next third down.  He was stopped a couple yards short, though, bringing up 4th and 2.  Forcier stayed out there and made it seem like Michigan was going for it, but he dropped back a few more yards than usual and punted the ball down the field.  It was an absolutely perfect punt (it went for 50 yards) and was downed at the 4 thanks to a great hustle by Stonum.
• A pass interference call on Boubacar Cissoko gave Notre Dame breathing room on the first play of the drive.  It seemed like a weak call, especially since the flag was thrown a good 5 or so seconds after the play had already ended.  Notre Dame would feel the wrath of the officials on the very next play, however, as a huge gain was negated thanks to a holding penalty.  The flag was thrown just as Clausen got rid of the ball, and he knew immediately this one was coming back.  As his receiver ran down the field deep into Michigan territory, Clausen stood right over the flag and waited for the rest of the offense to come back down the field.  The penalty made it 1st and 20, and the Michigan defense was able to keep ND from moving the chains on this drive.
• A 20-yard pass to Kevin Koger put Michigan in Notre Dame territory and helped set up an amazing play that would happen at the start of the fourth quarter.

4th Quarter

• Brandon Minor lost a yard on 3rd and 2, bringing up 4th and 3 from the ND 31.  Rather than attempt a field goal, Michigan went for it, and boy did that risk pay off.  Notre Dame’s safeties crept up to the line of scrimmage and a blitz was called.  Forcier took the snap, rolled to the right, and made an outstanding cut move.  This left the only Notre Dame defender near him looking for his jock strap and allowed Forcier to run up the middle of the field for a 31-yard touchdown.  He went into the end zone untouched and put Michigan on top 31-20.
• This game featured a series of runs by each team, and now it was Notre Dame’s turn to take back over the game.  Jimmy Clausen sat back in the pocket and essentially shredded Michigan’s defense, working his way down the field with ease.  The drive was capped off with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate, who made the catch and broke a poor tackle attempt by Cissoko.  Notre Dame went for the 2-point conversion to make this a field goal game, but Stevie Brown broke up Clausen’s pass, making the score 31-26 in favor of Michigan.
• The next drive featured Tate Forcier’s first bad mistake in nearly two whole games.  Michigan faced 3rd and 11 and Forcier had Greg Mathews wide open.  I don’t know if it was a miscommunication or what, but Forcier threw it by Mathews and was intercepted.  The pick was taken back to Michigan’s 36 after a long return (time-wise; the return itself was only 20 yards) finally ended when Mathews brought down the defender.
• With all of the momentum on its side, Notre Dame took only 7 plays to reach the end zone, this time doing it mainly on the ground.  Armando Allen ran the ball three times, and on the third run he scored from 8 yards out.  The Irish went for the 2-point conversion again in hopes of extending their lead to 3 points, and they did just that.  Clausen faked a pass and handed the ball off to Allen on a Statue of Liberty, allowing him to walk into the end zone.  He made a gesture to the student section to quiet down and was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  The damage had already been done, however, as Notre Dame led 34-31 with just over 5 minutes remaining.
• Forcier moved the chains by running for 14 yards, but things went downhill after that.  Carlos Brown picked up 4 yards on a pass but then fumbled on second down.  That made it 3rd and 13, and Forcier was unable to complete a pass to a wide open Kevin Koger.  It would have been more than enough for a first down, but Forcier’s pass was off target.  Despite only having 3 minutes or so left on the clock, Michigan showed faith in its defense by punting the ball away.
• Armando Allen ran for 13 yards on the first play of the drive, running a good amount of time off the clock.  He left the game and one of his backups was stopped for no gain on the next play.  Michigan used one of its timeouts, stopping the clock with 2:29 left.  Rather than force Michigan to use up all of its timeouts, Charlie Weis decided to call a pass play that backfired in a big way.  Clausen threw the ball downfield to Tate, but Donovan Warren played it perfectly and almost came up with an interception.  The clock stopped thanks to the incompletion, which is exactly what happened on third down as well.  Clausen’s pass intended for Shaq Evans was incomplete, and Michigan ended up getting the ball back on its own 43 with just more than 2 minutes and 2 timeouts left.
• Forcier got the drive off to a good start with a 9-yard pass to Mathews.  Minor moved the chains by picking up 6 yards, but Forcier was sacked for a loss of 5 on the next play.  Michigan called for a timeout and Forcier made up for the sack by finding Martavious Odoms for a gain of 11.  Forcier squeezed in a pass to Odoms on 3rd and 4, picking 8 yards and moving the chains.  LaTerryal Savoy made a catch for a gain of 6 on the following play, but he was tackled inbounds, forcing Michigan to use its last timeout.  Forcier then scrambled around and found Savoy again, this time for a gain of 17 to put Michigan at the ND 5-yard line.  With 22 seconds left, Michigan had enough time to go for the win, which is exactly what it did.  Forcier was under pressure and somehow scrambled through the blitz and found an open Savoy in the end zone.  The pass was barely tipped on its way to Savoy, which helped cause him to drop what would have been the game-winning touchdown.  He had to be sick over dropping the touchdown, but all was well after Forcier found Mathews in the same part of the end zone for a touchdown on the next play.  Mathews ran a great route and made an even better catch to give Michigan a 38-34 lead with only 11 seconds left.
• Bryan Wright squibbed the ensuing kickoff and it bounced out of the end zone.  The Notre Dame returner tipped the ball right before it went through the end zone, causing a second to tick off the clock.  Jimmy Clausen complained about the second ticking off, but after the officials looked back at the play they determined that 2 seconds should have come off.  That left Notre Dame with 9 seconds to go 80 yards.  They had a timeout but never got a chance to use it.  Clausen found Golden Tate for a gain of 27, but rather than get out of bounds he tried to pick up a few extra yards.  That proved to be a crucial mistake, as the clock expired and the game was over.  Instead of having one more chance at a Hail Mary, Michigan’s celebration was already underway, as everyone went nuts over the 38-34 upset.

This game was absolutely amazing and was a statement to everyone to watch out for Michigan.  Already the Wolverines are ranked in the AP Poll, and aside from USC beating Ohio State, this was the top story on SportsCenter and every college football-related show on Saturday.  Beyond that, Tate Forcier has basically become a household name, as he received a ton of praise for his performance.  The offense as a whole played a great game, especially when you consider that last week’s top receiver didn’t play.  On the flip side of the injury situation, getting Brandon Minor back was huge, as he played a hell of a game.

The defense struggled quite a bit both through the air and on the ground.  Jimmy Clausen was able to sit back in the pocket on nearly every play and carve up the defense.  Every time he threw it down the field I held my breath, as I figured it would either be caught or ruled pass interference.  That feeling of uncertainty doubled every time the ball was thrown in Boubacar Cissoko’s direction, as he really struggled.  Even so, the defense made some big plays when it needed to, and even after it let Notre Dame score to take the lead in the fourth quarter, the offense ended up bailing them out anyway.

Michigan is now 2-0 and riding an enormous wave of momentum.  If they take care of business the next two weeks and don’t fall victim to an upset, then the Wolverines will be 4-0 heading into a showdown with Michigan State, which actually was upset by Central Michigan on Saturday in dramatic fashion.  I don’t want to look too far ahead, though, as upsets certainly can happen.  Michigan has to forget about the Notre Dame game and start to focus on Eastern Michigan.  The Eagles put up a fight and barely lost to Northwestern on Saturday, and with Ron English leading them into the Big House anything can happen.  Michigan should win, but they can’t let this become a trap game or a letdown after the thrilling win on Saturday.

Kickoff for the EMU game is set for noon ET on the Big Ten Network.