Forcier, Stonum Named Big Ten Players of the Week

Submitted by Tim on

Release sent out by UM.

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – University of Michigan freshman quarterback Tate Forcier (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch HS) and sophomore wide receiver/kick returner Darryl Stonum (Stafford, Texas/Dulles HS) were named Big Ten Players of the Week by the conference office Sunday evening (Sept. 13) following the Wolverines’ 38-34 upset victory over No. 18 Notre Dame Saturday at Michigan Stadium. Forcier collected the offensive player of the week honor and Stonum received the special teams player of the week accolade.

 

Forcier tossed the game-winning five-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Greg Mathews (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater HS) with 11 seconds left in the game. Forcier completed 6-of-7 passes for 55 yards on the winning drive. He scored his first career rushing touchdown earlier in the four quarter, a 31-yard run on fourth down that gave U-M a 31-20 lead. Forcier finished with 310 yards of total offense against the Irish as he directed six scoring drives (five touchdown and one field goal drive). He completed 23-of-33 passes for 240 yards and two TDs and rushed 13 times for 70 yards and one score. He is second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally in pass efficiency (161.7 rating).

 

Stonum was a big factor both on special teams and offensively against the Irish. He returned a first quarter kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to give Michigan a 14-3 lead. It was only the third career kickoff return for Stonum, whose previous returns came on a 20-yard return in the opener against Western Michigan and a 24-yard return against Utah last year. He also batted down a Tate Forcier 50-yard punt at Notre Dame’s four-yard line and contributed on the team’s punt return unit. Offensively, Stonum was the team’s second-leading receiver with four catches for 54 yards against the Irish.

 

This is the first conference award for both players. Forcier and Stonum will lead the 25th-ranked Wolverines against Eastern Michigan Saturday (Sept. 19) at Michigan Stadium. The game will be broadcast nationally by the Big Ten Network starting at noon EDT.

Comments

jericho

September 13th, 2009 at 10:15 PM ^

That's great. I was excited to have Tate play, but I never thought he would pick up an honor like that in his second game.

As for Stonum, his kick off return had me screaming at the tv until my voice gave out.

I do kind of wonder about Stonum though. I saw him sitting on the sidelines near the end of the game with a towel wrapped around his head. He looked like he was injured and had given up on the game. Then after the game he was all smiles while doing a sit down interview with the Big Ten Network. I know he ran off holding his arm at one point, but he sure didn't seem like he was in any pain during the interview.

Wallaby Court

September 14th, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^

The play that caused Stonum to leave to game did not look like an injury. The hit and Stonum's response looked like he got his clock cleaned and was looking for breath that wasn't there. My bet is that he was taken out as a "let's make sure this kid isn't pulling a McGuffie."

jsquigg

September 13th, 2009 at 10:23 PM ^

It might just be Forcier "making" his receivers better, but Hemingway and Stonum have both been pleasant surprises and I hope they are healthy for when we go down the road to (hopefully) punch Sparty in the face. Looking at the rest of the Big 10 and the rest of our schedule, it's hard to believe we won't at least be competitive in every game as long as Forcier stays healthy.

OSUMC Wolverine

September 13th, 2009 at 11:01 PM ^

That's great for both of them and well deserved. They should enjoy the pats on the back today by all of their teammates during the 13 hours of voluntary practice...we need to get ready for next week!!! Stonum's confidence probably just went up to feel like he might be as good as everyone thought he was, I feel great for the kid. Tate, well, all I can say is 18 or 80, the kid is a player. Go Blue

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

September 13th, 2009 at 11:12 PM ^

Awesome. I'm not surprised to see Tate get the award - very well deserved and he got a lot of national spotlight for his play so that's no surprise. But I'm really happy to see Stonum get recognized because he definitely deserves his share of the pub too. Glad to see the release made mention of his contributions besides the return. Had a great, great game.

UMman911

September 13th, 2009 at 11:38 PM ^

Congrats to both of them. I was very happy to see Stonum step up in that game, great job in multiple facets of the game. The kid, well the kid's got the Forcier.

MaizeSombrero

September 14th, 2009 at 12:20 AM ^

Hey, we don't copy and paste whole articles here, ok? Use a quote block, like this:

Forcier tossed the game-winning five-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Greg Mathews (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater HS) with 11 seconds left in the game. Forcier completed 6-of-7 passes for 55 yards on the winning drive. He scored his first career rushing touchdown earlier in the four quarter, a 31-yard run on fourth down that gave U-M a 31-20 lead. Forcier finished with 310 yards of total offense against the Irish as he directed six scoring drives (five touchdown and one field goal drive). He completed 23-of-33 passes for 240 yards and two TDs and rushed 13 times for 70 yards and one score. He is second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally in pass efficiency (161.7 rating).

[/sarcasm]

Tater

September 14th, 2009 at 6:27 AM ^

Now, instead of "decline of UM" stories, the media has a nice, new story out of Ann Arbor: "Michigan Football is Back." Also, there's a companion piece: "The Freshman QB Who Doesn't Play Like a Freshman." Not only are they ranked, but getting individual accolades. And that paper I don't read anymore isn't getting national publicity.

I have thought all along that UM would end the streak against OSU this year, but I really think so now. Terelle Pryor is starting to remind me of Antoine Joubert. Joubert, for those who don't remember, was the number one basketball recruit in the country and was signed by UM with great fanfare. He had a solid career, but had a reputation for playing soft and not really having a lot of poise when he needed it.

Looking into Pryor's eyes during some of the camera shots on Saturday, he really had Joubert's facial expressions a lot. I think Pryor will continue to have a solid career, but like Joubert, the greatness predicted for him will continue to elude his grasp. Meanwhile, Tate Forcier, who came to UM with far less accolades than Pryor had coming into OSU, gave a clutch performance for the ages against what turned out to be a very good opponent in only his second game.

Rasmus

September 14th, 2009 at 8:54 AM ^

It's not that Pryor is a liability. He's not. But I kept thinking during that game it was a good thing he didn't come to Michigan. He's just nothing special.

Forcier has an edge -- Rodriguez said some very nice things about his play under pressure. Some of it is just the training kicking in, but it's also maybe something of the little brother, used to playing with big kids.

ND goes 10-2 at worst. 11-1 is a possibility since they get USC in South Bend.

Wolverine 98284

September 14th, 2009 at 10:34 AM ^

Doug Flutie pointed this out last year. The moves Tate shows are developed during sand lot ball. Organized ball tends to mold players into a specific form and coach try to keep them conservative. Sand lot ball, on the other hand, is free for all. Yes, these moves are directly from playing with his brothers and other neighborhood kids!

SysMark

September 14th, 2009 at 8:17 AM ^

I remember Joubert well and couldn't agree more. Pryor is obviously extremely gifted in all the measurables - the ultimate dual threat. However there is a mental aspect to it and he seems to be stuck somewhere between running and passing, doing neither particularly well. He is not an accurate passer, floating the ball without authority, and is not an aggressive runner - possibly a result of Tressel's intent to "protect" him. The net result is mediocrity. This is one possible downside to having so much invested in one star player - their options to make a change are limited. The weird speech on Vick didn't help.

MCalibur

September 14th, 2009 at 9:40 AM ^

Tressel definately does not maximize his talent; something I expect to change over the next few weeks. And maybe his mental game is a little behind Forcier's and Barkley. That's something that is tough to tell and even though he made some mistakes I think he did his part to win.

But to say he's not an aggressive runner is flat out wrong. Dude was truckin' fools on Saturday. One play in particular in the first half (first quarter ?) comes to mind where Pryor came around the right side of the line and a USC linebacker came up to lay some wood only to get knocked back 3-4 yds by Pryor. That would be Stevie Brown's assignment and Pryor would blow Stevie up too. 6'6" - 240 with sub 4.4 speed is no joke.

JC3

September 14th, 2009 at 10:44 AM ^

Stonum has been given a bad rep because he didn't break the starting lineup.. but I think this game speaks volumes of the kid. Really proud of how he played, hopefully he'll contribute with Hemingway coming back soon.