Plenty of outstanding performances to choose from this week. I am giving credit where credit is due and handing Tate Forcier my POTW.
The true freshman might have caught lightning in a bottle, but he went 23-33 for 240 yards with two touchdowns while leading the Michigan Wolverines from behind to defeat Notre Dame, 38-34.
The native of San Diego also proved he could get it done on the ground as he rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries. The biggest of which came on a fourth down scamper for a touchdown. Forcier caught the Irish defense unprepared and slipped a would-be tackler behind the line of scrimmage.
If all that is not enough, Forcier put a 50 yard pooch punt inside the ND five yard.
Forcier showed moxie all day. He recovered well after a pair of critical mistakes. One a botched snap on second down at the goal line and later an interception that led to Notre Dame taking the lead late in the fourth.
On the final drive of the game, Forcier led the Wolverines 58 yards down the field. On the final play of the game (after his previous pass was dropped in the end zone), Focier found Greg Matthews for the winning score.
Who gets your POTW?
Forcier was great, but I’m so bitter that I had to come up with another nominee: the Houston Cougars, who went into Stillwater and upset the 5th ranked OK State Cowboys. Where did that come from????
I’m not gonna lie. I had to check and make sure that Houston belonged to Conference USA for football. What a great win.
I going the homer route and nominate 2 Red Sox pitchers – Clay Bucholtz and Jon Lester. Both were phenomenal yesterday – giving up one run in a combined 15+ innings of pitching. They helped the Sox sweep the Tampa Rays – a team they have had alot of problems with the past couple of years.
Bucholtz was also dominating earlier in the week against the Orioles and if he continues – has pretty much solidified a spot in the Red Sox starting rotation.
Remember the Johan Santana sweepstakes? Remember how a lot of people said the Saux should trade Bucholz and Ellsbury ( and others) for Santana? Remember how a lot of people said the Saux gotta think of the present and not the future? What do those people think now?
No doubt. I remember being on the fence with that trade. Johan Santana is well Johan Santana. He has been pretty dominant in the NL despite pitching for a couple of bad Mets team.
But I also kept thinking that Ellsbury was going to be good and the wild card in that deal was Bucholtz in all of it. In most cases, give a potentially young starting pitcher with the chance to be great for a pitcher that is already great and just coming into his prime? Absolutely. But including Ellsbury seemed like too much for Santana.
I am sure glad they didn’t give them up. Both are integral pieces to the puzzle.
If Dice-K and Wake can make it back and contribute down the stretch – Red Sox pitching is going to be a major threat in the playoffs.
On the other hand, a rotation with Beckett, Santana and Lester heading into the playoffs would be pretty unbelievable…assuming Santana had stayed healthy. Also, gotta believe they would have made a lesser deal for a leadoff type guy who wouldn’t have the major upside of Ellsbury, but would be good enough for now. Who the heck knows?