When I was a freshman three years ago, it was easy to spot the football players on campus.

I walked to class behind those black backpacks with the small Rose Bowl logo and knew who I was walking behind. That was a Michigan football player.

Then Lloyd Carr’s team lost to Appalachian State, he retired and Rich Rodriguez came to town. Those backpacks slowly disappeared.

The longing for the football team’s prominence on campus will disappear today. Things will feel different. Michigan football under Rich Rodriguez finally has a tangible image.

Tate Forcier.

Forcier isn’t a normal freshman in Angell Hall. People spell his first name with three letters now (“G,” “O” and “D”). The quarterback is the cover boy of the Rodriguez Michigan football turnaround success story that started a little more than a week ago.

His older brother Jason said that Tate has blended into his classes well so far because he’s “not the biggest guy around.” But after this weekend, are you really not going to recognize one of the most talked-about football players in the country?

Forcier’s game-winning drive Saturday against Notre Dame has transformed him in everyone’s eyes. It was certainly surprising that it came from a freshman — even for fans that witnessed a similar freshman-quarterback performance when Chad Henne beat Michigan State in triple overtime five years ago.

And it was also somewhat surprising because he’s a completely different type of quarterback from the physical and pro-skill mold that Wolverine fans were used to under Carr just two years ago. Forcier is a definitive Rich Rodriguez-type of quarterback that can run the spread and take off with the ball.

In 2007, the last time Notre Dame came to the Big House, Michigan put up 38 points in an emphatic win. It was a statement game to tell the country the Wolverines were back after losing to Appalachian State and Oregon. It was the debut of then-freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett against another very highly recruited freshman quarterback, Jimmy Clausen.

Mallett didn't last at Michigan. But Forcier will. He has that speed and improvisation to turn a fourth-and-three with a defender in the backfield into a 31-yard touchdown run — something he learned while doing one of his father’s drills in the backyard with his brothers where they mastered how to avoid getting hit.

On every touchdown pass, from his two to wide receiver Junior Hemingway last week to the ones to tight end Kevin Koger and wide receiver Greg Mathews on Saturday, he couldn’t be more accurate if he walked over to them and put the ball directly in their hands.

And it’s impossible not to like the attitude the spunk he brings to the field, and the nerves he doesn’t bring anywhere near it.

“Everybody kept saying a freshman can’t do it,” Forcier said after the game. “And I did it.”

His comfort, both on and off the field, as Michigan’s starting quarterback makes it easy to believe he belongs. Not to mention his ambition. Jason, who lives with Tate, said Tate watched film until 10 p.m. this whole week to prepare for Notre Dame, until the coaches had to kick him out at night.

Forcier’s personality has radiated through the team. Mathews and senior running back Brandon Minor had decent games themselves but held nothing back when it came to the 19-year-old quarterback.

Minor said that Forcier “really showed us something” with his late drive. And Mathews said he just felt “blessed to have the opportunity to play alongside him.”

On the final play of the game, he read the man-to-man coverage, passed to his best option and started the eruption in Michigan Stadium.

It may be different when we go to class today. Michigan football feels back.

As for Forcier? It’s impossible to predict the next four years. But for now, he’s already off to the races, even with the Wolverines on his back.

—Eisenstein can be reached at mseisen@umich.edu.