Notebook: Clark and Forcier's recruiting stories; Molk to start Saturday against Penn State
Courtney Ratkowiak
Daily Sports EditorOctober 22nd, 2009
For both quarterbacks starting in Saturday’s game, the man on the other sideline will look very familiar.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Daryll Clark ended up committing to Penn State, but his first scholarship offer was from West Virginia and now-Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.
“There’s just something about them,” Clark, a three-star recruit, told rivals.com in 2003. “I camped up there, and I have been excited about them ever since that. They were like the first team to come after me and offer me. That’s something that is important to me.”
West Virginia was Clark's initial frontrunner, but after he visited State College in December 2003, Penn State became his favorite. He eventually eliminated Rodriguez’s team from consideration, but he and Rodriguez were still friendly when they ran into each other at Big Ten Media Day in July.
“We recruited him a little bit,” Rodriguez said Monday. “He's an outstanding athlete. He's achieved an awful lot. I think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country.”
Though Rodriguez remembered recruiting Clark, Penn State coach Joe Paterno couldn’t recall many specifics about recruiting now-Michigan freshman quarterback Tate Forcier.
“I think he may have only been a junior when he came, and he was from a long way off, and I don’t know whether I spent a lot of time with him,” Paterno said. “You know, well-presented, looked good, spoke well, very, very modest about his achievements, those kind of things.
“I remember that about him, but we just didn’t get close enough for me to really say I knew him well.”
Forcier was on the sidelines for the Penn State-Ohio State game in October 2007, and Penn State mailed its offer letter to Forcier on Feb. 6, 2008, with a handwritten addendum by Paterno at the end.
“P.S. Tate – We hope you have interest in Penn State and that 2008 will be a great year for you. Joe P,” Paterno wrote, according to the scanned-in offer letter on the Forcier family website, QBforce.com.
Molk to start Saturday: Rodriguez confirmed yesterday that center David Molk will start at center against Penn State this weekend, with David Moosman at guard and either Perry Dorrestein or Mark Huyge at tackle. Molk broke his foot against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 19 and was originally projected to be out four to six weeks.
The redshirt sophomore had surgery on his foot on the Monday after the Eastern Michigan game and frequently used what Rodriguez called a “bone stimulator,” a device that the coach said could be applied to the foot to accelerate healing.
Molk was cleared to practice earlier this week, and Rodriguez said Monday that Tuesday’s full-contact practice would be the best barometer for Molk’s readiness. By the time he plays on Saturday, he will have sat out for exactly five weeks.
"He did quite a bit yesterday in full pads,” Rodriguez said yesterday. “The report today from the trainers is that he handled it well. He was a little sore, as could be expected, but I think he came through it all well. He should be fine for Saturday."
Injury update: Rodriguez said Forcier’s head (concussion) and shoulder are both feeling better, which can be attributed to sitting out for most of Saturday’s game against Delaware State. Forcier participated in full practices Monday and Tuesday, which he had not been able to do for weeks.
“The head thing has cleared up, but with the shoulder, he's able to get more zip on the ball and run around a little more,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said that backup cornerback J.T. Floyd was feeling “a lot better” yesterday after coming down with the flu and missing last week’s game against Delaware State. Of course, that posed the inevitable question: has Floyd become an H1N1 statistic?
“No, I don’t believe so,” Rodriguez answered.
With Floyd healthy again, the cornerback position will have a bit more depth Saturday, though cornerback-turned-safety-turned-cornerback Troy Woolfolk will still start opposite junior Donovan Warren.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 26 May 2012 21:46:58 -0400