Tate Forcier burst on the scene last year after leading Michigan to a 4-0 start. He was the big man on campus and could seemingly do no wrong after leading Michigan to thrilling wins over Notre Dame and Indiana, giving all fans hope that they would see more of the same in the future.
Following the Indiana game, Forcier's health started to go downhill, as did Michigan's season. Ever since Forcier has had a pretty rough go of it, struggling on the field and being the focus of various rumors off the field. For example, in the final weeks of the season, the hot rumor was that Forcier was thinking about transferring. Then, earlier this month after the whole no wings on his helmet firestorm, more rumors emerged about Forcier possibly leaving the team.
All of those transfer rumors eventually died down and turned out to be bunk, but a rumor of a different sort emerged in the last few days. Specifically, some chatter developed over Forcier's status academically speaking. The rumor was that he had too many incompletes on his transcript, making him ineligible for the upcoming season. From the very beginning the rumor seemed untrue, but since you never know with these things, it was good to get confirmation from Rich Rodriguez that the rumor was indeed false.
Rodriguez on latest Forcier rumors: "He's cleared and eligible to play"
Although Forcier has taken a beating in the press and from many fans over his supposed lack of work ethic this summer, he is still in the mix for the starting job at quarterback. Even if he doesn't start, it is expected that he will play against UConn at some point, so I would be surprised if we don't see No. 5 on the field this Saturday.