Michigan's freshman quarterback Tate Forcier (#5) led the Wolverines to a comeback
victory over Notre Dame Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Creative Commons Licensed)

This article was originally published on Kevin Patra's Web site, thesportsunion.com.

I was working at a summer camp, "nerd camp" to be specific, in Rhode Island last summer.  One of the 12-year-old boys was lamenting the fact that all the girls liked the older boys.  He began a shy rant about girls thinking he was immature because he was small and only 12. It was at this moment that I uttered a phrase that I've always believed but until that moment had never verbalized:  "Maturity knows no chronology."  The boy stopped abruptly and contemplated the statement, as only a bookish boy-nerd can do, and after several moments conceded the point.  It became our motto the rest of the summer.

Maturity knows no chronology

Sports are known as a veterans game.  It takes time to learn offenses, defenses and ways to beat both.  It takes time to learn how to handle large crowds, the media pressure and elevated skill sets as the stakes get higher.  Many times young players at both the college and pro level aren't ready to tackle the tasks. Other times ultra-controlling coaches are unwilling to give young players the leverage to learn.

But their are times when even the staunchest of coaches realize that "youth" doesn't mean "worse."  Woody Hayes, famous for being against lifting the rule that didn't allow freshman to play on the varsity squad, even relented saying, "Archie Griffin made me change my mind."  Griffin went on to win two Heisman trophies.

Saturday proved once again that winning in college football has less to do with age and more to do with what is between the ears and between the legs.

Two freshman quarterbacks started in the two biggest games of the past weekend for two of the most well-known programs in the nation. Both Michigan's Tate Forcier and USC's Matt Barkley displayed moments of youthful slip-ups, but when it mattered most both executed like savvy veterans.

The Michigan Man

Nothing shuts up people who whine about extra practice time and question whether the coach should be starting a true freshman more than stunning an high-ranked rival.
"Everybody kept saying a freshman couldn't do it," Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier said. "I did it." [He should have added a 'How do you like them apples?' after.]

Oh boy did he do it. Forcier threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns.  He also gobbled up 70 yards on 19 carries, including a 31 yard touchdown run that left Notre Dame linebacker Darius Flemming with two broken ankles, a snapped ACL and a missing jockstrap.

Forcier did have his moments when he looked like a freshman.  He held onto the ball too long on several possessions during the middle of the game.  He also threw a costly interception when he miscommunicated with senior wide receiver Greg Matthews-a problem for many young quarterbacks who aren't yet in tune with their receivers
.
Strictly on a numbers basis Notre Dames' junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen had a better game, slicing up the Wolverine secondary to go 25-for-42 for 334 yards and three touchdowns, while constantly picking on Michigan cornerback Boubacar Cissoko.  Clausen looked unstoppable as he marched the Fighting Irish back to the lead on two separate occasions and put up gaudy numbers that might keep him in the Heisman chatter despite the loss.

But leaders don't just put up big numbers, they win games.

"I'm the quarterback; I'm supposed to be the leader of the team," said Forcier.
That doesn't sound like a freshman, does it?

"He's kind of a unique individual," coach Rich Rodriguez said. "Everything around him may be going crazy, and yet he's still calm in the middle of the storm. Some guys have that quality."

Forcier displayed his calmness as he drove the Wolverines on their 9 play, 58 yard game-winning drive that took just 2:02.  His ability to make moves with his feet are a testament to his athletic ability, but football isn't just about size, speed and strength, it's about mental aptitude.

Some of Forcier's best plays are when he escapes the pocket and could run but instead stays behind the line of scrimmage to connect on a big pass play.  No better example was on second-and-4 with :30 left, when he scrambled to his left and instead of running and trying to pick up the first down he connected with LaTerryal Savoy for a big gain to the Irish 5-yard line.  Most freshman would have tucked that ball and ran, already in field goal range and with a little daylight, picking up 5-yards would have been the safe move.

But safe doesn't make you great.

The big gain set up two jaw-dropping, spank-your-knee-and-yee-your-haw plays where Forcier avoided sacs that could have ended the game to find receivers in the end zone.  On the first he danced around four tacklers who were millimeters from pulling the quarterback down and found Savoy for the score.  But the receiver couldn't handle the tipped ball and dropped it leading to 100,000 instant text messages that read "catch the F'ing ball." The drop could have derailed the freshman, but instead he threw an absolute bullet to Matthews, leading to Michigan's 38-34 victory that propelled them back into the AP Top 25.

"The way we won," said Forcier,  "it couldn't have been any better than that."

The way they won a testament to the maturity of a 19-year-old kid who has to drive 45 minutes to Canada, just to drink a barely pop.

The Trojans' Horse

Less than 200 miles south and and hour after Forcier's superlatives took place, another true freshman quarterback fought the belligerent, hostile crowd in Columbus, Ohio.

Much was made of Matt Barkley starting his first road game at The Horseshoe against No. 8 Ohio State.  Some Los Angeles Times writers didn't agree with coach Pete Carroll's decision to go with the first year signal caller.  But after Barkley led a 14 play, 86 yard drive to give the Trojans an 18-15 victory the coach spelled out his dislike for labels.

"He's not 19," Carroll said. "He's our quarterback. I'm not worried about how old he is. Numbers mean nothing."

Carroll has defended his faith in the youngster almost to the point of sounding like he has a man-crush on his strong-armed star.  Calling him "abnormal" and constantly referencing his maturity, poise and love of the game.

Barkley's final drive, absurdly compared to John Elway's "The Drive", overshadowed a rocky outing in which his numbers were borderline atrocious: 15-for-31, for 195 yards, with one interception, and no touchdowns.

He looked shaky for much of the game and had some SC fans calling for back-up junior quarterback Aaron Corp to replace the freshman.

To steal a line from Batman:  "It's not what you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you."

Barkley may be calm and mature inside, but with the pressures of his first big game in front of some of the most rowdy fans he could have shrunk on that last drive.

Instead he leaned on running back Joe McKnight and made some of his best passes of the night to drive the Trojans down the field for the win.

"We're Trojans. That's what we do," Barkley flamboyantly said after the victory. "This is what we dreamed of, coming back like this.

"Doesn't matter where we are in the score. We found a way. I love this."

Overcoming poor starts is what quarterbacks like Elway and Brett Favre made careers out of.  While Barkley has miles to go before he gets to that level, a game winning drive in a hostile environment is the type of performance that displays he is more mature than his critics would like to admit.

One game doesn't make a career and both young QBs will suffer growing pains and poor performances.  But if their was any questions before Saturday about whether their birth dates had any baring on their ability to lead, they were answered in resounding fashion.