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Location: Blogs Carl Danbury |
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| Posted by: Carl Danbury |
10/31/2007 2:18 PM |
 Am I the only one who didn't realize that Tulane running back Matt Forte was leading the NCAA in rushing this year? I was doing a little due diligence preparing for our next issue, and saw that Forte is averaging 192 yards per game, rushed for 342 yards and four touchdowns against SMU, 303 yards and five touchdowns against Southeast Louisiana and ripped off another 278 yards against Memphis.
So, is Matt the son of former Arkansas running back Ike Forte? No, his father is named Gene, who captained the Greenies back in 1977. Is he a little known junior college transfer who just burst upon the scene? No, he has started 26 games in the past four seasons at Tulane, and rushed for 859 yards on 163 carries last year before being sidelined with a knee injury after the ninth game as a junior.
Green Wave head coach Bob Toledo has been highly complimentary of his 6-foot-1, 223-pound back, but of course that can be expected because the Slidell product has accounted for more than half of Tulane's total offensive output this season. And at 2-6, few are paying much attention to Forte or the Greenies. Toledo coached some pretty good backs at UCLA and other schools during his long career, including Skip Hicks, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, DeShaun Foster and Greg Hill, and said he ranks right there with any he has coached.
"At the start of the season I said this guy is a great football player," Toledo told Nakia Hogan of the Times-Picayune. "And everybody kind of looked at me funny. Great is a pretty big word, and I don't use it very often. He is a great football player. He's got all the right numbers. He's got size. He's got speed. He's got quickness. He runs with power. He can catch the ball. He's got great work ethic. Nobody works harder than Matt Fortè.
"He takes a beating every week and he keeps coming back. He doesn't complain. He's got great character. I just think he's a great football player. Unfortunately, we are not winning and that affects him for a lot of things. But as far as pro football and those types of things, people see how good he is."
Tulane offensive coordinator Dan Dodd coached former TCU star and San Diego Chargers All-Pro LaDainian Tomlinson and former New Mexico and Chicago Bears All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher. He said places Forte in that same category.
"The one thing that you look for at this level of football is do they dominate, not just hold their own, but dominate," Dodd said. "I've only been around three kids like that in my coaching career, one was Tomlinson, one was Urlacher, and then this kid (Forte). The thing that they have in common is they could take games over."
But, Forte's 40-yard dash times are a bit suspect for him to be considered among the nation's best prospects for next April's NFL Draft. But, he has been working hard to improve on his 4.6 time he ran last year for scouts at Tulane's NFL day.
With four games remaining against Tulsa, UTEP, Rice and East Carolina, Forte has a chance to show NFL scouts and others that he is the real deal. Keep this in mind, against two SEC opponents (Miss. State and LSU) Forte rushed for a total of 120 yards on 30 carries. While four yards per carry pales in comparison to his 6.6 overall average this season, it does point out that the Slidell product can hold his own against SEC competition.
To find out more about Matt Forte, visit www.mattforte25.com. |
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Re: Am I the only one who didn't realize that Tulane's Matt Forte is leading the NCAA in rushing this year? |
By Carl Danbury on
11/5/2007 9:02 AM |
| Forte has another 103 yards rushing on 26 carries against Tulsa. Green Wave lost another one. |
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