Matt Forte
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Matt Forté (Born Matthew Garrett Forté on December 10, 1985, in Lake Charles, La) plays running back for the Tulane University Green Wave in the NCAA college football tournament. Forté, a Doak Walker Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year candidate, became the 11th player in the FBS (Division I-A) to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. He finished his senior season no.2 in rushing (177.25 ypg) and scoring (11.67) in the nation behind Central Florida's Kevin Smith and 4th in the nation in terms of all-purpose yards (201.67). He also broke the school season record in rushing just eight weeks into the season set by current Minnesota Vikings player Mewelde Moore.
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Personal Life
The 6-foot-2 223 pound, soft-spoken and humble rusher was born in in Lake Charles, Louisiana to Gilda and Gene Forté. Matt is one of the Forté's two children, both boys. Matt is not the first to play collegiate football in the family as his father used to don the same team jersey as Matt while playing for Tulane from 1975-77 and captaining the team in 1977 while his older brother used to suit up for McNeese State. Matt was a Finance major at TU.
High School
Forté lettered in track and was an honor roll student for Slidell during his high school days. But the two-time all-district and all-parish honoree excelled in the field as he rushed for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns, and caught 30 passes for 365 yards and 3 TDs during his junior year. He top those stats during his senior season after rushing for 1,375 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and 23 touchdowns to go along with 18 catches for 253 yards and 2 TDs enroute to winning the St. Tammany Parish Player of the Year and District 5-5A Offensive MVP honors. The 2003 second team all-state Selection registered a total of 2,432 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns with 48 receptions for 618 yards and five catching TDs in his high school career.
College
2004
Forté was a solid second option in the backfield during his freshman year, playing behind Jovon Jackson. He made his debut in the Green Wave's 7-28 opening season loss against Mississippi State where he tallied 5 carries for 13 yards. He made his first rushing score over a month later at home against UAB after rushing 4 times for 15 yards. Jackson's injury gave Forté the opportunity which he cashed in on a career game against Army where he had a season-high numbers in carries (34, 2nd all-time at TU), rushing yards (216, 4th best single-game effort at Tulane), and touchdowns (3). He also had 48 receiving yards that game, to tally 283 all-purpose yards which stood as third all-time at Tulane. Forté went on to finish his rookie season with 140 carries for 624 yards and four touchdowns while catching 20 passes for 180 yards to earn a place at the Conference USA All-Freshman team.
2005
Forté made his sophomore season debut against Mississippi State with 20 carries for 66 yards but did not score until the following game @ Southern Methodist, carrying the football 20 times for 87 yards with a couple of touchdowns. Forté recorded his season highs in the season-finale against Southern Miss where he carried 27 times for 137 yards. He finished the season as TU's leading rusher with 655 yards on 169 carries (average of 59.5 yards per game) with 4 touchdowns, led the Green Wave in all-purpose yards with 818, and tied for 4th in the team with 23 receptions for 163 yards. He also eclipsed the 1000 career rushing yard mark that season.
2006
By the time he was on his third year, Forté has already established himself as one of the top backs in the nation. He turned in 29 carries for 170 yards and a touchdown in Tulane's 32-29 win over Mississippi State to claim the C-USA and LSWA Offensive Player of the Week awards. He rushed for a season-high 178 yards on 19 carries in a win over Rice and turned out five 100+ rushing games that season. But Forté's season was cut short after suffering a season-ending injury at Marshall. He finished the season once again as TU's leading rusher with 859 yards on 163 attempts (5.3 yds per rush) and eight touchdowns and was no.4 in the team in catches and receiving yards with 28 and 360, respectively. His 1,219 all-purpose yards was third in the league while his season output in rushing and scoring were 4th and ninth in C-USA, respectively. He also surpassed the 2,000 rushing yard mark that season and garnered several accolades that include a Conference USA third team, and a Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) second team honors.
2007
Forté, named a Doak Walker Award, a Maxwell Award, a Heisman award, and an All-America candidate, started slow during his first couple of games before turning out an explosive 40 rush-303 yard-5 touchdown game against Southeastern Louisiana to help the team claim its first win of the season. He also tallied a C-USA record 342 yards (top individual rushing performance by an NCAA FBS student-athlete in 2007) against Southern Methodist and registered five touchdowns (school single-game records) against Southeastern Louisiana and Rice which matches the C-USA mark. He went on to finish the year with 2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns on 361 carries (all TU single-season records) while catching 32 passes (no.2 in the team) for 282 yards. Forté, who received the C-USA and Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week honors twice, eclipsed the single-season rushing record of 1,421 set by former Green Wave Mewelde Moore in 2001. His 23 touchdowns in 2007 and 44 career scores are both tops in Tulane history, and his 266 career points (44 TDs, 1 2-point PAT) ranks third in school history and tops among non-kickers. He also posted five of Tulane's Top 10 single-game rushing performances in 2007 and eclipsed the 100 yard mark in nine of his 12 games. He went on to become the first Green Wave offensive player to earn first-team All C-USA honors since wide receiver Roydell Williams earned the distinction in 2004 and is the first Tulane running back to claim first-team all-league recognition since Moore in 2003.
Highlights
| Matt Forte Highlight Reel from his official website. |
Achievements
- 2007 All-Conference USA First Team Media
- 2007 C-USA Offensive Player of the Week (2x)
- 2007 Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week (2x)
- 2006 Conference USA third team
- 2006 LSWA second team selection
- 2006 C-USA Offensive Player of the Week (1x)
- 2006 LSWA Offensive Player of the Week (1x)
- 2004 Conference USA All-Freshman
References
- Matt Forte Stats @ ESPN
- Matt Forte Tulsa Profile
- National Spotlight on Matt Forte
- Tulane's Forté runs away with records
