ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Rich Rodriguez wants to fill Michigan Stadium for a spring game in the future.

He got about halfway there today.

Tate Forcier threw four touchdown passes and ran for a score, drawing a lot of cheers from an estimated crowd of 50,000 that was the largest in school history for a spring exhibition.

"It's nice to have a positive record," Rodriguez joked.

The Wolverines lost a school-record nine games last season during Rodriguez's debut season in Ann Arbor.

"Three and nine, that's never going to happen again," safety Stevie Brown vowed.

Fans flocked to Ann Arbor early Saturday morning to take a tour of the team's locker room — leading a line that wrapped around the stadium — to watch former Wolverines such as Larry Foote of the NFL champion Pittsburgh Steelers play in a flag football game and to witness Forcier's first public performance with college football's winningest program.

Forcier didn't disappoint.

The first time Forcier led the offense onto the field, the crowd roared. Then the freshman gave them plenty of reasons to keep cheering.

Forcier completed passes on his first two snaps and ran for a first down on the third. Later on his first drive, he connected on a play-action pass, eluded a sack for a positive gain and scored on a bootleg 3-yard, third-and-goal run.

He finished with four TD passes, including a long one that sailed 45 yards in the air. Redshirt freshman Roy Roundtree caught two of Tate's TDs while seniors Greg Mathews and LeTerryal Savoy each had one.

"All I did was get them the ball, they did the rest," Forcier said.

Forcier seems like he has set himself up to be the No. 1 quarterback when Rodriguez's second season at Michigan begins at home on Sept. 5 against Western Michigan.

He graduated early in San Diego, choosing to enroll this semester at Michigan so that he could practice with the team and take classes.

After Forcier arrived, Steven Threet announced he was transferring and Nick Sheridan was sidelined with a broken leg after sharing snaps last season for the Wolverines.

Rodriguez insists Forcier will have to continue to compete with Sheridan and the speedy Denard Robinson when he gets to town this summer, but acknowledged liking what he saw from Forcier with thousands of eyes focused on him.

"The biggest thing was, playing in an atmosphere with a little bit of a crowd," Rodriguez said. "Was it going to fluster him? Was he focused?

"There was maybe a time or two his eyes could've been in a different direction, but for the most part, he looked comfortable for the first time in that kind of setting."

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound Forcier moved around the pocket with poise, delivered accurate passes and was athletic and savvy enough to make plays with his feet.

Has Forcier ever heard people compare his style to Jeff Garcia?

"Yes, I do. A lot," he said. "But he's in the NFL. I can't compare myself to him. I've got a lot of work to do."

Forcier is glad he arrived early on campus, helping him learn some of the many nuances in Rodriguez's spread offense.

"The first day, I was lost," Forcier said. "But as the time goes, you see the whole game slow down. I feel so much more comfortable."

Forcier's coming-out party coincided with Michigan's plan of welcoming home former players, introducing some of them during the game, and recruiting future ones.

Marvin Robinson, a standout safety from Florida, made an unofficial visit on the sunsplashed day and took in the sights and sounds of Michigan Stadium.

Robinson walked around the field with Inkster quarterback Devin Gardner and wide receiver Ricardo Miller of Florida, both of whom have made commitments to be part of Michigan's 2010 recruiting class.

"This is wonderful," Robinson said. "Michigan is definitely the leader on my list, which I've cut down to Georgia, Alabama, USF (South Florida) and Tennessee."

Perhaps with some current recruits becoming Wolverines, Rodriguez hopes spring games at Michigan Stadium become popular enough to surpass the 92,138 fans who watched Alabama's football team practice in the spring of 2007.

"I would like to break the record," Rodriguez said. "The world record for spring games attendance was set not long ago with 90-some thousand. We can get more than that in the Big House."