LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Like seemingly everyone else, Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer was impressed with Matt Forte in training camp. But the former guard told ChicagoBears.com at the time that he was eager to see how the rookie running back would respond after taking his first big hit in the NFL.

Forte passed that test with flying colors in Sunday night's 29-13 win in Indianapolis, missing just two plays after getting drilled in the shoulder by hard-hitting Colts safety Bob Sanders, the reigning NFL defensive player of the year.

“It was very important to get back in the game,” Forte said. “We were running the ball well, so I didn’t want to stay out long and [adversely] affect the drive or anything like that. I wanted to get back in there and play.”

Running back Matt Forte rushed for 123 yards and 1 TD on 23 carries in his first NFL game.

Veteran teammates applauded the toughness that Forte displayed in his first NFL game.

“He took a hell of a shot from Sanders and got back to his feet and came back in the game said, ‘Give me the ball again,’” said center Olin Kreutz, a six-time Pro Bowler who has started a team-high 87 straight games.

Forte’s determination to return wasn’t the only impressive thing about his pro debut. The second-round pick from Tulane put the Bears ahead 7-3 with a 50-yard touchdown run and rushed for 100 of his game-high 123 yards in the first half.

Forte gave the Bears a lead they would not relinquish by dashing up the middle, cutting back brilliantly to avoid safety Antoine Bethea and outrunning Sanders to the end zone.

“I saw [Bethea] coming down fast and I knew if I just made one quick cut and got up field I could get by him, and that’s what I did and it worked out for me,” Forte said.

Forte’s TD run was the longest by a Bears rookie since Walter Payton’s 54-yarder at New Orleans on Dec. 21, 1975 and the longest by any Chicago player since Anthony Thomas’ 67-yarder versus Green Bay on Sept. 29, 2003.

“In practice, coach [Lovie] Smith’s always telling us to run 40 yards like you’re going to break a touchdown every time,” Forte said. “So it just came from repetition. Once I made the safety miss, I was just looking straight at the end zone. I looked back a few times to see if [Sanders] was getting close and then I just kept running after that.”

After showing speed and elusiveness on his TD scamper, Forte ran with power in picking up a pair of first downs with 2-yard gains on third-and-short during a key third-quarter drive after the Colts had closed the gap to 15-13.

“We saw what we expect from Forte,” Kreutz said. “He’s a hard runner. He runs downhill. He’s got speed. He can make people miss and he’s smart. He’s got the whole package.”

“He has a knack for making you miss him,” Smith said. “He can run with power in between the tackles and he had a chance to show his speed a little bit on the long touchdown run. He can also take a hit, because he took a solid blow from the [defensive] MVP of the league.”

Forte became the first Bears rookie to rush for 100 yards in his NFL debut, and his 123 yards were the third most by any player in the league in Week 1 behind only Atlanta’s Michael Turner (220) and Pittsburgh’s Willie Parker (138).

Asked whether he exceeded his own expectations, Forte said: “Actually, I pretty much met them. I set high expectations for myself and I wanted to get over 100 yards in my first game, and I did that. I just want to be consistent the whole season.”

Teammates who’ve seen Forte master the playbook weren’t surprised by his performance.

“He was exactly what we thought,” Kreutz said. “He is a very good running back. He is big, he’s strong, he’s fast and he’s smart. He’s real level-headed. He seems like a 10-year vet when he’s in the huddle.”

“He came in from the first day and just picked up the offense,” said fullback Jason McKie. “He knows his assignments like he’s been in this offense for years. I’ve never seen that from a rookie. It enables him to just go out there and use his natural athletic ability.”

In one six-game stretch last year at Tulane, Forte rushed for at least 300 yards twice and 200 yards five times, gaining 303, 202, 209, 342 and 278 yards. He has heard since before the draft all about how he faced inferior competition and is determined to prove he belongs in the NFL.

“It doesn’t matter what school you go to,” Forte said. “It’s what kind of player you are and what you have inside. Hopefully I shut a lot of people up who think that guys who go to small schools may not be fast or something like that. They still may be good players.”