No, seriously, Michigan lost to Appalachian freakin’ State:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Chances are, most of the 110,000 fans at the Big House had no idea exactly where Appalachian State is located.
By the time they saw a blocked field goal in final seconds, this much was certain: The little Mountaineers pulled off one of the greatest upsets in college football history.
Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32.
The team from Boone, N.C., took the lead with 26 seconds left when Julian Rauch kicked a 24-yard field goal. Corey Lynch blocked a 37-yard try on the final play, and the Mountaineers sealed a jaw-dropping upset that might have no equal.
“It was David versus Goliath,” Appalachian State receiver Dexter Jackson said.
Michigan’s three stars on offense and its coach came back this season, putting the NFL and retirement on hold, with high hopes.
Big Ten title. National championship.
Looks like it might be time for Plan B.
Heh, yea it just might. SI’s Stewart Mandel puts this in perspective:
In the 29 years since the NCAA formally split Division I into two separate entities, no I-AA team had ever defeated a team ranked in the AP poll. When it finally happened, it wasn’t the No. 24 team that went down. Or the No. 19 team. It wasn’t a Hawaii or a Rutgers or some other marginally respected program that just happened to be ranked.
The victim was the winningest program in the history of the sport. The No. 5 team in the country according the pollsters. Winner of 11 games just a season ago. A squad with at least four future NFL draft picks on its offense alone. Participant in three of the past four Rose Bowls. Consensus favorite to win the 2007 Big Ten title.
All of those things may still come true for the Wolverines, but one game into its season, this Michigan team has already etched itself into history for the most embarrassing possible reason — by becoming the first ranked team ever to lose to a I-AA squad.
And if you don’t think there aren’t fans all over the Big Ten who’ll find ways to remind the Wolverines of that for the rest of the season, you just don’t know the Big Ten.
Video highlights below the fold. First, game highlights, or lowlights if you live in Ann Arbor:
Next, I think we may have found the one thing that can unite warring factions. In this case, Buckeyes and Nittany Lions:
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:25 am
[...] not much of a suprise. After all, a ranked team isn’t in much danger when they play a Division 1-AA team at home. Right ? [...]
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:58 am
Holy. Fucking. Shit. That is HUGE!!
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:24 am
I talked before in my blog how football is a great distracter to this 15 month deployment in Baghdad, Iraq – and with my ASU winning, it was the greatest diversion I could ask for. I smiled; cheered out loud; jumped up and down; wore my ASU hat; and told anyone walking by how proud I am to be from ASU. It was a good night- and good nights are really hard to come by here…
WOW – Go Mountaineers!!!
http://georgeiniraq.blogspot.com/
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Incredible game- in Ann Arbor?! Can’t wait to see the next Michigan Fan! If any of you guys wanna sport an App State Layout for Myspace you can check it out and get the code over at my site, it’s pretty sweet.