In honor of college football starting back this week, and being an Appalachian State alumnus, I’m dedicating this week’s Throwback Thursday series to another Week One in college football when the Appalachian State Mountaineers shocked the college football world. On September 1, 2007, the Appalachian State football team squared off against powerhouse Michigan in the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game was nearly an afterthought for anyone not associated with one of the two schools and Las Vegas didn’t even provide a betting line for it. It was supposed to be a $400,000 (App State’s payday) blowout before both teams began their “real season.”

Led by coach Jerry Moore and quarterback Armanti Edwards, the Mountaineers came into Ann Arbor confident and ready to show the world they could compete with Michigan, who was ranked fifth in the nation, first in the Big Ten, and legitimate contenders to win the national championship. Coming from a stadium in Boone that held just over 16,000 seats, Jerry Moore told his team the night before to get a good look at Michigan’s 109,000-seat stadium because the next day their sole focus was to be on the field.

In front of the largest crowd the Mountaineers had ever played in front of, Michigan received the ball to start out the game and marched right down the field in six plays and scored a touchdown. It was exactly the type of drive everyone expected the Wolverines to start the game with. Then, it was Appalachian State’s turn to show what they were capable of. Quarterback Armanti Edwards found Dexter Jackson for a 68-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7. A fluke, everyone in the stands dressed in maize and blue thought.

Michigan quarterback Chad Henne tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass near the end of the first quarter to give the Wolverines a 14-7 lead at the end of the first. But the second quarter would be all about the Mountaineers. Edwards connected with receivers Hans Batichon and Dexter Jackson for two touchdown passes and also ran one in himself, leaping over defenders at the goal line. Appalachian State would go into the locker room at the half leading Michigan 28-17. That was the moment people all around the country began to take notice and wonder if something special was going to happen.

Knowing well that Michigan was going to come out in the second half swinging with everything they had, Appalachian State braced themselves and attempted to do the impossible. But it became very difficult. A couple of Mountaineer turnovers and Michigan running back Mike Hart were beginning to take a toll on Appalachian State. After Hart’s third touchdown run of the game (with four minutes to go in the game), the Wolverines went up with a 32-31 lead. Then Edwards would throw an interception and things looked as if a Michigan victory would occur after all.

Michigan kicker Jason Gingell was setting up to attempt a 43-yard field goal to put the Wolverines ahead by four with a minute and a half remaining. But Mountaineer receiver Brian Quick broke through and blocked the kick, giving Appalachian State one final chance to make history. What would the Mountaineers do? Did they have anything left in the tank to pull off the stunning upset? The entire college football world was watching on their televisions at this point as they pondered these questions.

Armanti Edwards would get his team all the way to the 7-yard line, but the problem became the ticking clock without any timeouts left. Julian Rauch would nail the short field goal to put the Mountaineers ahead 34-32 with 26 seconds left. What doesn’t seem like much time felt like an eternity to Appalachian State and their fans. Everyone in the stadium held their breath and watched eagerly as the Wolverines attempted one last drive to get into field goal range. With college football fans all around the country on edge, Michigan did just that. Chad Henne found receiver Mario Manningham for a 46-yard gain, which set up the Wolverines for a last second 37-yard field goal to win the game.

What was a terrific effort at making history seemed as if it was going to fall just short. Appalachian State would come into the Big House and put up a huge fight, but it looked as if the Wolverines would barely escape with a victory and the college football world would continue spinning just as before. With everyone’s televisions tuned in to see the inevitable winning field goal, Appalachian State defensive back Corey Lynch lined up looking to do what teammates said he’d done probably 300 times throughout his practice career: block a field goal. The ball was snapped and 109,000 eyes looked on as Lynch got through the line, blocked the field goal, and scooped the ball up. With the Appalachian State faithful simultaneously yelling “fall down, fall down,” the competitor in Lynch attempted to take it all the way back for a touchdown. He would be ran down and tackled before reaching the goal line, but it didn’t matter. Appalachian State had beaten the fifth ranked Michigan Wolverines and stunned the college football world.

The fans in the stands were absolutely speechless. Many didn’t leave the stadium for a while because they were in a state of complete disbelief at what just occurred. Fans from all around the Big Ten cheered in their stadiums as they watched the upset unfold on their big screens. And back in Boone, North Carolina things were in a state of pandemonium. And they would be for days. When the team bus arrived back in Boone around 11:00 p.m. that night, thousands of fans surrounded the buses. It actually took players 20-30 minutes to walk from the bus to the locker rooms, which was just about a 100-feet walk. Mountaineer students tore down a goal post on the football field and carried it about a mile, up the side of a mountain, to Chancellor Peacock’s house, which he was totally fine with. It was an electric time to be a Mountaineer.

Media outlets all over the country instantly called it the greatest upset in the history of college football in their publications. It headlined ESPN’s SportsCenter and newspapers everywhere. The Appalachian State campus welcomed folks from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, and other media companies over the course of the next week. Everyone wanted part of the dramatic upset that featured an FCS team beating an FBS team for the first time ever. Michigan’s title hopes were over and the Mountaineers’ season was off to a historic start. How could a small school from the mountains of North Carolina come into the Big House and beat Michigan? Where is Boone even at? Was this all a dream? One thing was for sure, over the course of three hours the entire college football world suddenly knew who Appalachian State was.

Garett

TBT: The Day Appalachian State Shocked the College Football World