Our last words on the Appalachian State-Michigan game ...
By Mark Sandritter
Cold, Hard Football Facts bully-buster
The aftershocks resonating from Ann Arbor can still be felt around the country two days after Appalachian State’s upset victory over Michigan on Saturday.
Some are calling it the biggest in the history of football. It’s hard to argue. Certainly, there's never been a greater upset at the pro level: the talent gap in the NFL is just never as wide as it is between different college divisions.
We all know what the typical upset looks like: plucky little underrated upstart plays at home before a vocal crowd that makes life difficult for the Gridiron Goliath who’s come to town. The upstarts get off to a quick lead and are then generally outplayed, but they force a couple big turnovers, get a lucky break here and there and maybe even a hometown call, all of which adds up to a shocking victory.
That’s not how it went down for the Mountaineers. Quite frankly, they went on the road, outmanned in every imaginable way, and walked into the biggest stadium in America and simply outplayed the winningest team in the history of college football, at least at key stages of the game. They fell behind early, and again late. But the Mountaineers still made countless big plays on both sides of the ball to pull out the shocker.
So, was it the greatest upset of all time? The only way to truly find out is to break out our tape measure and size up the Cold, Hard Football Facts.
|
CATEGORY |
ASU |
MICHIGAN |
ADVANTAGE |
|
Fight song |
|
|
Michigan |
|
Famous fight song lyric |
"Nobody likes us" |
"Hail to Michigan,
champions of the West" |
Michigan |
|
All-time record |
503-294-28 (.627) |
860-282-26 (.747) |
Michigan |
|
Div. 1-A titles |
0 |
11 |
Michigan |
|
Biggest rival |
Western Carolina |
Ohio State |
|
|
Other big rival |
Furman |
Notre Dame |
|
|
Stadium capacity |
16,650 |
107,501 |
|
|
First year playing football |
1928 |
1879 |
|
|
Student enrollment |
15,000 |
40,000 |
|
|
Record in openers |
45-29-3 (.604) |
102-18-3 (.841) |
|
|
Previous win |
28-17 over UMass |
34-3 over Indiana |
|
|
Last 5 games vs. D1-A |
1-4 |
3-2 |
|
|
OL avg. height/weight |
6-3, 276 |
6-5, 293 |
|
|
|
6-2, 256 |
6-3, 280 |
|
|
|
2 |
9 |
|
|
|
3 |
38 |
|
|
|
16 |
362 |
|
CONCLUSIONS
1. The match-up doesn’t match up
Wow, talk about running the table. To say Michigan dominates the Tale o’ the Tape might be short-changing the Wolverines. Even if you looked past the fact that Michigan’s 42 conference championships in the mighty Big 10 dwarfs Appalachian State’s seven in the – who? what? where? – Southern Conference, there was still no reason to give ASU a chance.
In fact, the only question heading into the game wasn’t “Can ASU win?” It was, “Why the hell is Michigan even playing this game?”
2. No one would have predicted this upset - not even ASU
Hell, not even
Al Gore, in his breaks from inventing the internet, could have seen it coming. The last time the Mountaineers played a Division 1-A foe, they were pasted 23-10 last year by North Carolina State – the same N.C. State team that went 3-9 and dumped its coach at the end of the season.
Prior to that, in their last game against a Division 1-A opponent in 2005, the Mountaineers were smoked 36-8 by a mediocre 7-5 Kansas team.
Appalachian State was just 57-41-1 all time vs. ranked opponents – that is, against 1-AA ranked opponents. As well all know by know, this win was the first ever by a 1-AA team over a ranked 1-A team.
When the Mountaineers scheduled this game, even they were most likely more concerned with the $400,000 added to their football budget than their chances of shocking the world.
3. Michigan should blowout ASU in the alumni game, too
With 38 former Wolverines current playing in the NFL, Michigan could almost field an entire NFL team for the alumni game. Maybe Appalachian State’s seven NFLers could serve as the officiating crew.
4. Lucky for us: size doesn’t matter
Michigan is bigger than Appalachian State by every imaginable measure: stadium, student body, reputation, visibility, rivalries. You name it.
Michigan’s current enrollment would fill Appalachian State’s stadium three times over, while the App. State student body would need to grow seven-fold to bang out the Big House.
On the field, where it really mattered (or should have mattered), there was no comparison: Michigan’s average offense lineman was three inches taller and nearly 40 pounds heavier than ASU's average defensive lineman.
When ASU had the ball, they were more fairly matched up ... which might explain why the Mountaineers ripped Michigan for 160 yards and 10 first downs on the ground.
The Bottom Line
What your eyes and ears told on Saturday, the Cold, Hard Football Faacts tell you today: Appalachian State’s 34-32 victory over Michigan at the Big House is one of the biggest upsets in not only college football but in all of sports.
Michigan had the tradition, the talent and the home field advantage on its side. Yet tiny little ASU stood tall when most others wilted.
After Michigan regained the lead late in the fourth quarter, most people thought the Big House, the 33 NFL all-pros, the record 860 wins and the rest of the Michigan lore would take over and the small D-1AA team would collapse.
Instead, the Mountaineers fought back and completed an improbable comeback and the greatest upset in football history.
