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In one of the last college football games last season, the Boise State Broncos upset the Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl. It was perhaps the biggest upset ever seen in college football at that point.
This first week of the college football season gave us the biggest upset almost no one saw. Saturday afternoon two-time defending Division I-AA champions Appalachian State upset #5 Michigan 34-32 in front of 109,000 Wolverine fans at the Big House.
The Mountaineers from the start dominated the game. They led the Wolverines 28-17 at halftime, and despite some questionable time management at the end of the game claimed the victory after a blocked Wolverine field goal attempt.
It’s a pity only 5 people outside of the stadium got to see the game since it was broadcasted on the newly unveiled Big Ten Network. Available in the Big Ten region and DirecTV the network has yet to ink deals with the top cable providers, Comcast and Time Warner included.
And the pity lies in the fact that Big Ten athletics is overrated. Aside from Ohio State upsetting Miami in the 2002 BCS championship game at the Fiesta Bowl, when is the last time any team in the Big Ten won a football game of consequence?
Another big question is how much longer Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr will keep his job. Having the notoriety of coach the first AP ranked team to lose to a Division I-AA team EVER will certainly fan the flames of the hot seat. And given how Michigan tanked against USC in the Rose Bowl this past season, that seat was pretty hot to begin with.
This Michigan team was expected to run the table and be national championship contenders. After this loss it’s hard to imagine they would be in a conversation for a BCS bowl even if they go undefeated in their Big Ten schedule. Now that’s sad.
Tennessee vs California 31-45. Now that was a statement. I have to admit that Tennessee did surprise me with the offense they showed. However their defense and special teams could not make any stops when needed. Cal just told the entire SEC that the Pac-10 ain't nuttin' to fuck with.
UCLA vs Stanford 45-14. So the Bruins can score some points after it wakes up. But let's not forget those 45 points were scored against a bad Cardinal team. Granted they're not as bad as last season's team since they managed to score some points, but they looked confused throughout the game. It'll be a long season in Palo Alto yet again.
Florida State vs Clemson 18-24. This year's edition of the Bowden Bowl saw the Tigers come out strong over the Seminoles taking a 24-3 lead at halftime. The Tigers then held on to dear life to escape with a 24-18 win. Tommy Bowden has now won four of the last five games from father Bobby Bowden.
Georgia Tech vs Notre Dame 33-3. I'll admit I didn't see much of this game. I watched just bits and pieces of it as I was trying to watch UCLA-Stanford and the US Open. But from what I saw it was pretty ugly as I expected it to be. Let's just call it a "rebuilding year" for Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish.
AP Photo by Duane Burleson
