Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Off Topic: Going overboard on Appalachian State's upset win over Michigan

by Tresolini

"Greatest upset in college football history" and "David slaying Goliath" were two phrases being way too liberally tossed around Saturday night in the wake of Appalachian State's 34-32 upset over Michigan. Every time I heard or read one or the other, I cringed.

Don't get me wrong. It was a huge upset. A Division I-AA team had never beaten a ranked I-A team. But Appalachian State is hardly your typical I-AA team and, frankly, there are probably 25 Division I-A schools, at least, that would have shocked me more if they'd beaten Michigan. And I'm not just talking Temple and Buffalo. Appalachian State is probably better than a bunch of I-A schools, including a few of the lesser lights from BCS conferences.

The Mountaineers also happen to have a very experienced team -- they returned 13 of 21 offensive and defensive starters -- that knows how to win. They went 26-4 over the last two years, with three of those losses to I-A Kansas, LSU and North Carolina State. There are plenty of I-AA teams that, had they beaten Michigan, it might have been the greatest upset in college football history. Not this I-AA team. A colleague who covered App. State had told me last month he expected the Mountaineers had the guns to battle Michigan.

Michigan obviously isn't as good as it's cracked up to be and wasn't as ready as it should have been. Appalachian State was more than ready and, hence, the college football world was treated to (sorry Michigan fans) what was certainly a major upset but an even bigger spectacle. And give Appalachian State students extra credit for tearing down the goalposts on campus in celebration.
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by Anonymous Fan

It just goes to show you how narrow-minded the ESPN college football analysts are. Yes, it was a huge upset (on paper) but if you watched the game in black and white, no logos/team names and was asked which team is more likely to go to a BCS game, 10 out of 10 people would have pointed to Appalachian State. The ESPN guys don't care for a second about the FCS and are shocked when a FBS team loses to one of them. Mark May said, "I even doubt that a 1-AA team beat a bowl bound 1-A team in recent history." That made him look dumb on many fronts: University of Delaware over Navy is 'o3 and for others making such a hasty generalization without doing a second of research. Prior to the game he did a segment on the Big Ten scheduling "cupcakes," well Michigan can have it's cupcake and eat it too.
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by Ken Murray, Baltimore Sun

Coaches say teams in lower division win their share

Appalachian State struck a blow for the little guy and the repercussions stretched from Ann Arbor, Mich., to tiny Boone, N.C., and all points in the NCAA's former Division I-AA, now called the Football Championship Subdivision.

An upset over Michigan on Saturday shocked football's upper crust, and yesterday the Wolverines fell completely out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll after starting the season at No. 5. To those who have traveled in the I-AA circles, there was no shock. This was merely the latest endorsement of their game.

"That's the first time a ranked [Division I-A or Football Bowl Subdivision] lost so it gets everybody's attention," Navy coach Paul Johnson said, "But every year, somebody [in I-A] loses [to a team in I-AA]."

Johnson has worked both sidelines of the great divide. He won two national I-AA championships at Georgia Southern, where he nearly knocked off host Oregon State in 1999. He has spent the past five-plus years at top-division Navy, where he was upset by I-AA Delaware in 2003 when the Blue Hens won a national title.

The gap between the two divisions isn't as big as some believe, Johnson said.

"I think at the very top of the elite I-A schools, there's a pretty good gap," he said. "I think maybe the top 10, 15 I-AA schools would probably be comparable to the midlevel I-A schools. That's playing once - not if they had to play every week because depth would come into play with the scholarship limit."

FBS schools (I-A) are allotted 85 scholarships. FCS schools (I-AA) get 63. The difference is clear to Towson coach Gordy Combs.

"It's the depth factor," he said. "There are only so many players out there that are difference-makers, and most of those go to I-A. The big thing in I-AA, you have to develop your players."

Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley described Appalachian State's win over Michigan in biblical terms ("It was David and Goliath"). He doesn't believe the gap between the two divisions is closing.

"You can take 100 teams from I-A and play 100 I-AA teams, and you'll still end up with a 15 percent win record [for the I-AAs]," he said. "Michigan would beat them nine out of 10 times."

Still, the lower division manages to pull its share of surprises every September. A week apart in 2004, New Hampshire upset Rutgers, 35-24, and Maine stung Mississippi State, 9-7. Until Saturday, probably the biggest upset was by The Citadel in 1992, when a victory over Arkansas cost Razorbacks coach Jack Crowe his job.

Appalachian State had flirted with this kind of upset before. In 1999, the Mountaineers hung with Auburn before losing, 22-15.

The Mountaineers' speed and spread offense were too much Saturday for Michigan. The spread has helped balance the playing field.

"It's almost like the triple-option," Hill-Eley said. "When that first came about, it was for schools that didn't get the most-talented kids. The spread not only helps schools get more talent, it takes their offense and puts speed behind it. Appalachian State had I-A caliber talent at the receiver and quarterback position."

That wasn't always the case.

"Before, when it was 3 yards and a cloud of dust, it was tough for the I-AAs to play [with the I-A's]," Combs said. "Now even the I-A's are playing the spread."

Johnson hedged when asked whether Appalachian State's upset was the greatest in college football history.

"I don't have any idea about that," he said. "[But] I'm sure there have been less-talented teams beat more-talented teams. I mean, Appalachian State is not a bad football team; they're a pretty talented team."

When he was at Georgia Southern, Johnson was able to get just two I-A schools to play his two-time I-AA champions. In 2000, Georgia Southern lost at Georgia, 29-7. In 1999, the Eagles had Oregon State on the ropes. A touchdown in the final two minutes got them within 48-41.

They got the ball back - with a backup quarterback - and were on the Oregon State 25 when a fourth-down pass ended the game. Johnson said there was a bias by Pacific-10 officials, and remembered a comment from Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson coming off the field.

"After the game, he said, 'We won't be playing anymore,' " Johnson recalled.

There was pride in Johnson's voice.

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