Man-eating cupcake

If you care even remotely about college football—and perhaps if you don’t care at all—you’ve probably heard by now of the incredible upset yesterday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Appalachian State University defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 34 to 32. It is believed that never in the history of college football has a ranked team lost to a team from a lower classification.

This type of game, the so-called tune-up, is a time-honored event in college football and have often lead to some of the most lopsided scores in the sport. Who can forget John Heisman’s 1916 Georgia Tech team defeating tiny Cumberland College 222 to zero? And certainly Michigan has had its day in the sun pummeling undermanned foes; on 17 different occasions Michigan has beaten an opponent by 70 or more points. And let’s not forget that no school has won more football games than the University of Michigan.

Yes, nothing says football season quite like watching your heavily-favored and vastly superior team decapitate a weakling opponent that has no business being on the same field. And since the NCAA added a twelfth regular season game last season, the number of teams filling up their schedules with yet more mismatches greatly increased, giving us such titanic match-ups as Texas and Sam Houston State, Ohio State and Youngstown State, and Miami and Florida A&M.

The irony here is that Michigan, until yesterday, had never scheduled a lower-division opponent (at least, not since the 1970s, when Division 1-AA was created). Other programs have not been so sporting, as even before the 12-game season, marquee teams often loaded up on inferior competition to boost their records, not unlike a great prizefighter knocking out scores of boxing hacks on the way to a title bout. But not Michigan. While Michigan has played its share of weak teams over the years, those teams were always drawn from the same division. I suppose the Wolverines wish they had stuck to Division 1-A opponents after yesterday’s loss.

Of course, Appalachian State was not just another 1-AA opponent. The Mountaineers are defending back-to-back champions of their division and winners of 14 straight games. The interesting thing is whether App State can stay focused on their season after such a fairy-tale victory. After all, they will never again play a game as meaningful as the one the just played; they will never again play before 100,000-plus fans; the will never have a stage as big as the one they just exited. Ironically, this is the type of victory that can ruin a season!

How have other Division 1-AA teams that pulled similar early-season victories fared during the rest of the season?

1. The Citadel 10, Arkansas 3 (1992)
One of the biggest upsets in recent years, this game cost Arkansas coach Jack Crowe his job…not at the end of the season, but the very next Monday. The Citadel went on to finish 11-2, capturing a Southern Conference title and making it as far as the 1-AA quarterfinals. No ill effects from their season-opening stunner.

2. Maine 9, Mississippi State 7 (2004)
Maine defeated MSU of the mighty SEC in the third game of their 2004 campaign, but after the game the Bears faltered badly, finishing up at 5-6, allowing no fewer than 24 points in a game.

3. Cal-Davis 20, Stanford 17 (2005)
Cal-Davis shocked Stanford in the season’s second week, overcoming a 17-0 deficit. The win wasn’t carried over, however, as the Aggies finished up 6-5, though they did grab a share of the Great West championship.

4. Montana State 19, Colorado 10 (2006)
Montana State beat Colorado in Dan Hawkins’ inaugural game as Colorado head coach. The very next week, however, Division II’s Chadron State then returned the favor, pounding the Bobcats, 35-24. MSU went on to post a respectable 8-5 mark and reached as far as the 1-AA quarterfinals.


My summary impression is that it is awfully difficult to retain one’s focus after a huge upset, and they don’t come any bigger than App State’s stunner this weekend. Expect a let-down from the Mountaineers.