Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32

Take that!
Mountaineers make history with victory

By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich — Sometimes in life, you only get one chance to make history. Appalachian State got that chance Saturday afternoon at Michigan Stadium and made the absolute most of it.

There were many Mountaineers who made it possible, but it was safety Corey Lynch who drove the final nail in Michigan’s coffin. Lynch blocked a 37-yard field goal with six seconds left on the clock to preserve a historic and improbable 34-32 upset victory over heavily favored Michigan, leaving most of the 109,218 in The Big House stunned and wondering if they were in a Stephen King nightmare.

It was a dream come true for the Mountaineers, who blocked two Jason Gingell field goals to keep the No. 5 Wolverines from scoring six game-clinching points. Appalachian State, ranked No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision (formally known as Division I-AA), kept its winning streak alive at 15 games, the longest in the country. Appalachian State also became the first FCS team to beat a ranked Football Bowl Subdivision (formally Division I-A) team in college football history.

“We tried not to make the game more than it was,” Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. “I thought that we would play well. I didn’t know if we would play well enough to win.”

Michigan (0-1), the preseason favorite to win the Big 10 Conference championship and play in a BCS bowl, lost its third straight game dating back to last year’s losses to Ohio State and to Southern California in the 2007 Rose Bowl. It was Michigan’s first ever loss to a FCS team.

“We were not a well-prepared football team,” Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. “That is my job, and I take full responsibility.”

The Mountaineers (1-0), which led most of the game, were naturally excited about winning a game that few not dressed in a black and gold uniform thought they could win.

“It’s hard to describe,” Appalachian State running back Kevin Richardson said. “We’ve been working hard since February and we’ve been talking about playing up here. We’ve been focused since February and all the hard work paid off today.”

“I think we’re still in a little shock,” Moore added.

The Mountaineers began their shock therapy on the Wolverines in the first half. Appalachian State, after trailing 14-7 in the first quarter, built a 28-14 lead in the second quarter and led 31-26 heading into the fourth.

Yet all of the effort used to build that lead seemed to be wasted when Michigan running back Mike Hart, a Heisman Trophy candidate, raced 54 yards for a touchdown with 4:36 left in the game, giving Michigan a 32-31 lead.

It even looked worse when Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards, who was sharp in the first half, missed T.J. Courman with a pass that was intercepted by Brandent Englemon. However, Appalachian State’s defense kept Michigan out of the end zone, which forced the Wolverines to try a 44-yard field goal that freshman wide receiver Brian Quick blocked.

It was a huge play not only for the Mountaineers, but for Quick in particular. In the third quarter, he dropped a sure touchdown pass and the Mountaineers had to settle for a Rauch field goal.

Quick literally jumped at the chance to redeem himself.

“It felt good. It was a good feeling,” Quick said. “I knew I had to go and block the field goal because I knew I made a mistake the first time. I had to step up and make a play.”

The Mountaineers, with 1:37 left and with no time outs, took over from their own 26-yard line and marched to the Michigan 5-yard line before Julian Rauch belted a 24-yard field goal to give Appalachian State a 34-32 lead with 26 seconds left.

“I didn’t think about it,” Rauch said. “I just had to go kick.”

But Michigan was not done in a game that had more turns than a mountain interstate. Quarterback Chad Henne hit Mario Manningham with a 46-yard bomb to set up Gingell with a 37-yard field goal with six seconds left in the game.

Lynch made sure that it didn’t have a chance by smothering Gingell’s attempt, scooping the ball, and racing toward the Michigan end zone until he was stopped at the 5-yard line.

“I wanted to score a touchdown in the Big House,” Lynch said. “I just ran out of gas.”

There, he was mobbed by the rest of the Mountaineers, leaving the Wolverines wondering what had happened to what started out as a promising season.

“We simply made too many mistakes and had too many missed opportunities,” Carr said. “Now we have to fight back and we have to deal with some adversity to find out what we are made of.”

Whenever Michigan struck, Appalachian State seemed to have an answer. The Wolverines opened the game with a bruising and efficient six-play, 66-yard drive capped by a Hart 4-yard touchdown run.

Appalachian struck back with a 68-yard catch-and-run from Edwards to Dexter Jackson, who ran away from the Michigan secondary after catching the ball while running a slant-pattern.

Michigan struck again with a 10-yard Henne-to-Greg Matthews touchdown pass, but Edwards struck twice with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Hans Batichon and a 20-yarder to Jackson, giving Appalachian State a 21-14 lead.

Edwards made the Mountaineers’ lead grow to 28-14 with a 6-yard run that capped a nine-play, 65-yard drive. Not only did the touchdown give the Mountaineers a 14-point lead, it also drew some boos from the crowd for the Michigan defense.

Hart scored the only touchdowns of the second half, a 4-yard run in the third quarter and his 54-yarder that gave Michigan its first lead since the first quarter.

“When things get a little messy and the bottom falls out, what are you going to do?” Moore said. “The bottom fell out with a minute and 26 seconds left. Are you going to cry and say, ‘Well, we played hard, we gave it our best.’ We could have gotten beat 32-31 and everybody back home would have said, ‘Well, you played hard.’ In the last two championships, we won in the fourth quarter. We won today’s game in the fourth quarter.”

Michigan rolled up 479 yards in total offense with Hart picking up 188 of them on the ground despite hampered with a sore thigh for most of the game.

“It bothered him. He hurt it in the first series or very early in the game and it stiffened on him during halftime,” Carr said. “Based on the report, I was surprised that he played in the second half, but he played well.”

Henne hit 19-of-37 passes for 233 yards and a Leonard Love interception in the third quarter.

Edwards, who started the game hitting his first seven passes, finished with 227 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-23 passing. He tossed two interceptions and was sacked four times.

Richardson gained 88 of Appalachian State’s 187 yards rushing, but did not reach the end zone. The Mountaineers finished with 387 yards in total offense.

“Michigan has great tradition,” Richardson said. “They have bigger players, faster players and stronger players. It’s all about what’s inside your chest and in your heart. So, we just came out focused and we knew we had to make the statement from the beginning and that’s what we came out and did.”

Appalachian State doesn’t have long to celebrate. Ironically, the Mountaineers face the same situation Michigan faced Saturday when they host Lenoir-Rhyne in their first home game of the season.

Lenoir-Rhyne, a Division II school in Hickory, lost its first game of the season 28-13 to visiting Virginia Union last Thursday.

“We have to come out and stay focused and not be complacent,” Richardson said.

Appalachian 34, Michigan 32
Appalachian State 7 21 3 3 — 34
Michigan 14 3 9 6 — 32
Scoring summary
M—Hart 4 run (Gingell kick)
ASU—Jackson 68 pass from Edwards (Rauch kick)
M—Mathews 10 pass from Henne (Gingell kick)
ASU—Batichon 9 pass from Edwards (Rauch kick)
ASU—Jackson 20 pass from Edwards (Rauch kick)
ASU—Edwards 6 run (Rauch kick)
M—Gingell FG 22
M—Gingell FG 42
ASU—Rauch FG 31
M—Hart 4 run (Run failed)
M—Hart 54 run (Ruyn failed)
ASU—Rauch FG 24

                ASU                 Michigan
First downs 19                       23
Rushing      10                       11
Passing         8                       11
Penalty         1                         1
Rushing attempts 44                40
Yards gained 187                   265
Yards lost       27                     19
Net Yards Rushing 160           246
Net Yards Passing  227           233
Passes attempted      23             37
Passes completed     17             19
Had intercepted         2               1
Total offensive plays 67            77
Total net yards        387          479
Avg. gain per play    5.8          6.2
Fumbles: Number-lost 1-1        2-1
Penalties-yards          7-45      7-56
Punts-avg.             4-33.0    3-48.7
Punt returns: Number-yards 1-18           2-14
Kickoff returns: Number-yards 7-151    6-121
Interceptions: Number-yards    1-26        2-0
Fumble return yards                    0           0
Miscellaneous yards                   74           0
Time of Possession                31:12     28:48
Third-down conversions       7-of-13    7-of-15
Fourth-down conversions       0-of-0     0-of-2
Sacks by-yards                         1-10     4-16
Individuals:
Rushing: ASU—Richardson 24-88, Edwards 17-62, Jackson 1-19, Hillary 1-(-4), Team 1-(-5); Michigan—Hart 23-188, Minor 13-57, Manningham 2-9, Henne 2 (-1).
Passing: ASU—Edwards 17-23-2 227; Henne 19-37-1 233.
Receiving: ASU—Hillary 4-63, Jackson 3-92, Courman 3-30, Batichon 3-22, Richardson 2-3, Johnson 1-11, Cline 1-6; Michigan—Mathews 7-68, Arrington 4-52, Manningham 3-66, Minor 1-10, Moundros 1-1.