20 college football moments that deserve to be made into movies
By John Buhler
16. We’ll Pay You to Beat Us
To date, this might be the biggest upset in college football history. It was the first game of the 2007 NCAA season and the Michigan Wolverines were ranked No. 5 in the country. Coincidentally, the Wolverines were playing another great football team, albeit at a slightly lower level in the No. 1 FCS ranked Appalachian State Mountaineers.
This was the first game to be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Despite being an elite FCS team, Michigan was expected to steamroll Appalachian State. The Wolverines definitely didn’t do that, as they suffered the most crushing loss to date of any major football program.
The Mountaineers took a 28-17 lead over the sloppy Wolverines into halftime. Michigan would eventually get it together to take a slight 32-31 lead late in the fourth quarter. Appalachian State would respond with a field goal inside of a minute left. At the end of regulation, Michigan would attempt a game-winning field goal, but would have it blocked for the soul-crushing defeat at home to start the season.
This game was significant for two major reasons. This game gave credibility to strong FCS programs like Appalachian State to eventually make the push to the FBS level. Appalachian State has successfully made the transition to the FBS level and is a big part of the Sun Belt’s success in the Group of 5.
As for Michigan, things would only get worse for most of the next decade. 2007 would be Lloyd Carr’s last year as head coach. Neither the Rich Rodriguez or the Brady Hoke eras of Michigan football be anything to write home about. Not until Jim Harbaugh took over his alma mater’s program in 2015 has Michigan fully recovered from this catastrophic opening season loss to Appalachian State.