THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
michigandaily.com
APPALACHIAN STATE 34, MICHIGAN 32
BY THE NUMBERS
Top 25 teams defeated by
opponents from the former
Division I-AA in the history of the
AP poll.
28
Points allowed by Michigan's
defense in the first half.
0
Wins Michigan has this season.
51
Chad Henne's completion
percentage
'2
Michigan field goals blocked in the
last two minutes
69
Yards Appalachian State gained in
71 seconds in its final drive
26
Seconds on the clock when
Michigan got the ball for its final
possession
Length in yards of Michigan's
game-winning field goal attempt
APPALACHIAN FATE
Senior quarterback Chad Henne and the Wolverines couldn't elude losing 34-32 to Appalachian State, a Football Championship Subdivision team.
Blue suffers historic upset
By KEVIN WRIGHT
Daily Sports Editor
Put aside the different subdivisions and
throw out preseason rankings.
It came down to execution.
Plain and simple, Appalachian State's
34-32 upset win over No. 5 Michigan in
Saturday's home opener, a feat labeled as
the greatest upset in college football his-
tory, was decided on the field.
"They just outplayed us," Michigan
tight end Mike Massey said. "They exe-
cuted better than we did, and we had a lot
of penalties that hurt us too."
Appalachian State wide receiver Dex-
ter Jackson brought reality home for the
Michigan faithful with his post-game
comments.
"By coming in here and beating Michi-
gan, it's a big statement to represent every
team that's in our division," Jackson said.
"This opened a lot of doors for a lot of
teams."
Saturday's loss to Appalachian State
more than likely locked the door to a
national championship bid and opened
floodgates that could drown what's left of
the Wolverines' 2007 campaign.
Michigan's home opener was supposed
to be their first step to a National Champi-
onship run, but all it took was a two-time
national champion from a lower subdi-
vision of college football - the Football
Championship Subdivision (FCS), former-
ly Division I-AA - to dash those hopes.
"When you lose to a team like that
- they're a I-AA team - how can you go
for a National Championship?" said Mike
Hart, who rushed for 188 yards and three
scores despite a bruised thigh sidelining
him for roughly two quarters. "I believe,
personally, it's out of the picture. I'm not
going to give up on it. It's in everybody
else's hands now."
The loss marked the first time a team
ranked in the Associated Press poll, which
started in 1936, fell to a FCS squad.
What started out as just a scare turned
into the statement of the season, but not for
the team that had questions to answer.
Appalachian State entered the Big
House more hopeful than expectant.
The Mountaineer sideline began to
believe when Jackson broke free on a 68-
yard touchdown catch on a simple slant
pattern to knot the score at seven with
10:55 left in the first quarter.
"That was real big," Jackson said. "That
was big motivation for me that we could
hang with these boys. So basically before
that, I knew if I made a play, it would be a
long day for them."
Numerous Michigan miscues followed
to give the Mountaineers the edge.
Protection broke down when Appala-
chian State (1-0) blocked two Jason Gin-
gell field goals, one a 44-yard attempt with
1:47 left and a potential game winning 37-
yard try with six seconds remaining.
The Wolverines (0-1) committed seven
penalties to the tune of56 yards, including
an illegal procedure and a delay of game
that stymied two drives in Mountaineer
territory.
And Chad Henne, the four-year start-
ing quarterback, threw an ill-advised toss
across his body that Appalachian State's
Leonard Love intercepted.
The natural order of college football
hierarchy appeared to return in the sec-
ond half. Michigan stormed back to a 32-
31 lead with 4:36 remaining in the fourth
quarter after an inspired 54-yard touch-
down scamper by Hart.
But Mountaineer coach Jerry Moore
wouldn't let his team quit.
See UPSET, Page 5B
What's next?
M' looks ahead
By SCOTT BELL
Daily Sports Editor
As Appalachian State coach Jerry
Moore celebrated near midfield Saturday,
one of his media relations staffers had a
message for him:
"We've got a lot to do."
But for as many interviews as Moore
and his Mpuntaineers will be doing in the
next week, the call to action might nake
more sense to the Michigan coaches:
They've got a lot to do.
And not the fun kind of stuff Appala-
chian State will be doing.
Whether it's changing personnel to
make the team more competitive or
rethinking its schemes, the Michigan
coaching staff has a lot to work on to right
the team's ship before it's too late.
"Now we have to fight back and we
have to deal with some adversity to find
out what we are made of," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said Saturday.
At the team's press conference leading
into last week's game, senior defensive
end Tim Jamison said the team's goals
were "real high. Huge."
The team's three senior offensive lead-
ers - Mike Hart, Chad Henne and Jake
Long - all shunned the NFL and returned
for a shot at the program's first National
Championship in a decade.
But as quickly as Corey Lynch broke
through Michigan's field goal protec-
tion and blocked Jason Gingell's attempt
at a game-winning kick, the Wolverines'
National Championship hopes vanished.
While some players tried to remain
optimistic following Saturday's loss, one
of the seniors who stayed at Michigan for
the chance to be a champion all but con-
ceded his team's fate.
"If everybody goes out and loses two
games each, we'll be back in the picture,"
'Hart said. "But what are the chances of
that happening? So the focus is on the Big
Ten Championship now."
At yesterday's press conference, Carr
and a handful of seniors faced questions
regarding the team's changing goals.
Long still spoke about the team striv-
ing for a championship, but referred to
the Big Ten title as the team's new goal.
"That was only one of our goals,"
he said when asked about the National
Championship. "We have a lot more goals
that we can accomplish."
But the newly shifted focus toward a
Big Ten Title may even be too ambitious if
Michigan's defense continues getting off
to sluggish starts.
The coaching staff has already made
changes to help make sure what happened
The Michigan football team must now reevaluate its goals and strategies for the rest of the season.
Saturday doesn't become habit. tojust six in the second. But 28 first-half
Fifth-year senior Brandent Englemon points puts any team - even a purported
and true freshman Donovan Warren Big Ten power - in a deep hole.
replaced struggling secondary members Defensive tackle Will Johnson said
sophomore Stevie Brown and junior yesterday that adjustments weren't made
Johnny Sears at halftime. Both were until halftime. Like substitutions, fixing
effective, but Carr said yesterday that mistakes becomes less effective if it takes
starters for the Oregon game will largely too longto do it.
depend on who performs best in practice And with three traditionally strong
this week. teams entering the Big House before Sep-
Tactical adjustments were made at tember is over, changes need to be made,
halftime, too. Appalachian State went and quickly.
from putting up 28 points in the first half They've got a lot to do.
Michigan stands tall
on the road against
nation's No. 2 team
Bell: Time
to play the
blame game
WPORTS TUESDAY COLUMN 2B
WOMEN'S SOCCER 6B