On Sept. 1, 2007, Appalachian State University, in the midst of three-consecutive FCS titles, walked into the Big House to face Michigan, ranked fifth overall in the country, and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in American sports history. It was, and still is, amazing for all non-Michigan fans, and it happened eight years ago Tuesday. (Sorry, Big Blue. If you clicked on this, you’re doing it to yourself.)
The play that sealed the win, and the one burned in everyone’s memory, was Corey Lynch’s block of what would have been a game-winning field goal:
And here’s a GIF for good measure, so you never have to see anything else:
Last year, the two teams had a rematch (it didn’t go so well for App State that time), and to commemorate it, Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated put together an incredible oral history, filled with snippets of the giddy radio call, beautiful photos, and quotes like this from App State linebacker Pierre Banks:
I remember [Michigan quarterback Chad Henne’s] cadence. I was thinking, “This guy’s pretty big.” When I hit him, boom, everything goes silent. I remember coming to the sideline and I did the Gladiator to the crowd. “Are you not entertained?” They were barking at me. They said, “But you can’t play offense.” Then we started scoring. I came back and the conversations started getting shorter and shorter.
Michigan haters just hugged themselves with glee at that memory. Nothing’s more satisfying than shutting up trash-talkers. If you have the time to burn for an extended walk down a particularly scenic memory lane, here’s the full game:
On the dawn of a new college football season, let’s hope that something half as memorable as App State-Michigan happens this year.