First Saturday in September and it's football time

While top ranked colleges attempt to schedule an opponent they believe they can handle for their opening game, every once in a while the lamb turns out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Yesterday I wrote” Appalachian State visits #5 Michigan and I’m pretty sure they’re bearing gifts.” They brought pride and execution. They brought plenty of success during the last two years. And they brought their A-game. And they shared it all with the Wolverines and their fans.

Today, #5 ranked Michigan learned that it may not be wise to schedule one of the top 1-AA teams. Appalachian State shot out to a 28-17 halftime lead, fell behind 32-31 a sloppy second half, and scored on a field goal with just 26 seconds left in the game and then blocked a Wolverine field goal attempt—the second FG block in the last 2 minutes of the game--to defeat Michigan 34-32.

Of course, Appalachian State has won the 1-AA championships—which are determined by a playoff—in each of the last two years. TV announcers on ABC are calling this one of the “greatest upsets of all time.” But with the Appalachian State Mountaineers’ pedigree, I would say this was a game Michigan probably wishes it hadn’t scheduled. Oh, by the way, the Mountaineers have the longest winning streak in college football right now with a run of 15 straight. And as for the other teams in the Southern Conference…good luck!

Now for some more of the Top 25 who were in action this afternoon:

West Virginia (#3) scored early and often against Western Michigan. So often did they score that Pat McAfee must have gotten tired. He missed the extra point after the ninth TD as the Mountaineers rolled to a 62-24 victory.

Western Kentucky traveled to Gainesville, Florida to take on the defending National Champions. Not only did they get beaten 49-3, but the currently ranked #6 Florida Gators only needed 3 ½ quarters to do them in. The game was halted due to lightening with 8:23 left in the fourth quarter.

The Badgers of Wisconsin, ranked # 7, doubled up Washington State 42-20.

While they didn’t triumph, the East Carolina Pirates made the #9 Hokies of Virginia Tech sweat. The final score was 17-7.

Number 11 Ohio State beat up upon Youngstown State 38-6. It was the first time Ohio State's head coach Jim Tressel faced the team he coached for 15 years before joining the Buckeyes in 2001.

In a PAC 10 opening game, #14 UCLA traveled up the coast to Stanford where they trounced the Cardinal 45-17.

Happy Valley wasn’t for Florida International. Number 17 Penn State jumped all over the Golden Panthers 59-0. Next week the Nittany Lions host Notre Dame.

The Cornhuskers of Nebraska (#20) ran all over Nevada, literally, and won their 22nd straight season opener 52-10.

The unranked Irish (I can’t say that often enough) did not look very good in the first half against Georgia Tech as the Rambling Wrecks Yellow Jackets took a 16-0 halftime lead over Notre Dame. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, looked impressive. Not only did they shutout ND in the first half, but they dominate both sides of the ball holding the Irish to -9, that’s minus 9, yards rushing on the way to embarrassing ND 33-3 at South Bend. Look for GT to move into the top 25 this week.