September 1, 2007. It was supposed to be a coronation. Michigan was ranked No. 5 in the country, boasting a roster dripping with future NFL talent like Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Jake Long. They paid Appalachian State $400,000 to come to Ann Arbor, essentially to act as a sacrificial lamb for a preseason tune-up. Nobody—literally nobody—expected the Mountaineers to do anything other than collect their check and head back to Boone. But what happened over those four quarters didn't just change the season; it permanently altered how we perceive the gap between the "elites" and the "others."
The App State Michigan 2007 game is the definitive "Where were you?" moment for sports fans of a certain age. It was the first time an FCS team (then still called Division I-AA) defeated a ranked FBS opponent.
The Arrogance of the Big House
The atmosphere in Ann Arbor that morning was almost dismissive. Why wouldn't it be? Michigan had national title aspirations. Lloyd Carr’s squad was a behemoth. On the other side, Jerry Moore’s Appalachian State team was the two-time defending FCS national champion, but in the eyes of the Big Ten, that was basically "pro junior varsity."
App State wasn't intimidated. They ran a spread offense—something Michigan's "lumbering" defense wasn't built to track. Armanti Edwards, the Mountaineers' quarterback, was a blur. He wasn't just fast; he was precise. He finished the game with 227 passing yards and three touchdowns, plus another 62 yards on the ground.
Michigan looked slow. Actually, they looked stuck in the mud. By the time the Wolverines realized they were in a street fight, they were already trailing 28-17 at halftime. The 109,218 fans in attendance went from cheering to confused, then eventually to a state of collective, horrified silence.
Speed Kills (And Other Lessons from the Spread)
The tactical mismatch in the App State Michigan 2007 game is often overlooked because the "David vs. Goliath" narrative is so much funnier. But the reality is that App State won because they were structurally superior that day. Michigan’s defensive coordinator, Ron English, was trying to use a traditional, heavy Big Ten scheme against a high-octane spread that prioritized horizontal stretching.
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Dexter Jackson was a nightmare for the Michigan secondary. Every time the Wolverines tried to tighten up the box to stop the run, Edwards would loop a pass over their heads or tuck the ball and disappear into the secondary. It was a math problem Michigan couldn't solve.
Even when Michigan fought back—and they did, thanks to Mike Hart’s 188 yards and two late touchdowns—they couldn't kill the Mountaineers' spirit. Hart scored with 4:36 left to give Michigan a 32-31 lead. Most people watching on the Big Ten Network (which, interestingly, had just launched that day) thought, "Okay, the scare is over."
Corey Lynch and the Block Heard 'Round the World
The final two minutes were pure chaos. Honestly, it's the kind of stuff scriptwriters reject for being too cliché. App State drove down the field, and Julian Rauch nailed a 24-yard field goal to put the Mountaineers up 34-32 with only 26 seconds left.
But Michigan had Chad Henne. And they had Mario Manningham.
In two plays, Henne found Manningham for a 46-yard gain. Suddenly, Michigan was at the App State 20-yard line with six seconds on the clock. It was set up for a game-winning field goal. Jason Gingell stepped up for a 37-yard attempt. It was a chip shot for him.
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Then came Corey Lynch.
Lynch, a safety who would later play in the NFL, timed the snap perfectly. He didn't just block the kick; he smothered it. The ball bounced off his chest, he scooped it up, and he started sprinting toward the other end zone as the clock hit zero. He didn't score, but it didn't matter. The game was over.
- Final Score: Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32.
- The Fallout: Michigan dropped out of the AP Poll entirely the next week, the first time a team went from the Top 5 to unranked in one week.
- The Legacy: The "App State" name became shorthand for any massive upset in American sports.
Why This Game Changed College Football Forever
Before the App State Michigan 2007 upset, there was a clear, impenetrable wall between the big-money programs and everyone else. This game tore that wall down. It forced Power Five schools to stop looking at FCS opponents as "guaranteed wins" and start looking at them as "trap games."
It also accelerated the adoption of the spread offense in the Big Ten. Coaches realized that if a bunch of "undersized" kids from North Carolina could run circles around Michigan, maybe the old-school, "three yards and a cloud of dust" philosophy was dying.
Beyond the X's and O's, it was a branding explosion. App State's website crashed. Applications to the school spiked. They sold out of jerseys. It proved that in the digital age, one Saturday afternoon could put a small school on the map permanently.
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Misconceptions About the 2007 Wolverines
People like to act like Michigan was a "bad" team that year. They weren't. After losing to App State and then getting blown out by Oregon the following week, they actually rallied. They won eight straight games, including a victory over a No. 9 Wisconsin team and a win over Florida (led by Heisman winner Tim Tebow) in the Capital One Bowl.
This makes the App State loss even more impressive. They didn't beat a Michigan team that had quit; they beat a Michigan team that was objectively one of the top 20 rosters in the country.
Applying the "App State" Mentality Today
What can we actually learn from this nearly two decades later? Whether you're in sports, business, or just navigating a career, the App State Michigan 2007 game offers a few brutal truths that still apply.
First, size and resources are secondary to scheme and execution. If you can change the "geometry of the field"—meaning you play a game your opponent isn't equipped to play—you can win even if you're outmatched on paper.
Second, never underestimate the "nothing to lose" factor. Michigan played like they were terrified of failing; App State played like they were having the time of their lives.
Next Steps for the Obsessive Fan:
- Watch the full replay: If you only see the highlights of the blocked kick, you miss the masterclass Armanti Edwards put on for the first 50 minutes.
- Check the 2007 AP Poll progression: Seeing Michigan go from #5 to "Others Receiving Votes" is a fascinating look at how pollsters used to react to chaos before the playoff era.
- Study the "Boone to the Sun Belt" transition: Follow how Appalachian State used the momentum from this game to eventually move up to the FBS level, where they continue to be a giant-killer to this day (just ask Texas A&M).
The game wasn't a fluke. It was a tectonic shift. It taught us that on any given Saturday, the jersey doesn't win the game—the players do. Michigan learned that the hard way, and the rest of us got the greatest opening weekend in the history of the sport.
Key Takeaways
- Efficiency over pedigree: App State’s spread offense exploited Michigan’s speed deficiencies.
- Psychological edge: High-ranked teams often play "not to lose," which creates an opening for aggressive underdogs.
- Long-term impact: This single game is largely responsible for the increased respect (and fear) FCS programs receive during "buy games" today.