Michigan to Face Appalachian State in 2014 Opener
Aug. 25, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan football program will open the 2014 season with a match-up against Appalachian State University on Aug. 30 at Michigan Stadium. This will be the second meeting between the Wolverines and Mountaineers at Michigan Stadium.
"We look forward to facing Appalachian State again," said U-M Athletic Director Dave Brandon.
The only previous game in the series between Michigan and Appalachian State came in the 2007 season opener. The defending FCS champion Mountaineers stunned the Wolverines, 34-32, as ASU blocked a field goal attempt that could have won the game for Michigan at the end of regulation. It was the first-ever game broadcast by the Big Ten Network.
U-M has two remaining open dates on its schedule.
(http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082511aad.html)
August 25th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
I really hope DB isn't paying them to come play us!
August 25th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^
This trumps the news of Barnett leaving. Why exactly does Dave Brandon want App State to come back? Does he feel like torturing himself and the fanbase to constant reminders on ESPN of what it was like losing to them in '07? Is he that self-depreciating of a human being? Come on now.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^
I am willing to bury this one in a revenge win. That's about all I have to say.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^
Shane Morris will be throwing it all over the lot and we will beat them by a lot. Doesn't seem like all that bad of a move..
August 25th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^
so what espn replays the horror anyway and do you really have thin skin to get upset about espn talking about it a week before the game.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:14 PM ^
I witnessed the horror in person. I sat in the end zone, row 1, of where that last field goal was blocked. Nothing will ever, EVER take that pain away. (Especially since yours truly was complaining the entire car ride to the stadium that day over why Martin scheduled this game in the first place.)
People will always make their jokes. Beating the crap out of them will not erase the memory of that 2007 game. With that said, I don't mind playing them again and I would very much enjoy kicking their asses.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^
After watching the lowlights for weeks before the game the team will be so pissed off that they will destroy them by a rediculous score and that won't take away the bad taste in their mouths. They will still be pissed off and will take it out on every opponent they face. This could actually be a brilliant move leading us to an undefeated season and a National Championship. At least that is how I am going to look at it for now.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:17 PM ^
We better hang 70 on them!!
August 25th, 2011 at 5:20 PM ^
Always thought the Toledo game was THE HORROR, or can we just group the two together?
August 26th, 2011 at 12:00 AM ^
After cleaning up one of Lloyd's pratfalls, Michigan opens against Toledo in 2015 to clean up one of RR's. Dave B. has the vendetta (sp?) thing going.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:27 PM ^
Revenge! Bury their team and salt their fields afterwords...
August 25th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^
I need to go spend some time in the Angry Dome.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
no we arent ...2012 is approaching ....!!!!!
August 25th, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
Revenge is a dish best served cold. - Khan
Too hot on Aug. 30. Move this to November, please, Dave B.
August 25th, 2011 at 5:46 PM ^
We have never played App State before. What you guys are thinking of was just a April Fools like joke ESPN played on us. IT NEVER HAPPENED!
August 25th, 2011 at 5:49 PM ^
Note that Goliath's friends never let him challenge the little Jewish king again.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:12 PM ^
That might have something to do with the state of Goliath's health!
August 25th, 2011 at 11:55 PM ^
or head....
August 25th, 2011 at 6:23 PM ^
can we just make toledo the other non-conference game for next year and get that loss back as well.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^
We might as well add Oregon, Toledo, and Utah to the schedule also.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:38 PM ^
is going to destroy them. That is all.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
Cleary we all still have wounds from this game, suffering from the memory of t-shirts arriving on the doorstep sent by friends all over the country just to rub salt in the wounds and years of anti Michigan people yapping in your ear about tis game.
This bit of scheduling genius shows that Brandon has faith in the program, belief in the coach and wants to restore the Michigan football world to order. This game will be so hyped and Hoke will have this team back to where it belongs, just in time to have the nation Michigan steamroll Appalachian State.
It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:49 PM ^
It will teach the players how to play in a pressure situation with the whole nation watching early in the season. Losing is not an option. I like this move on all fronts.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:55 PM ^
Would love to see those kittens again, but all grown up.
August 25th, 2011 at 7:13 PM ^
It was a bad loss but it's being made worse by all the weight we're giving it four years later. It was a different team, a different coach, and it's time to let it rest. Who cares what ESPN dredges up? They're going to dredge something up in virtually every game we play because non-Michigan fans love to see us down. They'll talk about MSU and OSU and Wisconsin and Toledo and our terrible defense and what a bad coaching choice RR was and whatever else they can find. Until we start winning, that's the story. So why not take the opportunity and beat Appy State and everyone else who has beaten us these past several years so we can finally shut them up.
August 25th, 2011 at 7:22 PM ^
Agreed. Hell a couple of months ago in the same week BTN showed MSU-UM from 1990, the App. St game, and I think the 06 OSU game.
August 25th, 2011 at 7:20 PM ^
Some clown on 97.1 just said that Rich Rod was our coach for the horror
August 25th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
Once was enough. We should win this one, but God help us (me) if we don't. I will need a new set of friends.
August 25th, 2011 at 8:54 PM ^
Here's hoping we haven't hired Ron English by then.
August 25th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
I had to sit idle in BAGHDAD two weeks from my 15 month deployment ended when that horror occured. Being one of the few proud Michigan fans (despite the outcome) in my entire 150 man company, I didn't get a break from the ASS/EAR menacing that ensued for MONTHS. It ruined my whole Homecoming. Not to mention the friggin pounding we took from Oregon the following week while waiting in Kuwait to come home. Lucky the Ex was there waiting for me when I got back so I could take 15 months of Iraq and 2 weeks of terror from my fellow grunts out on her little size 2 ass.
August 25th, 2011 at 9:05 PM ^
Fucking awesome man.
August 25th, 2011 at 11:50 PM ^
awesome
August 26th, 2011 at 1:37 AM ^
...I laughed at that one. That was brilliant.
August 25th, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
Bring on a MACrifice or something.
August 25th, 2011 at 10:23 PM ^
I must say that every Michigan loss sucks. I have been a fan since I was old enough to know what football was. Parents were MSU fans, but I was attracted by the colors and helmets when I was around 4 or 5 years old. Had to go blue, and have stayed loyal ever since. Moved to NC when I was 12. Usually only was able to watch 3-4 Michigan games a year on TV. Had to watch shitty ACC football most of the time. Hell, I remember watching the entire Florida/Florida State game just to catch the 4 or 5 "In Game updates" where Touchdown Tim ran all over Ohio State for 313 yards. Big Ten Network is awesome as I now rarely miss a game.
The closest college football to where I lived was in a small little mountain town in Boone, NC. Appalachain State University. Without ASU, the town would probably not exist. As far as most alumni and students are concerned, Football is the only athletic event at ASU. Enrollment is around 15,000 students, but on gameday, over 30,000 fans fill up the stadium. Highest attendance of any FCS school in the country by far.
When I heard ASU was to play Michigan, it was bittersweet. I knew how important it would be for App, but I hated the thought of them getting crushed by Michigan. There was never any doubt about who I would root for on gameday - Michigan. I may have lived close to Boone since I was 12, but I had been a Wolverine fan for much longer than that. I remember thinking how it was great that App was holding up for so long, but eventually, Michigan would pull it out in the end. Probably the best scenario I could hope for. However, Michigan failed to block Appstate's all time leading field goal/extra point attempt blocker... and the rest is history.
To this day, more people know about and talk about the victory against U of M than about the 3 consective FCS Championships App won. You people crying like little girls about that game should consider what a compliment that is to the history, tradition, and excellence of the University of Michigan Football. Whenever I wear my Michigan hat or shirt in public people come up to me and make a smartass comment about Appstate. Fortunately for me, they almost always are dumbfounded when I tell them I graduated from Appalachain State University. While they stand in silence, I confess "Every game that Michigan loses hurts, but that game hurt the least of any Michigan loss I have ever experienced.
Think about this...What college football game involving a BCS vs. FCS is ever going to garner more national attention than Michigan vs. Appstate? That is what Brandon wants...National attention. Schedule a good warm up game for the team against a decent football team, and have everybody in the country watching and talking about it. Not stupid at all.
August 25th, 2011 at 11:32 PM ^
I am a diehard Michigan fan that just happens to have been born and raised in North Carolina. (I fell in love with the helmets and watching Desmond score TDs when I was 11). However, I attending App State from '98-'02 after earning a scholarship to attend there.
I would skip games at App State in order to go to the local sports bar and cheer on my Wolverines. When I attended the HORROR, I was in full Michigan gear and was in shock at the outcome.
That was App State's best team in school history, bar-none, and that win made football in Boone, NC explode. With that explosion, Appalachain just sent a committee recommendation to their chancellor to look at moving up to the FBS in football.
By 2014, they may be well on their way to moving up, but I think it is a good move to show that we are going to confront the darkest day of our tremendous program!
I dont think you will see the chicken-shit Hokies playing James Madison ever again!
9 More Days until Hoke and Co. move to 1-0!!!
August 25th, 2011 at 11:34 PM ^
August 25th, 2011 at 11:49 PM ^
I thought I was reading my post for a second time, but I realized it was Blue Hiker's post. I thought I was the only Michigan fan that graduated from Appalachian and now have to hear people make smartass comments when I wear my Michigan gear.
I will be looking forward to making the 10 hour trip again in 2014....wearing all my Michigan gear!!
August 25th, 2011 at 11:54 PM ^
Forgive me for the embeded failure. Just that week in 2007 is enough to make my stomach turn. I was there and saw it with my own eyes. When it was over all I did was remain seated and looked straight down to the field. I didn't want to move or say anything. It was like I was paralyzed. I still can still see the blocked attempt like it happened yesterday. All I could do is ask myself, "why."
August 26th, 2011 at 1:03 AM ^
I'm excited about this. By 2014 we will be stacked and may score 65 points on App St. I actually might be starting to like Dave Brandon, even though he has two first names!
August 26th, 2011 at 2:29 AM ^
August 27th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^
This is a horrendous scheduling move. Scheduling ASU the first time was not so bad, because Michigan was desperate for an opponent that didn't demand a return visit, and time was running out. No Div-1 FBS teams were available, so Michigan played the best FCS team they could find.
However, that game was the equivelent a twlve-year-old girl walking up and kicking a college man in the balls. Joe College gets no sympathy by pointing out that he never expected her to do that. Now, Joe College is going to waylay the twelve-year-ol girl and beat the crap out of her. And some here think that that will not only settle something, but be enjoyable to watch!
There is no win here for Michigan. The victory margin will paint Michigan as either pussies (if they win by less than 4 TDs) or bullies (if they win by 4 TDs or more). And it isn't necessary; football is divided into different subdivisions and divisions precisely to make sure that this kind of game doesn't happen. DB should make openers like the one against Alabama the rule, not openers like Teh Horror.