CBS article on "The Horror"

Submitted by StephenRKass on

Dennis Dodd, a senior college football columnist with CBS, has an article up today on Appy State and the Horror. The reason for the article is that we are coming up on the five year anniversary of the event. To be clear, there are no anonymous sources in his article, nor does Dodd allude to or speculate regarding certain spurious and slanderous accusations made by a blogger recently in another place.

LINK:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19866497/five-years-ago-app-state-changed-it-all-but-whats-really-new-today

As a diehard Michigan fan and alumni, it is painful to read. And yet, it is something that is sadly part of our history. I must say, I am glad that we are playing Appalachian State again. I am supremely confident that neither our coaching staff nor Michigan players will overlook that game.

I do think it likely that Michigan patronized and ignored Appy State, considering the game as little more than a glorified scrimmage against a high school squad. I never knew that only 27 players took part in the game for App. State. In my mind, the game was an indictment of the Michigan coaching staff, and a sign that things had to change.

I realize that a post like this invites negbangs, but part of moving to the future is learning from the past.

FrankMurphy

August 23rd, 2012 at 1:23 AM ^

The fact that Lloyd tried to retire after the '06 season but was talked into staying on one more year by Bill Martin and Mary Sue puts The Horror into perspective a bit. 

WingsNWolverines

August 23rd, 2012 at 1:26 AM ^

on the 1st. It was the second week into my junior year in high school. On spirit Friday everyone wore their college teams (mostly Ohio St) and of course me and some of my other friends were decked out in maize and blue. My friend Tyler who sat next to me in my AP US class asked me who Michigan was playing in the home opener and I replied "some division II team called "Appalachian State." We both laughed hard and rolled our eyes. The win was in the bag. I even predicted us to win 57-0 or 42-3. What followed that Saturday afternoon would come be something that is forever etched in my brain.

As they game went on I couldn't believe what was happening. Our defense being dominated by a DIVISION II SQUAD. This had to of been a joke! Then at the very end the worse and most horrific sight I'd ever seen reached my eyes. The block. The field goal that would of won the game, was blocked.

I dropped to my knees. What had happened. What happened to my 5th ranked Wolverines that day? Why did they lose to a division II school? I was emotionless, numb and felt like my heart had been ripped clean from my body. At the end my mom, my friends anybody who hated Michigan flooded my phone and anything from myspace to facebook. It was a nightmare. It was a horrific nightmare. Every single news station had the highlights on. Every Buckeye fan was celebrating and throwing parties while my house was as slient as Arlington Cemetery. It was the quietest I've ever heard my house. 5th ranked Michigan BEATEN by a Division II school.

Then came Monday. I had never been given so much shit for being a Michigan fan weather it was from my friends, teachers and band directors it was a nightmare. I didn't wear my Michigan colors until after we thrashed ND because the Oregon game just brought out more pain...

But when it was all said and done I had the last laugh in 2007. When Ohio St was headed back to the BCS NT game I placed a bet with my friend Tyler for 40.00 that LSU would beat OSU. He laughed and gladly took the bet. On New Years Day the Wolverines that I knew and loved thrashed Meyer and Tebow in Carr's last game to beat Florida 41-35. At that moment tears filled my eyes. Not the tears I had in weeks 1 and 2 but the tears of victory. And then to top off a perfect ending the Buckeyes were destroyed by LSU and I won 40.00 and that following Monday I wore my Michigan colors with pride. I was never happier to be a Wolverine that day. A bitter beginning ended with a sweet conclusion.

 

 

k1400

August 23rd, 2012 at 2:26 AM ^

Thankfully I was away for work when The Horror happened.  But I was in The House the next week when Oregon put the worst beat down on us I had witnessed since McNabb and Syracuse.

I would happily welcome a rematch with Oregon, because there is something that could be gained in it.  Respect of beating a worthy team.  Even respect in losing to a worthy team, provided you play your best and don't just roll over.  Nothing can be gained in a rematch with Appalachian State.  If we beat App State by 100, it's a joke.  If we beat them by 1, it's a joke. And if we lose.... well friggin' Katie bar the door.  A rematch looks like sour grapes to me.  We should have just let them have their win, and moved on from it.  As someone mentioned earlier... no matter how many times we beat App State, the only game that is ever going to be remembered is the one we lost.   

On top of all that, we have no business scheduling FCS teams anyway.  Period.

RadioMuse

August 23rd, 2012 at 3:02 AM ^

2007 was my first year as a Wolverine.  A freshman.  All I really knew about football amounted to a few super bowls, some lion games on Thankgiving, and tracking the 2006 Michigan-Ohio State game via radio while my family was out shopping.  Even though I'd just sent in my application, I had known for years where I'd be going (my mother pointed this out several times, though I have little memory of it).

Regardless I wasn't as enraged as many of my counterparts...  In a strange way I had seen who earned it that day.  I came in with none of your illusions, and even now having lived the years that followed, having stood through the freezing rain and stinging defeat at the hands of Northwestern in 2008 until the clock read all zeros, I'm kinda proud of App State.  Something has always made me love an underdog, and thanks to them Michigan is that underdog.

Even when we're expected to win, we must have a chip on our shoulders.  Never again.  Never again.  NEVER AGAIN!

The season wasn't a disappointment to me until after the Wisconsin game... until I could feel the Big 10 title fading away...  that's when I felt sad.  Who cares about some FCS team and some Oregon team, when you're in watching your team on primetime New Years television?  Instead I watched them dismantle Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow while I recovered from a hangover.  Instead I saw Chad Henne's career day overcome Mike Hart's fumbles and defensive miss-matches.  Instead I saw Adrian Arrington make two impossible catches to help seal the game.  All for the Team.  On that day I understood something that had only started to take hold watching the Illinios game after skydiving with my hallmates:  The Team.

So maybe it sucked, maybe it's a nightmare.  But maybe that was the new beginning.  We couldn't have Schembechler without Bump, we can't have Hoke without RR.  It's over now.  No matter how much the media wants to throw it in our faces.  The Horror is over.  Let go.

The Shredder

August 23rd, 2012 at 3:19 AM ^

The people that don't want the rematch I get it. Living all the pain again. A lose lose game. But this is one demon that needs to be exorcised. Even if we sit through a week of pain. I won't run from this. It did happen. It can't be tucked away. It must be smashed head on by the men of our football team.

That game showed that Michigan has fallen asleep at the wheel... I'll never forget watching it at Bw3s since BTN couldn't make a deal with the cable company. The place was in total shock. The place was packed full of Michigan fans due to the cable issues. I remember one OSU fan laughing and pointing. The rage in me was boiling over. I left before App kicked a FG... I got out to the car and smashed my cell phone. I turned on the radio to hear BLOCKED BLOCKED!! I THOUGHT OMG WE BLOCKED THE FG AND WON. wrong... so wrong. 

I drove back home alone... numb and in shock. Next year its time to pay. Destroy them. 

This is Michigan.

jabberwock

August 23rd, 2012 at 11:16 AM ^

Shredder I agree that this game was a signal that the program was asleep at the wheel, and every loss hurts to varying degrees.

But it can't be erased.  EVER  as someone said earlier if we beat them 999 more times it won't mean all that much because we "should" beat them.

I'm not butt hurt about the loss, those App st. kids played their hearts out and beat a legendary top 5 team!  Playing them again really does make Michigan LOOK pety.  The articles and comments around the internet paint a pretty strong opinion, "App St. beat you guys (while unprepared) why make yourselves look small by seeking revenge on an FCS team?"

I don't like playing FCS teams, MAC cupcakes etc. & I LOVE that we are playing the defending national champions in just a few short days.  THAT is what Michigan football is all about.  Playing the best to be the best.

There's a lot of Hoke love on this board (deservedly) and apart from any boiler plate PR quotes about how "every opponent is a test for our football team"  you just have to think that a competitor like Hoke (& the Michigan players & staff) would if given the choice opt to play the Alabamas of the world vs. the App St.s of the world 100% of the time.

Playing App st. again is only interesting because we've lost.  It's a PR stunt like a heavyweight boxer fighting a kangaroo.  This is Dave Brandon trying to become P.T. Barnum.

NoMoPincherBug

August 23rd, 2012 at 3:30 AM ^

That one game only counted as 1 loss, last I checked anyway.  Appy State had 4 or 5 guys drafted in to the NFL from that roster.  That was a loaded team, which IMO would have been equivalent to a mid level Big Ten team that year

...if I recall correctly, they had a bunch of guys who were talented but couldnt qualify for BCS schools academically. 

Also their coach was an excellent long time veteran coach who has an outstanding record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Moore

 

Frankly the last 4 losses to Sparty hurt much more than that one App State game IMO.

DonAZ

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:17 AM ^

Exactly.  Appalachian State was a pretty damn good team that year.

Did Michigan get complacent and look past that game?  You bet.

Is it a permanent stain on Michigan's historical legacy?  Hardly.  More a footnote.

I would argue the 2008 3-9 record is more of a stain on Michigan's legacy.  Combine that with the 2009 late-season collapse to end 5-7, and then combine that with Michigan's defense being the laughing-stock of the nation ... that's a bigger stain on Michigan's legacy.

Wolverine Incognito

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:44 AM ^

I think it is a permanent stain on Michigan's legacy.  I remember when I was doing an icebreaker, and there happened to be a bunch of people from Ball State.  So when it came my turn I said that I was from Michigan... the same Michigan that beat Ball State a couple years ago.  I just meant this to be a playful jab, but one of the Ball State fans angrily said to me:  Is that the same Michigan that lost to Appalachian State?  

I tried to be cool, but I was shaken.  I have to say that I have a little less pride in being a Michigan fan.  It is unfortunate that the haters now have one bullet of ammo to use against us.

DonAZ

August 23rd, 2012 at 10:43 AM ^

Your "playful jab" was very likely not interpreted as such.  It was likely interpreted as arrogant boasting at their expense.  Hence the angry response. 

The loss to Appalachian State was a humbling experience, no doubt.  But humbling experiences can be an asset, depending on how the team and program responds.  One approach -- the wrong approach -- would be to belittle Appalachian State; another approach -- the better one -- would be to say, in effect, "Yeah, we let our guard down and on that day the better team won.  In the future we need to make sure we don't take things for granted."

Care to guess which of those Hoke believes in?  Listen to his language.  More importantly, listen to the language used by his players.  It's all about hard work, earning success, and taking responsibility for outcomes.

When Michigan plays Appalachian State again, I'm certain we'll hear from Hoke words of praise and respect for their team and their program.  He won't take them for granted and neither will the team.  And when they beat them -- and they will -- Hoke and the team will be gracious in victory. 

That's what adds to a team's historical standing.

lilpenny1316

August 23rd, 2012 at 1:07 PM ^

Appy State was added as a tuneup game for Oregon.  Plain and simple.  At that point, we had stopped scheduling touch season openers for awhile.  I think that from 2000-2007, only Washington in 2002 was a season opener against a good BCS level team (We played Vandy in 2006, but come on, it's Vandy). Considering schedules are made years in advance and we ducked a chance to open the 2001 season against Va Tech, I'm assuming that Bill Martin and Lloyd were looking at an easy opener.  Instead, we got hoodwinked.  I had people for weeks over the summer in 2007 telling me that App State would be a tough win.

It is a stain that will be there for a long time, until Armanti Edwards has left for the great beyond.  The 2008 and 2009 seasons were bad, but every school has bad years.  Plus our expectations were relatively low, compared to 2007.  I get more angry thinking about (in no particular order):

- Charles White playing on a 98 yard Rose Bowl

- Big Ten ADs sending OSU to the Rose Bowl (Damn you Bert Smith)

- Phantom clipping calls on fake punts in the Rose Bowl

- "Rocket Left"

- Every night game we've played at Notre Dame stadium

- Most afternoon games at Notre Dame stadium

- 2006 "Game of the Century"

- "The Horror"

 

Hannibal.

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:29 AM ^

Appy State was underrated going into that game, but let's not get carried away about how good they are.  The reason why an upset by a I-AA program is so humiliating is because even the best of them usually get pounded by mediocre I-A teams.  It's still a program with 63 scholarship athletes, none of whom are recruited by BCS caliber schools.  Imagine Kent State on severe probation.  Michigan would have massacred that team, as expected, if they had taken them even slightly serious. 

michfan6060

August 23rd, 2012 at 6:31 PM ^

Yeah, they were good, but they lost to Wofford and Georgia Southern. They also beat James Madison by 1 point. People that are trying to justify this loss by comparing them to a mid-level Big Ten team are living in an alternative reality. They were a pretty good team that came in a lot more focused.

MGrether

August 23rd, 2012 at 5:30 AM ^

Made the App St experience so much worse. I thought I was free of my Ohio demons. Having spent 13 years in that worst state, I had now moved to a state where maize & blue was met with, " eh... Ok.... So are you going to support Duke, UNC or NCSU when they each play one another?" Red & State means wolf pack here and they just roll their eyes at bucknuts that stand out as sore thumbs with their juvenile behaviors (yes, they are just as immature 600 miles away as they are in cbus). I thought I was now free to be a Michigan fan in peace.



Then Came the Horror. Kids flooding in with thier App St shirts to my classroom. And all of the OSU type comments... Only I had nothing to say in response just... Shameful silence. Couple times a year, i see shirts commemorating the experience. Two years later, I when at the local gym, I found myself next to a player from the team, recounting how they thrashed us. I left feeling so sick I wanted to puke.



No amount of wins will ever erase that. No decades of beat downs will ever give me a leg to stand on when they say "2007". Give me a room full of bucknuts and i can hold my own, even with this past decade. One App St fan can silence a town square full of Michigan fans with 1 tshirt....



Forever.

SC Wolverine

August 23rd, 2012 at 5:44 AM ^

Folks, it's part of our history, and it was a well-written article that was respectful to UM.  In 133 years, you're going to have stuff like this.  App State was a good team and that game showed that we needed something to change.  Thank the Lord, after five years, we have found the right solution.  Meanwhile, I'm with the guys who say that the four losses to MSU have hurt a lot more.  I live in the Carolinas, and now and again I will hear, "Michigan!  Hah, Hah, App State!"  My answer is, "Hats off to them, that was a good team."

Drew Sharp

August 23rd, 2012 at 6:09 AM ^

i wasn't the only person in the stadium calling for a fake field goal at the end. it seemed obvious to me...regardless of.the fact that it was Lloyd Ultra Conservative Play Calling Carr. Talk about a sure thing. Oh well.

MaizeNBlueInDC

August 23rd, 2012 at 6:46 AM ^

I grew up a Wolverine fan because my dad received his doctorate from Michigan and my oldest brother was born in Ann Arbor.  I was a first year MBA and could not be more excited to be at Michigan for school and on my way to the Big House for my first Michigan game.  Needless to say it will always be a memorable experience but not really the kind I imagined while I walked through the entrance gates that beautiful first Saturday of the season.  

It is in the past and something we'll always have to hear about, but at the same time something that coaches can ALWAYS point to in order to ensure overlooking a team will never happen again (not to mention the Toledo game the next year which was almost more painful because that team just flat out SUCKED).  Live, learn and continue on.  One of the down sides of having 130+ years of footabll history is that there are bound to be painful memories encountered along the way.  

orobs

August 23rd, 2012 at 7:01 AM ^

Not really sure how this has so many upvotes.... I mean, the article is fine, but is it really anything we all didn't already know?

 

Are we just rewarding the OP for bringing up an app state article that isn't the Ace Williams article?

ohio

August 23rd, 2012 at 7:53 AM ^

You would think after having Troy Smith introduced to the world on our defense ina Denard-like performance, Lloyd wouldn't be caught unprepared to face a mobile QB but the horror and Oregon were just so embarrassing and a sign that times were changing.

Hannibal.

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:10 AM ^

This is why rescheduling Appy State is retarded.  Every time that attention gets drawn to The Horror, it can't possibly be good for Michigan.  Scheduling a "revenge" game makes it look even more pathetic.  There's no redemption that comes from it.  If we beat Appy State 66-3 in 2014, people will still laugh. 

Blue Ridge

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:15 AM ^

I always thought the seeds of the AppState loss came in part from the Ball State game the year before.  For Ball State Michigan did not go through a regular week of practice and started second stringers at some positions. Michigan won, but not convincingly.  At some level, the message to the players must have been: we can beat some teams without 100% effort.  

thisisme08

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:32 AM ^

Technically they used more than 27 players, Feldman says "22 starters, 5 backups and special teams players", considering special teams is a vital part of the game and many highly rated players adjust to the game there as underclassman, counting them as a lump and not individual players is just a way to make the numbers fit the story without telling the truth. 

white_pony_rocks

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:33 AM ^

does anybody seriously think that we could possibly lose the rematch?  sure, its football and anything is possible, but I would be confident betting any amount of money on this game.  just look at the players that will we on our team at that point, our o-line will be the best in college football by then, with juniors kalis, braden, magnuson, and bars, and redshirt juniors miller and bryant.  our qb will either be shane or bellomy, either of which ill be comfortable with by then.  we have many different rbs that can be used for may different situations that may arise, some that can go right through a defender and some that can break their ankles.  and im 100% positive that our wr corps will be amazing by then.  thats not even mentioning the defense.  plus we have a coaching staff that will not allow the players to overlook this game, and the players dont want the distinction of being the 2nd M team to lose to app state.  I just dont see any reason to get worked up over this game.  was it really necessary?  probably not, but it is a win so it serves a purpose.

white_pony_rocks

August 23rd, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^

there is no way that whatever the events were that perfectly conspired against us for that game would and could happen again.  for all the hoke love on this site i can't believe that nobody agrees with me.  there is no way we will ever lose to a vastly inferior team ever again, this coaching staff will never let that happen.  neither will these players.  sure, we may lose to a team we shouldnt lose to, like iowa last year, but it damn well wont be an fcs team

edit:  its like trying to believe an fcs team could ever beat a saban coached bama team or USC under carroll or even this years USC team, my imagination just doesnt believe it could ever happen.  i think our team is going to be the same quality of those teams by 2014, and i just cant imagine a scenario where it happens

ommeethatsees

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:36 AM ^

I think this loss came about because our coaching staff stayed a little too long.  I am not a Carr hater.  I am actually one of those who think he did a fine job early on but he had definitely lost his drive to win and energy and the team reflected that attitude.  I am also suspect of his actions during the RR years.  Knowing when to implement change and carrying it out can be a difficult thing.  While Martin had his strengths, and the current athletic infrastructure reflects that vision, his personnel decisions were regretful.  Things are definitely looking up with Brandon as long as he is able to move past this current interest in Michigan mascots...unless it's a badass real wolverine which eats buckeyes for breakfast. 

Wolverine Incognito

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:55 AM ^

I love Michigan football, but not Carr.

That was THE worst coaching performance I have EVER seen.

How does Michigan get TWO field goals blocked by an FCS school?  They are significantly smaller, and they should not be able to block ANY field goals.  I can sorta understand one, because flukes happen, but TWO.  Never.  Never.

It was a monument to what a bad job Carr did to prepare his team that day.

Schembo

August 23rd, 2012 at 10:01 AM ^

Carr's last season was definitely not his best.  But, at that time he was ready to hang it up.  I commend him on knowing when to retire, unlike other coaches in other programs who can hold their program hostage (Paterno). Carr was still right up there with Tressel as the most successful Big Ten coach of his era.  I don't think he gets enough respect for knowing when it was his time to retire.

WolverinesSteelBones

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:39 AM ^

I live in Asheville, NC - roughly an hour and a 1/2 from Boone (Where ASU is).  You think you have to deal with backlash of the horror?  You've seen nothing.  I see "Michigan Who?"

"34-32" shirts to this day.  How the hell did that happen?  Such a black eye for the program.  At least we beat Florida that year.

Schembo

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:44 AM ^

I think Dodd actually writes a pretty good article here.  I think the point of it, which I thought he could've gotten into further, was that App St. showed us the growing parity in football, yet college football continues to become more segregated.  The game really amounted to nothing in the greater scheme of things.

Smash Lampjaw

August 23rd, 2012 at 8:51 AM ^

this game, and then the Oregon game opened my mind to the RR spread offense. Little did I know that it also prepared my gut for the blows yet to come. Then I got pretty good at looking for happiness in the charts and graphs on this blog as a substitute for victory.

SC Wolverine

August 24th, 2012 at 7:01 AM ^

I think this is certainly the case. You also have to throw in th epic 2006 tsio game, in which our great defense was continually put in a 4-3 against a spread offense.  I was desperate for someone to give me Carr's cell number so I could call him and explain what Tressel was doing.

LSAClassOf2000

August 23rd, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^

"It's not a money game," Moore told school officials that summer. "It's an opportunity game. It will be a one shot, once in a lifetime to go up there and play." - from the article

I found this to be an interesting line in a very interesting piece. Really, Appalachian State, from what I can tell, was thrilled, even honored by the opportunity to come to Michigan Stadium and play the Wolverines, and perhaps this was part of that motivation they seemed to have throughout the game. I was there as well - they played like a team that wanted this opportunity. They met what many wrote off as an impossible feat in the weeks leading up to the game, and even I admit to thinking, even hours before it, "There's no way..."

There was a way apparently. It was a poorly coached game from a Michigan standpoint, and we did not look prepared as well as we had been for most games for almost the previous, say, 40 years to that point. I don't think I said a word to anyone for hours after that game. My wife and I were in a bar in Ann Arbor and you could hear rattling in the exchanges in the A/C system. As surreal as the win was for Appalachian State, the loss was surreal to Michigan, I think.

Anyway, five years later, I cannot always stop that game from invading my conscious memory, but you don't truly have a handle on where you're going unless you think about where you've been from time to time. We've been here, the first ranked FBS team to lose to an FCS team. We paid for what was really an unfathomable oversight. Given the acumen of the current staff, I doubt history repeats itself. In any event, I also believe Dodd is correct in saying that nothing has really changed in the college football landscape - Appalachian State is still, well, Appalachian State, if you will, and with typical Michigan preparation, we win this rematch.

jabberwock

August 23rd, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^

I think we'll win this game.

Easily, maybe by 40  or more points (though I don't think Hoke would ever run up the score).

I'd go so far as to say that there's a 99.99% chance of us winning this game.

Unfortunately there is already a 100% chance of us coming off as a bully.

NateVolk

August 23rd, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^

Losing 4 in a row to State, 7 straight to Ohio with the last one having Spielman in the booth wishing aloud our defense wasn't Indiana level, and the whole Rodriguez era, are way worse stains than this one loss.  

The reason the App. St. game is made such a huge deal of on this board is because it is populated by a lot of anti-Carr types.  

I never felt lower than the Penn State, Ohio, and Mississippi State losses in 2010. I knew each game with increasing sad reality that the program had all but wasted 3 years and lost serious ground on the rivals that matter.  If it weren't for Denard and the tremendous heart of the players Hoke inherited, the Rodriguez era could be rightly declared a total embarrassing failure. 

If you felt worse about App. St. than Wisconsin running 25 plays in a row on the defense in 2010 or Dantonio smirking after beating our asses again at the Big House, I encourage you to look at becoming a bigger picture thinker.

MGoNukeE

August 23rd, 2012 at 2:45 PM ^

 

The reason the App. St. game is made such a huge deal of on this board is because it is populated by a lot of anti-Carr types.

 

No, the reason the App State game is made such a huge deal of on this board is because Michigan was a top-5 team with national title hopes that lost to an FCS team. Feel free to reread Brian's UFR of that game for specific reasons why it was outrageous. Especially the defense, which schemed right into App State's brilliant Goliath-beating gameplan of "run basic zone read plays with less-talented players."

Look at the other thread about Carr advising Weinke to go to Iowa. The "Carr did the right thing to put the players first" comments are plussed much more than the "Carr was wrong to undermine the program" comments. Case and point.

coastal blue

August 23rd, 2012 at 6:08 PM ^

I love the excuses on this thread and others to try and excuse this loss:

"Oh Appalachian State was a tough team. They were underrated. Its not even the worst loss, what about Toledo? It happens all the time, remember when Stanford beat USC, that was worse!". 

No.

This was the most embarrassing loss in college football history. Even if our defense wasn't spectactular, we had an offense that should have been able to average 40+ points a game. 

Henne, Hart, Manningham, Arrington, with a line led by Jake Long. I mean seriously, how do you get outscored by an FCS team. Yet there will be Carr fanatics who will say things like "Oh, but Mike Hart got hurt in the 2nd quarter!". When I hear stuff like that out of the same people who complain about things in the Rodriguez era, it just proves that Michigan was spiralling down before he got there and Carr got out just in time. 

We got beat at home by an FCS school. Go back and look at the past ten years of FCS semifinalists and come back with any result that is similar to this one following their semifinal season. Try and find one. Its not there. This was a team with 20 less scholarships, with nowhere near the talent (Oh, but they had players drafted!!!) that we had on that 2007 team and they beat us at home. It pretty much burned down the Big House as a place of advantage in a single Saturday (Whatever was left, Oregon torched the next weekend). 

No one around the country, other than a few Ohio fans, even remembers the Toledo game. Hell they don't remember the Oregon game. They could care less about us losing to State four straight times. Us losing to Ohio 7 (or 6) straight times barely registers. But just saying Appalachian State brings up one single event: That blocked kick and us losing 34-32. 

Playing them again is beyond stupid. It proves nothing. So what if we win? We should NEVER lose to Appalachian State. Now we just look petty, trying to extract our revenge for our own humbling against a weaker opponent. It would be different if Appalachian State's coach was on TV talking shit, but they were gracious in their victory. 

We should just let this one be. 

Can't wait for 2014 and the month long Horror show of memories.