What A Great Day for Football!

My alma mater, Michigan State University, won big in football today, 55-18 over University of Alabama, Birmingham. But that wasn't the big story at our house. My wife is a graduate of Appalachian State University, which today won what Coach Lou Holtz on ESPN called the biggest upset he's seen in college football. They took a 34-32 victory over number 5-ranked University of Michigan (also known simply as "Michigan," for those who don't know). Now you have to understand--Appalachian State has won their division championship two years in a row, but still, they don't even play in the same league as Michigan. ESPN says it's the first time a ranked Division 1-A team has ever been beaten by a Division 1-AA team.*

It was classic; a battle literally to the end. At our house were watching game on our laptop computer--not video, just a play-by-play coming in on text over the Internet. I had no idea text could be so heart-stopping! (Michigan State was playing on our television at the same time, but we paid it almost no attention. MSU was so far ahead it wasn't even interesting anymore.)

Michigan took a 32-31 lead late in the game, after being dominated by App State through the first half and barely scraping their way back in the second. (Appalachian's victory was "no fluke," as ESPN put it.) Michigan could have practically iced it with the field goal they attempted with 1:32 remaining, but it was blocked. Appalachian came back with a big pass play and regained the lead at with a field goal.

Only 26 seconds remained. Game over? No! Michigan answered with a huge pass play that put them on Appalachian's 20-yard line with 6 seconds to play. Easy field goal to win. Blocked! That's right: two blocked field goals in the last two minutes of play!

Did I mention that Michigan State and Michigan are big rivals? It was a great football day in our house.

*The names of those divisions have changed recently, but who keeps up with that?

Posted: Sat - September 1, 2007 at 08:43 PM |

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What A Great Day for Football!

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson