Use all the clichés and accolades.
Division 2 Champions Appalachian State University Mountaineers 34 – No. 5 ranked University of Michigan Wolverines 32.
Complete with last minute heroics – a winning field goal made with 26 seconds left – a potential winning field goal blocked with 6 seconds left.
And to pull off the win front of 109,000+ stunned fans at Michigan’s storied Big House! Goosebump city. Heck, there aren't 109,000 humans within 75 miles of Boone, NC. And that's even counting the various and assorted Eric Rudolphs hiding out in the hills.
In Boone, NC – the students went to their field, collected a goal post, and delivered it to the Chancellor’s house.
Congratulations ASU!
Wolfpack
Back in Raleigh, not quite so festive.
The University of Central Florida came into town and simply manhandled and pushed the Wolfpack around for the entire 1st half.
I’m watching the game thinking, Good Lord, are we really that bad?
25 – 3 at halftime.
Our vaunted running game? Negative 14 yards at the half. WTF?
I had already decided to leave at the end of the 3rd quarter. I wanted to see if half-time adjustments would show us anything or if we’d come out as awful as we were in the first half.
25 points is too much to overcome. You expect the other team to score some more – maybe 10 or 14 more points. Let’s just see how the Pack comes out and plays.
Totally opposite game in the second half.
The Pack came out and went from porous defense to furious defense.
Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck came in for starting quarterback Daniel Evans and proceeded to march down the field and put points on the board.
NCSU shutout UCF in the second half and put up 23 points of our own.
Darn near won the game too. But with the new rules that don’t stop the clock like they used to (which I happen to agree with) - it’s almost impossible to mount a last minute scoring drive.
(Unless you’re Happy Appy!)
Stayed for the whole game. In the end – we liked what we saw. The team didn’t fold up. Far from it. We came out and played like we were supposed too. You can see that the work ethic and discipline that Coach Tom O’Brien is instilling works.
Mental mistakes and undisciplined play are no longer part of this team. Coach TOB’s stern but calm approach kept the guys in the game.
Despite the loss, I ended up feeling good with the end result.
The program is clearly headed in the right direction.
Go Wolfpack!
(Thanks to Nuke, Chip and DX for going to the game with me.)
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