September 5, 2007
Adam Gorney
Will it happen again?
Can a team like Appalachian State upset a team like Big Ten powerhouse Michigan again this season? Some SEC coaches say it's possible. Scholarship cutbacks and higher academic standards are two reasons. Another is some players might overlook those "lesser" opponents and get caught in the act.
Appalachian State defeated then-No. 5 Michigan, 34-32, Saturday in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines became the first ranked team from Division I-A, now called the Bowl Subdivision, to lose to a team from the Championship Subdivision, formerly I-AA.
Michigan was also dropped out of The Associated Press top 25 this week. It is the biggest drop a team has taken since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989.
"It just shows you there's a lot of parity in football," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. "You have to buckle up. You have to be ready to play. It's a mindset. It's a focus. It's a huge, huge thing in history. You always try to tell your players you can't just roll your helmets out there. You have to be ready to go."
Many are calling Appalachian State's victory the greatest upset in modern college football history. SEC teams, however, had little trouble in Week 1. In the eastern division, Florida, Kentucky and Vanderbilt all scored 41 or more points in its wins. The Gators downed Western Kentucky, 49-3. Kentucky beat Eastern Kentucky, 50-10. Vanderbilt bested Richmond, 41-17.
Nutt's Razorbacks handled Troy, 46-26. The Trojans cut the deficit to six points at halftime but Arkansas scored twice in the third quarter and twice in the fourth to pull away.
Florida coach Urban Meyer said on Wednesday's SEC media teleconference he showed his special teams unit Arkansas running back Felix Jones' 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Darren McFadden, a Heisman Trophy candidate, was the lead blocker on that touchdown return.
Georgia handled Oklahoma State, 35-14. South Carolina beat Louisiana-Lafayette, 28-14. The only team in the eastern division to go down was Tennessee, which lost at California, 45-31.
In the western division, LSU blanked Mississippi State, 45-0, Thursday night. The Bulldogs were the only western division team to lose in the opening week. Alabama defeated Western Carolina, 52-6, in coach Nick Saban's debut with the Crimson Tide. Ole Miss beat Memphis, 23-21, and Auburn hung on to beat Kansas State, 23-13.
"With the rules how they are in football, it's easier to match up," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "It was a great win. (Appalachian State coach) Jerry Moore is a friend of mine. I thought it was a fantastic win for every 1-AA school and even small schools in I-A…We're trying to build a program. Hopefully people are overlooking us."
Said Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer: "One of our writers wrote that it was (the biggest upset of all time). He talked about Chaminade beating Virginia in basketball but it had to be one of the biggest. It's always a mindset and football is a team game. You have to play well as a team and if you don't in this day and age, everybody has players. Scholarship limitations have forced that. Academic requirements. All those things can make a difference."
More Coaches' Quotes
LSU coach Les Miles on his defense: "They have come out to play every game. Really for the last two years, I can't think of a team where they were not really ready to play and enjoy taking the field and enjoy an aggressive fast downhill approach to the ball."
On defensive coordinator Bo Pelini: "I only knew him really from a distance. We played against him when he was at Nebraska and watched how he really molded that defense when he was there. He makes very complicated things simple and we expect a passion and a high level of execution from our defense and he has all that."
On Virginia Tech's defense: "They're tremendously well coached. They know exactly where they're supposed to be. They read their keys very well. They're extremely disciplined…That secondary, those five guys can move and adjust. First and foremost the scheme is very good. They're well coached. They're disciplined. This is a very, very good football defense. Coach (Frank) Beamer has taken that defense and really molded it and continued to work on it and you can see it when you see them play."
Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson on WR Earl Bennett: "A lot of people will try to take him away from us. We're going to have to have other people step up and take up the slack if people try to double team Earl or try to take him out of our offense. He catches the short ball, catches the long ball. Hopefully, it will be hard for someone to take him out of our game plan."
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer on Southern Mississippi: "They're very good at what they do running the football. The zone plays and the ability to get it on the perimeter. The (Damion) Fletcher kid is really a special running back. He has great vision and can take it a lot of places. Great speed. The offensive front is very good and they do a really, really good job. Compared to Cal, their running back (Justin Forsett) was a little bit different. He had unbelievable speed and caused us some problems in changing angles and missing tackles. We're going to have to tackle better in this ball game."
Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron on QB Seth Adams: "Going into the game Seth gave us a lot of confidence especially with his preparation. He operated very well with the system we have with (offensive coordinator) Dan Werner. I saw him change a couple of plays at the line of scrimmage. His slants were right on the money. He wasn't mistake free but for the most part he was pretty good."
SEC Schedule This Week
(all times eastern)
Alabama vs. Vanderbilt, 12:30 p.m.
South Carolina vs. Georgia, 5:45 p.m.
Missouri vs. Ole Miss, 6 p.m.
Troy vs. Florida, 6 p.m.
Kent State vs. Kentucky, 6 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Tulane, 7 p.m.
Southern Mississippi vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m.
South Florida vs. Auburn, 9 p.m.
Virginia Tech vs. LSU, 9:15 p.m.