Events Coming Full Circle

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

In life, there are times when you ask where was I when specific events happen?

I've had numerous moments like that through the years.

Especially when I've had medical issues connecting them with events and dates.

On this day in 2007, one of those occurred at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

During the weeks leading up to the Michigan Wolverines hosting Appalachian State at The Big House in Ann Arbor, MI., a friend of mine named Mark Lehrman asked me what I thought of this matchup.

The Mountaineers entered the contest as two-time FCS Champions while the Wolverines came into the game as No.5 in the AP and Coaches Poll.

Michigan had a strong senior class of offensive tackle Jake Long, tailback Mike Hart and QB Chad Henne.

I told Mark this game is going to be tougher than most people think.

Just because you're at a lower level of college football doesn't mean that you're much better than your opponent.

There are a lot of great NFL players that come from these institutions such as the late Walter Payton and Jerry Rice.

The Michigan vs Appalachian State University (ASU) game was the first ever on the New Big 10 Network.

Little did anyone know that this would be the Biggest Upset in College Football History.

There was no betting line on this game. Las Vegas didn't think much of it to give it a line.

Oh, how Vegas missed this one.

ASU was ranked No.1 in the pre-season FCS Poll from The Sports Network, receiving 67 out of 70 first place votes. The team had won the previous two FCS National Championships and were favorites to win a third consecutive title according to media outlets.

More importantly, they had also won their last 14 games, the longest in either Division I Subdivision at that time. They had an overall record of 6-34-1 against major FBS teams. The Mountaineers ran a no-huddle spread option system, which they implemented in 2005, their first championship season.

Michigan paid Appalachian State $400,000 to play the game.

When it was all said and done, Michigan lost 34-32 in front of a stunned crowd of 109,208.

Wolverines Coach Lloyd Carr was stunned while Mountaineers Coach Jerry Moore was on Cloud Nine.

The Wolverines would finish the season 9-4 and ended their season beating the Florida Gators 41-35 in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where was I when all of this history took place on September 1, 2007?

I was covering My first FAU Football Game for the Deerfield Beach Observer at Lockhart Stadium for a team that was coached by Howard Schnellenberger, who is in the photo at this year's Spring Game.

FAU faced Middle Tennessee State, who was and is currently coached by Rick Stockstill, now in his 14th season.

FAU defeated Middle Tennessee State 27-14 in front of 11,398 fans.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The aftermath of the Big Upset at The Big House saw ASU win their third consecutive FCS Championship.

The Mountaineers became the first FCS team to receive votes in the Final AP Poll. They received five votes which placed them at a tie for 34th overall with The University of South Florida.

Michigan hosted the Mountaineers again in 2014 and the visitor received $850,000 to get mauled 52-14. The Mountaineers were now members of FBS and played in the Sun Belt Conference.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twelve years nearly to the day, Stockstill would face The No.7 Michigan Wolverines on August 31, 2019 on The Big 10 Network.

Middle Tennessee State entered the game as 35.5 point underdogs and they compete in Conference USA.

The Blue Raiders capitalized on two U-M turnovers and scored late in garbage time, but lost 40-21 in front of 110,811. The margin of victory didn't reach the point spread. But there would be no major upsets this time. 

While I have no idea of the amount Middle Tennessee State earned for this game, I assume they earned between $750,000 -- $ 1 Million.

But the prime-time exposure was priceless.

As I look back at the sequence of events, it's surreal to think that Middle Tennessee State, located on the outskirts of Nashville in Murfreesboro, would face the two teams I cover 12 years apart nearly to the day with a historical upset.

Nevertheless, it was a good opportunity to reminisce where I was when a particular game occurred.

We'll see Middle Tennessee State in action as The Blue Raiders face FAU at 4 pm on October 12, 2019 in Boca Raton, FL.

Yet, it's amazing how things indeed come full circle.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune.

Citrus Bowl Reflections, Michigan vs Florida

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING
ORLANDO, FL

Prior to covering the 2016 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on January 1, 2016, it was interesting to listen to Florida Gators alumnus that were skeptical about how this game would turn out against the Michigan Wolverines. The ones I spoke to didn't like the Gators chances in this contest.

I can appreciate what Gators fans were saying. They ended the season with a two-game regular season losing streak.  These two contests were over 14 points.

The downward spiral began on November 28, 2015 as in-state rival Florida State trounced the Gators 27-2. On December 5, 2015, the Gators lost the SEC Championship 29-15 to the eventual National Champions the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Gators losing streak reached three as Michigan crushed Florida 41-7.

To make matters worse for Florida, the FAU Owls came into their November 21 game as heavy underdogs, but didn't leave that way, as the Gators survived a scare winning 20-14 in overtime in Gainesville. It's safe to say, this wasn't a good five weeks of football for the Gators.

The only good thing that came out of the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl for the Gators was the payout of this game was $4.25 Million Per-Team. For the Gators, their travel expenses were not high since campus is approximately two hours away at the most.

The Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl Payout is the largest of all the College Football Non Playoff Bowls.

Michigan won it's first Bowl Game since 2012.

In this game, The Wolverines had three touchdown drives of at least 70 yards and finished with 503 yards of offense against a Florida defense that entered the game ranked sixth nationally.

The Wolverines offense was ranked 17th going into the game.

Michigan played without safety Jabrill Peppers, who sat out with an undisclosed injury.

The Wolverines didn't miss him, holding the Gators (10-4) to 28 total yards in the second half. In the third quarter, Michigan (10-3) out gained Florida 160-2.

How much did Michigan dominate Florida?

The Wolverines scored on seven of their first eight possessions, while piling up more points and more yards (503) than the Gators had allowed in a game all-season.

Michigan's 41 points were the most Florida has allowed since LSU defeated the Gators on October 17, 2015, 35-28 in Baton Rouge, LA.

The Wolverine's 41-7 victory was the largest in a Michigan Bowl Game since the 1948 Rose Bowl 49-0 over USC.

While Orlando, FL is the home of Disney World "Where Dreams Come True," it's been a good place for Michigan. The Wolverines are 4-1 in the Citrus Bowl and improved to 3-0 against the Gators all-time.

The Wolverines are 8-5 against SEC teams in Bowl Games.

What else stood out about this game?

We'll start with Michigan QB Jake Rudock. All he did was throw for 278 yards and three TD's as he was the Citrus Bowl's MVP. Rudock had 20 TD's and nine interceptions for Michigan during the regular season.

I have a feeling that under Jim Harbaugh's direction, the Wolverines will be a QB Factory, which can only bolster recruiting at that position.

Rudock's career totals including his tenure with Iowa are 7,836 yards, 54 TD's and 27 interceptions.

The 6-3, 208 pound, 23-year-old Miami native is No.2 on the Wolverines single season list with 3,017 passing yards. Only John Navarre had more with 3,331 yards as a senior in 2003.

The attendance was 63,113 and the Citrus Bowl looked like the "Little Big House." It looked like there were at least 25,000 Michigan Fans inside the Citrus Bowl Stadium as you can see in these photos on the left, of fans wearing yellow to see a Michigan team which was favored by 3.5 points where the over/under was 40.

What also stood out was when we were at the Wisconsin vs South Carolina game two years ago, there were steel bench seats. Now the seats are Dark Blue chairs on the lower levels and the scoreboards are brand new. The stadium was renovated in 2014 and the Michigan vs Florida attendance of 63,113 was the highest since the remodel.

The only way you couldn't see the Buffalo Wild Wings Advertising all over the stadium is if you were blind. The Citrus Bowl was blanketed with the Black and Yellow all over the field and signs everywhere.

Other offensive players which made solid contributions included running backs De'Veon Smith 25-109 yards (No. 4 Photo) and Drake Johnson 6-58 and one TD. Rudock's primary targets included Jehu Chesson 5-118, one touchdown and Grant Perry who caught five passes for 51 yards and a TD.

Last year Michigan was 5-7 under Brady Hoke.

What a difference a year makes.

Here is what the coaches had to say after the contest.

Frank Shaw of Sports Talk Florida asked Harbaugh if this was his funnest year in Football and a little bit of a reflection post game?

"We coached a great group of guys. Really enjoyed to coach. The coaching staff was so good," Harbaugh said. "And I give them the credit in terms of coaching, but the way the staff came together, the trust that everybody had, we were real allies for each other. And everything, my family, my wife, Sarah, the way they have treated this past year and the kids and--I could go on and on."

Corey Coblit, WEYI in Flint, Michigan asked, "Would you say that after dominating Florida the way you did, this is the most complete team your football team has played this year?"

"Yes. I would--I'd say this was the best game we played all year. It was a great team win," Harbaugh added. "Like I said I don't think I've ever seen our offense play better. And our defense was magnificent.

"Credit to their Defensive Coach Greg Mattison, you know, world class football coach. And the three and outs, the stops, the play on third down, everybody playing great team defense, it was-- it was really good. And the special teams as well.

"I mean, we were darned nervous about the Florida return game. And they were good at it. And we covered the kicks. I think we only had one punt, but the kickoff covers was outstanding. We made all the kicks. We executed in every phase on the special teams and was really pleased. It was a great team win."

Florida Coach Jim McElwain took the loss in stride.

"I've got to tell you, I'm proud of that football team in the locker room,"McElwain said. "Obviously we didn't play well today, and I've got to give Michigan all the credit in the world. They took it to us, beat us up front, did a great job in the red area, kept us off balance, and I think more than everything, played with a pad level."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have to admit that I was amazed at the amount of Wolverines fans that made the trip. It reminded me of a Detroit Red Wings vs Florida Panthers Game at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL.  Fans from Southeastern Michigan travel well.

What did the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl do for both Michigan and Florida in the final polls?

Michigan finished 12th in the AP Top 25, and 11th in the Coaches Poll.

Meanwhile, Florida was 25th in both Polls.

It was recently announced that former Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr will be on next years College Football Playoff Panel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the things I really enjoyed during the game was seeing three past colleagues again.

My former boss Joey Johnston and colleague Chris Harry were working the game. Johnston still works for the Tampa Tribune, while Harry is working for the Gators.

Finally, my former colleague with the Detroit Lions James Petrylka Sr. was working as a spotter with the Michigan Radio Broadcasting team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All in all, it was a bright sunny day in Orlando and the Michigan Wolverines domination of Florida will send a message to the rest of the college football world and that a "Sleeping Giant Has Awaken." I expect Michigan to be a major recruiting presence in The Sunshine State.

Meanwhile, the Gators are in good hands with McElwain, and he's been a winner at every coaching stop. There will be no shortage of talent in a state which is rich on prospects.

As for Rudock, look to see him in the NFL next season.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is a member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.