Hello College Football Fans!!
As we kickoff what hopes to be an exciting season with many changes in the collegiate landscape, one thing has remained the same. The UPSET!! Each year, it happens, a lesser regarded team pulls off the improbable victory that seems straight out of Hollywood.
This year, two pretty big upsets have already happened. Vandy 9Vanderbilt Commodores) pulled off a huge win against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech knocked off Florida State (then 10th ranked team). The Seminoles are now 0-2 and may not fully recover from what is an undoubtedly disastrous start.
While these may not have registered on the Richetr Scale of the biggest or most memorable upsets, it is still one reason why college football is perhaps the most unpredictable of all the major sports we enjoy watching. In this vain, I am bringing the Mount Rushmore of sorts of upsets in college football history.
This is not to say that one is greater than other, but feel that these are four that are on a level on all their own. These are based on a few factors, such as the original point spread, ranking of the favorite, other factors such as conference, division etc.
Sit back, relax and when the list is unveiled, feel free to throw a challenge flag and call for a review.
Oregon State beats UW 21-20– 1985
This one really hurts to be honest. I will not lie I am lifelong Dawg fan and would love to erase this ugly loss from the memory banks. Why does this make the list especially after Jimmy Lake’s Huskies lost to a lesser opponent in the Montana Grizzlies? That loss was terrible, but this game too many factors to ignore if we are talking about a Mt. Rushmore of upsets.
The first is at the time, this was the largest favorite to lose. Go figure, a Seattle based team imploded and losing a game they were favored by 38 points and were playing at Husky Stadium which was known to be a tough place to play for opposing teams.
Second was the state of the Oregon State Beavers. Coming into the game with a losing streak that was just awful. Losers or four straight included Grambling (not even a D1/FBS school), Fresno State and giving up almost 100 points in losses to the Cougars (WSU) and UCLA Bruins.
Lastly, the loss had some major bowl implications as the UW was unable to secure a bid for the Rose Bowl. Had the won this game, they would have held a tiebreaker over several other teams and would have had earned a trip to Pasadena to play in what is considered the best Bowl Game in the country.
As mentioned before the Huskies led by Jimmy Lake lost to a FCS team but overall that team was hapless and imploded and was never a factor in that season. This loss to OSU hurt on so many levels, it is bound to be on many lists of greatest upsets of all time.
Carnegie Tech 19 Shuts Out Notre Dame 0 – 1926
Alright college football fans, how many of you knew Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) even had a football team. I am guessing if more than a handful, that might even make a list of upsets too. While not a modern upset and the 1926 vintage of Notre Dame may not have been their best ever, but this still is a pretty shocking upset and deserves its rightful place on the Mt. Rushmore of college football upsets.
The first is the fact they shocked Notre Dame and wound up shutting them out. Armed with legendary Coach Knute Rockne and buoyed by a consensus All American Center Bud Boeringer and future Green Bay Packer Thomas Hearden. But this is why the play the game on the field.
Apparently, Knute Rockne did not get this memo and I am sure hindsight being 20/20, he more than likely would have made the trip to Pittsburgh and coached the game. Ironically, a coach that was possible the epitome of winning skipped this game and this may have cost them a national title.
Going into the game as the third ranked team in the nation, this loss took them out of title contention and may be one of the most embarrassing losses in Notre Dame history. Considering the crushed the Tartans of Carnegie Tech by a combined 111-19 in the previous few years before this matchup in 1926.
Stanford upends USC 24-23 – 2007
Media always likes to paint every close game in the modern day as the greatest “fill in the blank game” ever. Sometimes it is warranted, most notably the Texas Longhorns victory over USC for the championship is one that comes to mind. A few other games also seem to be able to stand the test of time.
Well, two legendary coaches, a 35 game home win streak broken by a 41 point underdog winning definitely should stand the test of time. In 2007, the Trojans returned ten started on defense, led by a solid linebacker crew that featured Brian Cushing, Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga all three of whom played in the NFL.
At the time, SC was ranked number 1 (coach’s poll and #2 in the AP poll) in the country and were the odds favorite to win it all. Jim Harbaugh’s team had other intentions and Stanford pulled off an improbable win and now holds the distinction of being second highest point spread a team has overcome.
This may have been the second time Standford derailed USC’s bid for a national championship as the rallied as a heavy underdog to 21 -21 tie in 1979. A few years later Stanford would hand the Trojans more losses in 2009, 2010 and 2011 en route to a four game win streak against them. Needless to say, I ma sure anytime in the future trojan fans will never feel easy about the point spread again.
Appalachian State Stuns Michigan 34-32 – 2007
Many fans know this one as possible the greatest upset in college football history and the first of 2007. Most fans of the game have certainly seen the video images every football season and even more so whenever a major upset alert is happening. Coming into the game as the 5th ranked team in the nation, not many folks were thinking the results would be a plucky FCS team would pull this one off.
The Wolverines were not only highly ranked, but at the pre-season favorites to not only win the Big 10, but perhaps be in the mix for the national champion ship, this has to be the most stunning upset considering the Appalachian State wasn’t even a FBS team at the time of this upset. These games are usually fillers or as many fans say a “cupcake game.”
Appalachian State did not get that memo as they came out quick and ultimately held off the Wolverines becoming the first FCS team to ever beat a top 5 ranked FBS team. The result was so catastrophic that loss dropped Michigan from the Top 25 rankings. While I cannot confirm, this may be the largest drop in the rankings after a loss. If not, it has to be pretty close.
Appalachian State was never afraid to mix it up against FBS schools as they had played other notable teams in the past including a long running series against wake Forest. Head Coach Jerry Moore told his school to take whatever amount of money offered by Michigan to take what he called “an opportunity game.”
His team (the Mountaineers) made the most of that opportunity by beating a team that featured multiple NFL players drafted and several who had long careers. Appalachian State didn’t rest on their laurels after this game. Riding a long winning streak, the ended the season at 13-2 and won the FCS championship against the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens later in the year.
I am not sure that will be topped, but you never know. With he ever changing landscape, team switching alliances and creating “super conferences”, you may be surprised and see a big-name teams knocked off. Oregon recently struggled with Idaho. Montana State (FCS) just beat New Mexico and if you take a look there’s a growing list of big-time upsets. The question is will any of the unset this Mt. Rushmore of upsets? It is only a matter of time.
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