The Michigan Wolverines and Appalachian State are playing live on the college football schedule on Saturday and the opening game is a rematch of the biggest upset of all time for U of M and now they will meet again in Ann Arbor at the Big House at 12 pm ET and the game will be on ESPN2 on TV and streaming online from WatchESPN as Brady Hoke tries to finally bury the ghost of Lloyd Carr and that App State loss.
Michigan was riding high seven years ago when the loss came and it is still considered to be one of the biggest upsets ever. The team has gone through Rich Rodriguez and now is onto Brady Hoke after that loss under Lloyd Carr and this game comes ahead of Notre Dame, but in a way this is bigger than anyone they have, as they need to put it behind them finally. The team has the Big Ten slate coming late down the line and after playing against Miami of Ohio after Notre Dame, they have Utah and then Minnesota to start the Big Ten conference schedule.
Michigan has a tough schedule in the second half of the season and they have a game against Rutgers to help welcome them into the Big Ten. The team then has Penn State on the schedule and that will be at the Big House, while Michigan State and Indiana are next on the schedule. The team has Northwestern on the road and then they are home against Maryland and that comes before the major matchup at the end of the season on the road at Ohio State.
Last season Michigan went 7-6 and they had some up and down play and they were 3-5 in the conference and they also were 1-2 in the top 25. Devin Gardner led the team in passing yards last season, while Jeremy Gallon was tops in receiving and Fitz Toussaint was tops in rushing and they are looking to start the season fast. This is the biggest game of the season for App State and they are coming off of a 4-8 year and they end the season with Idaho and they also have matchups with Georgia State and Louisiana Lafayette.
Ohio State lost Braxton Miller to an injury and that will make it very tough for the team to win the Big Ten, but they will not be an easy team to get past, while Michigan and Michigan State also will be solid teams in the conference. Nebraska and Wisconsin are the favorites in their division and the conference has the chance to have some teams go far, including Michigan State, who won the Rose Bowl last year and they have Connor Cook and Jeremy Langford coming back to help the team.
Check here for the Michigan Wolverines and Appalachian State live coverage from ESPN.