The 2007 Michigan upset
App State beats #5 Michigan 34-32 in Ann Arbor — the biggest upset in the sport's history
Program prestige
Zeitgeist statureNational Program IIIProgram outlook
Program outlook
App State walked into the Big House in 2007 and beat the fifth-ranked team in the country. Nineteen years later, the Mountaineers went 5-8, and Dowell Loggains is rebuilding with 66 newcomers and a mandate to make the giant-killer climb again.
Since Oct 16: W 35-32 at Coastal Carolina; W 34-31 vs James Madison; L 3-19 at Georgia Southern. 5-3 this season.
Read the full essay — 4 more paragraphs
The 2007 Michigan upset is not nostalgia in Boone — it is the argument, still active. App State is the small mountain school that proved a right Saturday in Kidd Brewer Stadium can bend any roster, that the gap between a G5 program and the giants is a scheduling quirk before kickoff. Three consecutive FCS national championships from 2005 to 2007, capped by a 34-32 win in Ann Arbor against a top-five Michigan team: that is the canon the Mountaineers carry into every season. Jerry Moore built it. Armanti Edwards quarterbacked it. The chip has been sharp and forty years wide ever since.
The 2025 season was a difficult chapter. A 4-2 start collapsed into six losses in seven games and a 5-8 finish — Loggains' first year exposed an offense that managed 5.2 yards per play and a roster that ran thin when the schedule turned hard. The offseason answer was 66 newcomers, 35 from the portal, and a new quarterback in Malachi Singleton, a Purdue and Arkansas transfer. The question in Boone is whether the rebuild is a return to Sun Belt relevance or the confirmation of a longer slide.
The 2026 Sun Belt race is what answers it. App State's standard is not a conference-title banner — though the program has won the league and knows what that looks like. The standard is punching up. A bowl game, a marquee scalp, a Saturday where Kidd Brewer does what it did in 2007 to a roster that showed up with more stars. That is still the measure. Loggains needs Singleton under center and this rebuilt roster to prove the mountain is loud again.
Through five games in 2026, App State is 3-2, with wins over Maine (55-3), at East Carolina (27-24) and Charlotte (26-21). It lost 41-31 at NC State, then on October 10 lost 10-3 at home to Old Dominion as an 8.5-point favorite. The punch-up standard is still unmet.
On the field
Historically built on physical option-adjacent run games and defensive toughness rooted in the mountain-FCS dynasty years — App State football at its best is assignment-sound, downhill, and conditioning-driven by the fourth quarter. Loggains brings a more pass-friendly spread sensibility, which the Singleton addition reinforces; the 2026 identity will be decided by whether the new quarterback can run a spread attack that lets the rebuilt roster punch above its recruiting rank the way Jerry Moore's teams did on pure execution.
App State has won 60% of its games since 1932 — 76% at home, 44% on the road.
264-172-7 all-time · 58 seasons · 1932–2026
Home
156-45-4
Away
99-121-3
Neutral
9-6
1 g
1930s
1 g
1940s
46%
1970s
31%
1980s
21%
1990s
76%
2000s
72%
2010s
58%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
App State’s 2014–2026 record is 110-52.
Dowell Loggains
Dowell Loggains is in year 2. The methodology is taking shape.
Era Dowell Loggains · 2025–presentPrev: Shawn Clark (2019–2024)OC: Mike AnthonyDC: D. J. SmithPrev DC: Scot Sloan (2023–2024)
2
years · era
App State and Georgia Southern, meeting by meeting
App State leads the series 14-11-0 (since 2003); in the last 10 meetings, App State is 3-7
2026: Georgia Southern won 19-3. After this game, App State led 14-11-0.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ App State won, ▼ Georgia Southern won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when App State wins, down when Georgia Southern wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 2003. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in App State history
- Georgia Southern 51, App State 48Nov 26, 2022
- App State 30, Coastal Carolina 27Oct 20, 2021
- North Carolina 40, App State 34Sep 9, 2023
On this date, Nov 4, 2017: UL Monroe 52, App State 45
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2007
Three straight FCS titles
The 2005-2007 dynasty under Jerry Moore
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 34-31 vs James Madison
Week 8 of 2026. Won as a 12.5-point underdog — the result the market didn't see coming. It turned on one snap in Q5 — James London, an 86-point win-probability swing.
2022–2023
App State has sent 3 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.
Developing. Pipeline emerging.
3
picks · 0 in round 1
#161
D'Marco Jackson
Inside Linebacker · 2022 · 
New Orleans Saints · #3/578 final season
New Orleans Saints · #3/578 final season
#161
Nick Hampton
Outside Linebacker · 2023 · 
Los Angeles Rams · #66/548 final season
Los Angeles Rams · #66/548 final season
#226
Cooper Hodges
Offensive Guard · 2023 · 
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
#162 all-time in draft picksthe talent factory →
More in this tab
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 5-3
Season standing · 2026 · 5-3App State is 5-3 — competitive, unranked, not yet bowl-eligible.
Competitive in FBS but not bowl-eligible — the close-loss tier.
FBS competitive
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Sun Belt standing · 2026
4th in the Sun Belt
App State sits 4th of 14 in the Sun Belt at 2-2. Mid-conference — moves up or down depend on rivalry results and the late-season closing run.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisiana Tech | 4-0 |
| 2 | James Madison | 4-2 |
| 3 | Georgia Southern | 3-1 |
| 4 | App State | 2-2 |
| 5 | Arkansas State | 2-2 |
| 6 | Coastal Carolina | 2-2 |
| 7 | Louisiana | 2-2 |
| 8 | Marshall | 2-2 |
| 9 | South Alabama | 2-2 |
| 10 | Southern Miss | 2-2 |
| 11 | Troy | 2-2 |
| 12 | Georgia State | 1-3 |
| 13 | UL Monroe | 1-3 |
| 14 | Old Dominion | 1-5 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Dowell Loggains
- Shawn Clark departs
- Hired Shawn Clark
- Eli Drinkwitz departs
- Hired Eli Drinkwitz
- Hired Mark Ivey
- Scott Satterfield departs
- Mark Ivey departs
Coordinator lineage
App State’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2015 · Frank Ponce (co) / Dwayne Ledford (co)2016–2018 · Frank Ponce (co) / Shawn Clark (co)2020 · Tony Petersen2021 · Frank Ponce2022 · Kevin Barbay2023–2024 · Frank Ponce2026 · Mike Anthony
Defense2014–2026
2014–2017 · Nate Woody2018 · Bryan Brown2019 · Ted Roof2020–2022 · Dale Jones2023–2024 · Scot Sloan2025–2026 · D. J. Smith
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
2007 Michigan Upset
since 2007
more
App State's 34-32 win over #5 Michigan at the Big House on September 1, 2007 — the FCS Mountaineers beating a top-5 FBS opponent in the season opener — is one of CFB's most-iconic upsets. Armanti Edwards QB + Corey Lynch CB (game-winning blocked field goal) drove the win. The 'Apocalypse Now' headline + Michigan never recovering culturally cemented the moment.
Take the Stairs
since 2010s
more
'Take the Stairs' — the program's defiance-rooted mantra — captures the Mountaineer ethos: there are no shortcuts, the mountain has to be climbed. The two-word phrase + the Boone-mountain geography + the FCS-to-FBS-to-conference-champion ascent narrative + the 2007 Michigan win combine into permanent identity.
Three Straight FCS Championships (2005-2007)
since 2005
more
Jerry Moore's 2005-2007 run produced three consecutive FCS national championships — only the second program ever to achieve three-peat. The 2007 Michigan upset came IN BETWEEN the 2006 and 2007 FCS title games. The legacy + the eventual 2014 FBS reclassification + 2018 Sun Belt championship continued the ascent.
Cultural identity
2025 L
2023 W
2021 L
2020 W
2019 WThis page may include content derived from public news sources, social media, and fan communities. We relay these sources as-is — we are not reporting them. Sources may be summarized or quoted imperfectly; for anything that matters, go look at the original source directly. The original source may also be wrong. Text written by our model says so in a line beneath it, and it can get facts wrong. All analysis is editorial opinion, not professional reporting. Data sources · About this site