It was 364 days ago, but for many around the college football landscape, especially those who follow the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), that warm fall afternoon feels much more recent.

The opening week of the 2007 college football season had arrived and traditional powerhouses everywhere were beating up on inferior opponents.

And just as Penn State was finishing off a 59-point shutout of Florida International, a buzz that started in the press box was beginning to spread throughout the sun-drenched crowd.

Then, a roar almost as loud as any following a Nittany Lion touchdown run or mammoth sack filled Beaver Stadium as the out-of-town scores bellowed over the public address system.

"Twenty seconds to play fourth quarter, Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32."

That triggered a mass exodus. The student section cleared out and most flooded under the stadium searching for a television. Even some Lion players joined the audience to catch a piece of history.

And as Michigan kicker Jason Gringell's last-second, game-winning field goal attempt thudded off Appalachian State safety Corey Lynch's pads, the Mountaineers stormed the field, the students and players under Beaver Stadium converged into a mosh pit and a shockwave reverberated through the college football world.

Appalachian State, a small FCS school of 14,000 undergrads nestled in the hills of North Carolina had done the unthinkable. They went into the Big House, in front of 109,218 fans and upset college football's all-time winningest program.

But more importantly, the win brought FCS football into the spotlight. Long viewed as the helpless little brother next to its Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) counterparts, an FCS team finally rose to the challenge and shocked the world.

The Mountaineers proved FCS schools could compete with and even challenge their bigger brothers, while at the same time showing the gap between the two divisions has narrowed.

Avoiding the upset

All of the hoopla surrounding Appalachian State's win overshadowed another huge factor in the upset: Michigan played a poor game and was not ready for the Mountaineers' speed.

The perennial Big Ten power was not only out-played and out-hustled by the team from the Southern Conference, but it was out-hearted too.

"We were not a well-prepared football team," former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr said at the time. "We didn't execute. We simply made too many mistakes and had too many missed opportunities."

It was that loss that set the tone for a subpar season for the Wolverines that eventually led to Carr's resignation.

At the Penn State post-game press conference, many of the Lion players said Appalachian State's win was a shock to the system and should serve as a precaution for not only Penn State but for the other BCS teams as well. The old coach adage of any team being able to be any team on any day actually came true in Ann Arbor and the days of being able to ease through a non-conference schedule were over.

Head coach Joe Paterno said it was unfortunate for Michigan to lose and will serve as a lesson for his players today.

With classes just beginning and life around campus hectic, Paterno said he hopes his players realize just what can happen and if they don't execute well Coastal Carolina could pose a threat.

"Well I worry about that obviously because there are too many people around us saying about Coastal Carolina," Paterno said. "You have to respect them. I think what Appalachian State did to Michigan last year was an eye-opener for everybody."

But coming into today's matchup, the players were not as unnerved. Both offensive tackle Gerald Cadogan and strong safety Mark Rubin both said the fact that today's game is the home opener is motivation enough to come out and "set the tone" for the season.

That night, every college football show buzzed with the upset. It was the lead story on 'SportsCenter' and found the cover of Sports Illustrated. Appalachian State became the world-beaters while Michigan assumed the role of punch line.

Senior wide receiver Deon Butler took it a step further, adding the Appalachian State upset served as motivation. He said he's received texts and calls from friends both at home and in State College warning him not to become the next national laughing stock and lead story on 'SportsCenter'.

"You definitely don't want to be the next Michigan team," Deon Butler said. "You don't want to get beat at home by Coastal Carolina.

"Appalachian state has made a name for all the small schools and given hope to all the small schools. They proved that they can play and you can't breeze through you're early games."

Anatomy of an upset

While Appalachian State's win in Ann Arbor was the most publicized, it was by no means the first time an FCS team had pulled off a big upset.

In fact, Michigan wasn't the only Big Ten team to fall victim to an FCS squad. North Dakota State topped Minnesota 27-21, one of its two wins against FBS teams in 2007.

It was also the second consecutive year that two FCS teams beat Big Ten foes. In 2006, New Hampshire easily beat Northwestern 34-17 and Southern Illinois topped Indiana 35-28. Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore said the key to pulling the upset was consistent and intelligent play.

"The first thing that comes to my mind is keep mistakes to a minimum, give yourself a chance," Moore said. "We had very few penalties against Michigan and our kicking game was solid. Those two things alone kept us in the game and gave us a chance and it turned out a mistake in the kicking game cost Michigan. Don't try a bunch of crazy goofy things."

But it wasn't just the Mountaineers' execution that helped them pull off the upset. Moore credits the up-tempo, no-huddle spread offense he installed following the 2003 season for much of Appalachian State's success.

The Mountaineers routinely lined up with four and five receivers to exploit Michigan's slow-footed secondary. With so many one-on-one matchups and Appalachian State's speed advantage, all it took was one missed tackle for a short slant to go the distance.

"I don't think they had played against that fast-paced of an offense," Moore said. "We recruit for speed and think we've got some pretty good team speed."

Never was that speed more evident than during Appalachian State's first touchdown drive. Wide receiver Dexter Jackson hauled in a quick slant, blew by a Wolverine safety and 10 seconds later was celebrating 68-yards away in the endzone.

By spreading teams out and forcing defenses to defend the entire field, FCS teams can level the playing field in terms of size.

The big difference between FBS and FCS teams is the size along the line of scrimmage. For example, Penn State's starting offensive and defensive linemen outweigh their Coastal Carolina counterparts by an average of 34 lbs. per man.

"There is no question that change in our offensive philosophy was what put us on top," Moore said. "It gave us an opportunity to take advantage of our speed. We upped our point production by 12-15 points per game. Running the spread allowed us to level the playing field."

To counteract that size differential and to increase his team speed, Moore said he recruits guys that may have been shunned by FBS recruiters because of their size. While many of these players don't have the measurables that major coaches covet, they often times still possess elite speed.

Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the Michigan upset, was recruited by the likes of Georgia, Clemson and Purdue out of high school. But all of the major schools wanted Edwards to play defensive back.

But Edwards had different plans. He wanted to remain at quarterback, the position he played in high school. And as luck would have it, Moore was looking for someone to direct his spread offense and the quicker the better.

Considering Edwards runs a 4.3 40-yard dash, he was a perfect fit for the Mountaineer offense, and after going three-for-three in national championships, Moore can't praise his star enough.

"Armanti is a special player," Moore said. "It's guys like him that make our program what it is, guys that may not have been highly recruited coming out of high school but are still great players. There's no doubt in my mind he could play almost anywhere in the country. Having Armanti always gives us a chance."

Taking it to the limit

The seeds for the upset were planted in 1994 when the NCAA lowered the maximum number of scholarships for FBS teams to 85. It took a decade for the effects to finally be felt, but the limit has leveled the playing field between the divisions.

Up until 1977, there were no limits regarding the number of scholarships a program could offer, then from 1978 until 1994 teams were limited to 95 football scholarships.

With so many scholarships at their disposal, the perennial national powers were able to gobble up talent. Instead of being limited to the best 15-20 players on their radar, teams could recruit as many players as they wished, which led to stacked rosters. It also led to depleted rosters for lesser programs.

For example, a team with a strong history, such as Penn State, could offer scholarships to the best 30 or 40 players in Pennsylvania. And because the Lions had national exposure and were popular in the commonwealth, they would normally land almost every elite Pennsylvania prospect, leaving the lesser schools with the remnants.

But with the current limits, those small schools now have a chance to recruit better prospects because Penn State's leftovers are overall more talented.

This creates parody because the talent is spread from top to bottom not only in the FBS but to the FCS as well.

"It opened up a lot of opportunities for schools that were just on the cusp," Paterno said. "It has made a big difference in the level of competition, I'll tell ya, Appalachian State looks like an awfully good football team and they played like champions. So I think there's been a dramatic effect."

Just a Fluke?

When Coastal Carolina head coach Dave Bennett made the banquet rounds this summer all he heard from Chanticleer alumni was Appalachian State and Michigan.

Every Rotary Club and church social he visited, shouts of "If Appalachian State can do it, you can beat Penn State."

But Bennett has different thoughts. Ask him about that game compared to his team's chances today and he sounds almost in awe.

"They got a quarterback that happens to run a 4.3," Bennett said of the Mountaineers and Edwards, "And he went 16-for-16 in the first half.

"Everybody knows that App. was the best team in FCS football and I think they caught Michigan at a time when I don't think Michigan might have taken them seriously."

In fact, he's witnessed the juggernaut that is the three-time defending national champion Mountaineers in person. His Chanticleers have knocked helmets with Appalachian State twice during his tenure, including the first round of the 2006 FCS playoffs. The Mountaineers took both matchups by a combined 44 points.

According to Bennett, it comes down to a large talent discrepancy.

"Appalachian was faster than Michigan, and if you notice they had to block a field goal to still win that game," Bennett said. "So an FCS team beating a top-20 Bowl Championship Series team, I think that's the only time it's ever happened, so that's very rare."

Bennett said he's pretty sure his Chanticleers aren't faster than Penn State and their size pales in comparison.

Because of the overwhelming odds, Bennett has adjusted his goals. Rather than expecting to win, he said he wants his team just to simply "win some battles" and compete with the Lions.

If they can win a couple plays and force Penn State into some early three-and-outs, maybe Coastal Carolina can build some confidence and momentum. But that, he said, is even highly unlikely.

Realistically, he said, Appalachian State's upset was the perfect combination of events and likely won't happen again for a long time, especially now that FBS teams can use that game as a motivational tool.

But then again, Moore told his team simply to "have fun" in Ann Arbor and they pulled off arguably the biggest upset in college football history. Bennett may not be confident in his team's chances make history again, but he said he sure would love to hear Beaver Stadium stunned in silence with the Chanticleers storming the field.

"That was great for FCS football but I wouldn't be sitting there looking at your watch counting on one of them things to happen again this season because that's the first time it's ever happened," Bennett said. "You just want to go up there, do well and represent the university."