The dog days of summer are almost gone, and that most wonderful time of year is upon us once again. No, I’m not talking about all the young biddies swarming the campus. College football starts this week, and the great thing about NCAA football is that all the donations you gave and chotskies you bought for your alma maters’ championship run can go down the drain the instant some kid drops a fumble. Unlike midterms, there are no mulligans in college football. So we at IGN celebrate some of the greatest day 1 letdowns ever. Of course, any upset is only bad for half the fans involved, right?



7) 2007 - Notre Dame 3, Georgia Tech 33
After a 10-3 season, which concluded with their standard-issue bowl game loss, Charlie Weis and Notre Dame’s and reasonable, level-headed alumni went on to expect great things in 2007. Not a school to front-load their schedule with patsies, Weis added to the big-game mystique by keeping the starting QB job a secret between 3 possible players until gametime. The big storyline was how the poor Yellow Jackets would have no clue what to prepare for.

Notre Dame backs learn the meaning of catch-22.

What happened: Taking 9 sacks between them, starting QB Demetrius Jones was ready to transfer while backups Evan Sharpley & Jimmy Clausen had gotten quite intimate with the GT defense. ND’s worst opening loss ever commenced their worst season ever, with 9 losses (most ever) including 6 home losses. They lost 38-0 to both Michigan and USC (each, not cumulative), and lost games to 2 service academies for the first time since World War II. On the bright side, the Irish didn’t end the season by losing a bowl game.

6) 1989 - Florida State 26, Southern Mississippi 30
In a typical big conference-small conference matchup, Bobby Bowden’s #6 Seminoles were expected to come into Hattiesburg and run things. They’d beaten USM the previous 2 years by a combined score of 90-23.

What happened: The Golden Eagles were led by some dude named Brett Favre. In the 4th quarter, he led a 6 minute drive to throw the game-winning TD pass with 23 seconds left. FSU went on to go 10-2 and finish #3 in the country.

5) 2005 - Oklahoma 10, Texas Christian 17
When you go 12-1, finish #3 in the country, and send 11 players to the NFL, it is perfectly acceptable for a high achieving football program to have a so-called “rebuilding year”. That generally means a handful of losses to comparable powerhouses; maybe a token unranked school. It generally does not mean losing to the week 1 tomato can from your rival state across the river.

What happened: This was not only TCU’s biggest upset in 45 years, but the last time they beat the #7 team in the country Baylor was good enough to be that team. Oklahoma went on to finish 8-4, losing only to big conference schools for the rest of the year.


4) 2002 - East Carolina 16, Duke 23
If you live in the state of North Carolina, there are certain things you can rely on: good basketball, good barbecue, and horrible Duke football. These are known quantities that summarize the Carolinian standard of living. East Carolina is no football powerhouse, but in their previous meeting the Pirates beat Duke 38-0 two years earlier. Being the big conference school, Duke hosted the game but expectations were the same: the Blue Devils had gone 0-22 in the preceding 2 seasons.

Duke shows off their newest offensive line to a packed stadium.

What happened: Nobody outside the Duke locker room actually expected them to come out to a 10-0 lead and never look back. Not only were the ECU pirates disappointed, but ending a 23-game losing streak also ruined Duke’s chances at breaking Northwestern’s record 34-game losing streak. The Blue Devils lived up to their reputation for the rest of the season, winning only one more game to finish 2-10.

3) 1997 - Rutgers 19, Virginia Tech 59
How to motivate a 2-9 team:
Step 1: Completely ignore any mid-major programs and host a 10-2 Big East powerhouse at home to open the season.
Step 2: Hold a press conference in your office the day before the game and predict an epic upset.
Step 3: Allow VT’s quarterback to pass for 147 yards and 2TD’s and run for 118 yards and another TD in his first college start.

 

 

Freddie Mitchell modestly interviews for Terry Shea’s job. 

What happened: Wait, that should’ve been called how to motivate a 10-2 team. Terry Shea went on to coach the Scarlet Knights to an 0-11 season.

2) 1981 - Alabama 21, Georgia Tech 24
In the early 80s, Ga Tech was college football’s perennial doormat, having posted a 1-9-1 record the previous year. In contrast, Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide had lost 9 games total over the previous 7 years. This was GT’s season opener, and although #4 Bama played the previous week, this was their home opener. Alabama was expected to mail this one in.

I’m clearly smarter than Bear Bryant. They should name the career center after me.

 What happened: After the game, Georgia Tech went back to being a doormat and finished out the season 1-10. The real story is that GT coach Bill Curry stunned and impressed the Bama faithful so badly that they hired him 6 years later. After 3 winning seasons ending with bowl games, he proceeded to stun Alabama even further by leaving them to coach Kentucky. This great career move led to a 26-52 record at UK while Bama went on to win the 1992 National Championship.

1) 2007 - Michigan 32, Appalachian State 34
Here’s how it works (usually): big conference school invites small market school to open the season and give both teams an opportunity to adjust to real competition. Small program takes a beating and earns a few hundred thousand dollars for their athletic department. If they’re nice they might get invited back.

If an upset happens, it happens in basketball, NOT football. If it ever happened in football it would be the biggest upset in college football history…

 

 

Comic Book Guy says Worst. Upset. Ever.

What happened: Michigan lost again the next week until they finally played Notre Dame (see #7 above). Appalachian State went on to win their third straight national championship.

Did your school not get enough attention? Make noise about it on IGN.