In 2007, Appalachian State University of the Southern
Conference traveled from Boone, NC to Ann Arbor, MI and beat Big Ten's Michigan
Wolverines at the 107,501 seat stadium known as "The
Big House", 34-32. This win
coincided with the debut of the Big Ten Network (BTN), a cable channel
dedicated to all things in the Big Ten Conference's athletic universe. For those living in the Upstate of South
Carolina or Western North Carolina like I was at the time, we got to see the
App. State vs. Michigan game replayed over and over on the BTN channel as it
was promoted on the local cable provider.
Six years later, the Big Ten's commissioner, Jim Delany,
went on the record encouraging schools like Michigan to not schedule games with
schools like Appalachian State. The
reason is not to prevent a smaller school that has less scholarships than the
Division I schools (Football Bowl Series, FBS) of the chance to upset and the
big payout, rather, playing against a Football
Championship Series (FCS) team like Appalachian State weakens the FBS school's
power rating. At the top level of college football, the team's strength
of schedule is a big part of the criteria that the selection committee uses to
determine the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game and will be applied as the
top level implements a four-team college football playoff system in 2014. Therefore, not only does a game like
Appalachian State at Michigan allow for the Mountaineers to upset the
Wolverines, it also cheapens the Wolverines' regular season schedule and
weakens their chances of qualifying for the BCS playoffs providing that the
Wolverines have a Top 5 ranking after the conference championship game. FBS teams that are members of a 12+ member
conference divide their conference into divisions and hold a championship game,
a new phenomenon that started in 1992 when Alabama and Florida played after
their rival games, the last game of that season.
Nowadays, most FBS vs. FCS matchups end up in lopsided
victories for the bigger school equating to a glorified scrimmage game where
both teams are in game uniforms, playing before loyal fans in stadium seats
that cost as much as $80-90 per non-premium priced ticket in some cases. Of course, college football programs have
proven to be the breadwinners for their school's athletic departments keeping
the other sports teams solvent, but for fledgling schools such as Savannah
State, loading up the bus to take on a far more superior opponent is a way of
survival. In 2012, Savannah State opened
their season with two road games against powerhouses of the Atlantic Coast Conference
(ACC) and Southeastern (SEC) conferences.
Like many schools in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008, Savannah
State has fallen on hard times and have scheduled multiple "money games"
against larger schools as a means of survival.
While these games cheapen the FBS schedule and have caused them to fall
in the polls in some cases, these games richen the FCS bottom line which in
some cases is of the upmost importance.
However, with so much riding on the line for the BCS team on getting
into the four-team playoffs, it is high time that conference officials spoke
out against this.
A four-team playoff system? The FCS division has been facilitating a
16-team playoff system since 1978. The
top 16 teams of this division would play a 11 to 12-game regular season, have
their conference championship decided by the games played by the regular season
meaning that there could be co-conference champions. Of course, most, if not all of the top 16
teams played one road game known as their "money game" where they
traveled to a larger school and despite being a top 16 team, taking a loss most
of the time. Sometimes, the smaller
schools would go on the road for the "Money Game" and not only
collect the big paycheck but would also collect the win as the case of
Appalachian State in 2007.
Times sure have changed in college football. In the 1980s, I must have gone to every home
game at Furman University in my hometown of Greenville, SC. Furman, like Appalachian State was a member
of the Southern Conference. My dad, a
high school football official in South Carolina from the mid-1970s to the mid
2000s satisfied the prerequisite of
being on the chain crew by being a high school official. He has been working the chains at Furman
since the 1970s when Furman played their home games at Shrine Stadium in downtown
Greenville. For my dad, this was a dream
assignment as he got to stand on the field and watch football without being interrupted. The chain crew is mainly on the visitor's
side and my dad was able to rub shoulders with the visiting team and their coaches. In those days, Furman was inhospitable and
treated the visiting team poorly by whipping them soundly. Other than getting to watch the games for
free and uninterrupted, the members on the chain crew got parking permits, a
free ticket for every home game, a new polo shirt and ball cap every year.
Furman began playing home games on their campus in
1981. My dad could usually get another
free ticket for a fellow chain crew member that was going to go unused. I would usually go with a friend who wasn't
going to the Clemson game or if Clemson was on the road. In the early part of the 1980s, I was pretty
young and would enter the stadium on the home side and walk around and sit on
the visitor's side. During the half, my
dad would let my friend and I sit with them and talk about the game. In the later part of the 1980s, I would sit
on the home side and usually bring a date to the game.
I recall games where Furman hosted Appalachian State and attendance,
although modest when compared to larger schools, setting stadium records. Furman's inter-state rival game was against
The Military School of South Carolina, The Citadel which was as every bit of a
bitter rival as the South Carolina-Clemson series.
Since it was expected back in those days for Furman to
place in the national playoffs, and their placing was usually near the top, I
got to see Furman host games against the University of Nevada-Reno, University
of Rhode Island, and Youngstown State. I
remember reading in the Greenville News
that the Nevada-Reno players practiced in the days leading up to their matchup
against Furman without shirts hoping to catch a tan. In my young mind, I thought that it was
sunnier out West. Rhode Island brought
in a pass-only offense which was state-of-art at that time. Their quarterback was named
"Eriehert" and the media dubbed Rhode Island offense, "Air Rams
lead by Eriehert". After Furman's
game against Youngstown State, my dad told me that the Youngstown State coach,
Jim Tressel, reminded him a lot of Dick Sheridan, the Furman coach that put
football on the map at Furman. My dad
said, "Tressel will be coaching a Division-1 team someday." Later, Tressel took over The Ohio State
University football program and led the Buckeyes to a National Championship in
2002.
One playoff match off brought the traditionally
African-American school, South Carolina State Univ. to Greenville. Furman and SC State played each other rarely
if at all before that time for whatever the reason. While Furman's band was stellar and provided
a very entertaining halftime show, SC State's band stole the show!
Looking back, the 1980s and 1990s were Furman's
"Golden Era" of football with several conference championships, national
playoff appearances and a National
Championship runner up in 1985 and 2001 and a National Championship in 1988. In addition to the growing trophy case that
Furman had in the 1980s, Furman was known as the "Giant
Killers". In the 1980s, Furman would
travel to the University of South Carolina, North Carolina State University and
Georgia Tech and would beat them! Furman
was really good with a balanced run-pass offensive attack and a defense known
for their "bend but don't break" approach. Furman did this without compromising their
academic standards and less scholarships compared to their larger school foes. Furman has been known as a school where only
the best and brightest were admitted. On particular Saturday in 1986, my dad, sister, and I traveled from Greenville to Atlanta like we did frequently. My dad grew up in Atlanta and this place was were my grandparents, uncles, and cousins lived. Furman had a "Money Game" against Georgia Tech. We met my grandfather and one of my cousins at the legendary fast food restaurant, The Varsity. After grabbing a bite and a short walk, we arrived at Grant Field. My dad and I were appropriately dressed in purple Furman garb and of course, received hostile remarks from local Yellow Jacket supporters. Maybe the remarks were in jest, but I remember not feeling that way and keeping to myself and looking down.
The game was a sellout and I remember that it was odd seeing Furman in white jerseys. Back in those days, football teams wore dark jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road. Today, this is usually the case but college teams have gravitated to "Black Out" or "White Out" thing with the uniforms to spice things up.
Experts predicted Georgia Tech to win at home against the smaller visiting school. The previous season, Furman traveled to Raleigh, NC and beat NC State 42-20. In 1978, Georgia Tech joined the ACC after spending many years as an independent and as a result did not have a traditionally strong football program as the case of NC State in those days when Furman would beat them. Not only did Furman kill the "giant" at the money game in 1985, they also advanced to the National Title game in Tacoma, Washington and lost a heartbreaker to Georgia Southern University 44-42. Georgia Southern was a relatively new football program lead by legendary defensive coach formerly of the 1980 Georgia Bulldog championship team, Erk Russell. My dad graduated from Georgia Southern but he was cheering so hard for Furman. As he did on New Year's Day, my dad had this game on mute and had the local radio commentary tuned in. Had we not got the expanded Telecable channels to ESPN that summer, my dad would not have been able to watch the game on TV. I'm sure that my dad would have called Telecable the day of the game if it were necessary to watch the game on TV.
Experts got it wrong and probably did so because then and
now, they have little knowledge or respect of the FCS division. While Furman did not win against Georgia Tech
that Saturday in September in 1986, they tied them 17-17. Back then, college football games would end
in a tie. Had they did as they do today,
each team would have gotten a crack at a score starting from the opponents red
zone and hoped that their defense could rise to the occasion with the big stop.
Afterwards, my dad and I were in a celebratory mood and
were cheering as we walked back to the parking lot. One fan approached us with displeasure in our
jovial display. My dad saw one Tech fan
who was obliviously mad at the outcome and said, "I know that Tech is new
to the ACC but since you can't win against Furman, why doesn't Tech join the
Southern Conference?" The man got
even madder and we quickly disappeared into the crowd.
The 1986 season was Furman head coach, Dick Sheridan's
last season at Furman. He was offered
the head coaching position at NC State.
He basically implemented the entire system at NC State that had provided
so much success at Furman, even down to the uniforms. Under Coach Sheridan, NC State had winning
seasons and played in bowl games. Back
in those days, there were less bowl games meaning that only the stellar teams
were invited.
In 1988, Furman returned to the national title game held
in Pocatello, ID in a rematch of the 1985 title game against Georgia
Southern. Furman won this time edging
out the Eagles, 17-12. My dad, as the
rest of the chain crew and other supporters of the Furman football program, was
invited to the awards banquet and enough money was raised to fund two
additional scholarships. The players
from this national championship team went on to do amazing things. Basically, for every player that went on for
a brief career in the pros, there was another player that went on to become a
lawyer or doctor. This type of balance
is hard to come by in today's college football environment. These days, I don't get to attend Furman games like I did in my youth. My dad, brother-in-law and I attended Furman's "Money Game" in 2009 against Auburn. Furman got taken to the woodshed as Auburn held their homecoming game. In 2010, Auburn went on to win their only National Championship. Our seats were in the corner of one of the end zones. Auburn scored often that game but when Furman was on the verge of scoring, my dad would point out between viewing through a pair of binoculars, "Notice how the Auburn defender is lined up on the Furman receiver, man-to-man? What Auburn is saying is that their talent is better than Furman's and don't need to double-team." A few plays later, Furman brought out the field goal team for a consolation scoring attempt of a field goal.
We left late in the fourth quarter since the outcome of the game was settled. With the traffic jam in our rearview mirror, I flipped over to the game on the radio, still in progress. The announcers for Auburn referred to Furman as the "Purple Paladins" in a way that made light of Furman. Maybe the outcome of the game warranted it. On the other hand, I recall the days when the Purple Paladins were the giant killers at the money game and rained on everyone's homecoming parade.
Furman
Paladins: Giant Killers at the Money
Game- 1980-1989
Year Giant Result Furman's record
1980 University of North Carolina Loss, 13-35 9-1-1
1981 University of Florida Loss, 7-35 8-3
1982 North Carolina State Univ. Loss, 0-26 9-3
1982 University of South Carolina Win, 28-23 " "
1983 Georgia Tech Win, 17-14 10-2-1
1984 North Carolina State Univ. Win, 34-30 8-3
1985 North Carolina State Univ. Win, 42-40 12-2
1986 Georgia Tech Tie,
17-17 7-3-2
1987 Florida State Loss,
10-41 7-4
1988 Clemson Loss, 3-23 13-2
1989 Clemson Loss, 0-30 12-2
Overall ACC 3-4-1 Overall Winning % in
the
1980s- .750
(105-30-5)
SEC 0-1
(*) Independent 1-1
(*)
Notes: Florida State and South Carolina
had yet to join the ACC and SEC at the time they played Furman in the 1980s.
No comments:
Post a Comment