Appalachian State Mountaineers vs Michigan Wolverines Match Player Stats On Aug 30, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 30, 2014

Michigan 52, Appalachian State 14: Devin Gardner threw three first-half touchdown passes to Devin Funchess and host Michigan avenged one of the biggest upsets in college football history in the season opener for both teams.

Derrick Green rushed for a career-high 170 yards and a touchdown and De'Veon Smith added 115 yards and two scores for the Wolverines (1-0), who rolled up 560 yards to spoiled the FBS debut of Appalachian State (0-1). Gardner finished 13-of-14 for 173 yards and the three TD passes to Funchess, who had seven receptions for 95 yards to help ease some of the sting of Michigan's shocking loss to the Mountaineers in the 2007 season opener.

Appalachian State, a former FCS powerhouse playing in its first season in the Sun Belt Conference, fell into a 42-point hole before getting on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter. Starting quarterback Kameron Bryant was 8-for-19 for 58 yards and a third-quarter TD pass to Simms McElfresh while Terrence Upshaw rushed for 109 yards for the Mountaineers.

The combination of Gardner-to-Funchess was unstoppable in the early going, capping touchdown drives on the Wolverines' first two possessions with scoring strikes of 9 and 34 yards. The duo connected again on an 8-yard scoring pass late in the second quarter, igniting a 21-point spree in the final 3:59 of the first half to turn it into a rout.

Smith broke off a 61-yard run to set up his own 12-yard TD before Ben Gedeon returned a partially blocked punt 29 yards for a score 38 seconds apart for a 35-0 halftime edge. Green, who had a 59-yard run in the opening half, scampered 62 yards before plowing in from the 1 on Michigan's first possession of the second half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Gardner surpassed Tom Brady and moved into a tie for Todd Collins for seventh place on the school's career list with his third TD pass to Funchess - the 37th of his career. ... Sophomore RB Marcus Cox, coming back from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee earlier this month, had a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter for the Mountaineers, whose 34-32 win at nationally ranked Michigan in 2007 was considered perhaps the biggest upset in college football annals. ... Green and Smith helped the Wolverines amass 350 yards on the ground and gave Michigan two 100-yard rushers in a game for the first time since Oct. 27, 2007.