2007 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team The 2007 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team represented Appalachian State University in the college football season of 2007 – 2008 . The team was coached by Jerry Moore and the Mountaineers played their home games at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone , North Carolina . The football team competes in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) , formerly I - AA , as a member of the Southern Conference . Appalachian is the only university in North Carolina , public or private , to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) national championship in football . The Mountaineers won the 2005 Division I - AA Football Championship and repeated as FCS national champions in 2006 and 2007 . They also captured a third consecutive Southern Conference Southern Conference title . The team is one of only two from its division to ever defeat a team ranked in the Associated Press Poll , in a game that was hailed as one of the biggest upset s in the history of American sports . Additionally , two players from the 2007 team were selected in the 2008 NFL Draft : wide receiver Dexter Jackson ( Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) and safety Corey Lynch ( Cincinnati Bengals ) . Game notes . Michigan . The 2007 Appalachian State - Michigan game was a college football game held on September 1 at Michigan Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor , Michigan . It pitted the homestanding Michigan Wolverines against the two - time defending champions of the Division I FCS , the Appalachian State Mountaineers . In what was hailed as one of the biggest upsets in the history of American sports , the Mountaineers shocked the fifth - ranked Wolverines 34 – 32 . It is believed to be the first win ever by a team in Division I FCS ( still frequently known by its former name of Division I - AA ) over a ranked team in Division I FBS ( formerly Division I - A ) since the NCAA split its Division I into two football subdivisions in 1978 . Lenoir – Rhyne . The Mountaineers returned home after the Michigan win for their first contest at Kidd Brewer Stadium against Division II Lenoir – Rhyne on September 8 . In front of a record crowd of 28 , 802 , senior quarterback Trey Elder started the game , filling in for an injured Armanti Edwards , and threw for 210 yards and rushed for 90 more . The Mountaineers scored touchdowns on their first five possessions en route to racking up 403 yards of offense . The Bears were limited to 195 total yards . Freshman linebacker D . J . Smith lead the defense with 12 tackles . With the win , the Mountaineers extended their Division I leading win streak to 16 games and their home winning streak to 28 games . Northern Arizona . A crowd of 27 , 104 packed Kidd Brewer Stadium to see the Mountaineers put up 429 yards of offense in a win over Northern Arizona . The win was the 17th straight overall and 29th straight home victory . Trey Elder , starting in place of an injured Armanti Edwards , accounted for 298 yards . Running back Kevin Richardson set a career high with seven receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns . Lumberjack quarterback Lance Kriesien paced the Northern Arizona offense with 171 passing and 129 rushing yards . Wofford . A crowd of 11 , 042 , the fourth largest in Gibbs Stadium history , saw the Terriers end the Mountaineers Division I leading winning streak at 17 games , 42 – 31 . The Terriers outgained the Mountaineers 431 to 320 in total yardage with running back Kevious Johnson accounting for 104 rushing yards . Armanti Edwards , starting in his first game since the Michigan win , re - injured his shoulder at the start of the second half . Trey Elder replaced Edwards and threw for 105 and rushed for 33 yards . Senior wide receiver Hans Batichon had a career high six receptions for 93 yards . The only other bright spot for the Mountaineers was CoCo Hillary ' s 95 - yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter . Elon . The Mountaineers moved to 15 – 0 when running back Kevin Richardson rushes for 100 or more yards , with a 49 – 32 win over Elon . The crowd of 13 , 100 was the largest in Rhodes Stadium history . Appalachian outgained Elon 526 to 371 yards with 356 yards coming from a potent ground attack . The Mountaineer defense also played an impressive game , sacking Elon freshman quarterback Scott Riddle five times . Corey Lynch blocked a Phoenix punt in second quarter and had an interception late in the game to help seal the victory . Gardner – Webb . A record homecoming crowd of 27 , 428 witnessed the Mountaineers rout the Bulldogs of Gardner – Webb 45 – 7 . Kevin Richardson ' s four second quarter touchdowns put the game away early . On the day , the Mountaineers outgained the Bulldogs 466 – 211 in total yardage to extend their home - winning streak to 30 games . Georgia Southern . Appalachian State suffered its second loss of the year in a heartbreaking defeat to the Eagles of Georgia Southern , 38 – 35 . The loss also ended the 30 game home winning streak compiled by the Mountaineers since a playoff defeat to Maine in 2002 . The Eagles were led by future Walter Payton Award winner Jayson Foster . Foster lined up as quarterback , running back , and wide receiver and finished with 14 passing , 175 rushing and 41 receiving yards . Armanti Edwards made only his third start of the season , and first since September 22 , and became the first quarterback in Appalachian history to rush for over 200 yards . Trailing 38 – 20 with less than eight minutes left to play , a furious Mountaineer rally came up short as Edwards fell one yard shy of converting on fourth down . Furman . Rebounding from the loss against Georgia Southern , the Mountaineers held on to defeat the Furman Paladins 34 – 27 in Greenville , South Carolina . The Mountaineers jumped out to a 24 – 7 lead at halftime only to see the Paladins roar back with 20 points in the second half . Appalachian rolled up 511 yards of offense with Armanti Edwards finishing with 337 total yards and Kevin Richardson adding 124 yards on 21 carries . Richardson become just the second player in ASU history with 4 , 000 career rushing yards . The game was sealed on a late Corey Lynch interception on the goal line . The Citadel . Armanti Edwards rushed for a school record of 291 yards , leading the Mountaineers to a 45 – 24 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs in Johnson Hagood Stadium . The victory moved the Mountaineers into a virtual tie for first place with Wofford . Western Carolina . The Mountaineers had their highest offensive output in 71 years in a 79 – 35 rout over the Catamounts of Western Carolina . The crowd of 27 , 977 was the largest to ever witness the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug . The victory gave the Mountaineers a 53 – 18 – 1 series lead over their archrivals from Cullowhee and a 24 – 6 advantage since the introduction of the Old Mountain Jug . Appalachian ' s 743 yards of offense was the second highest in school history after the 788 gained in a 115 – 0 win against Piedmont in 1936 . Kevin Richardson rushed for a career high 215 yards and Armanti Edwards added 295 through the air . The Mountaineers also had a season high four interception s and were never forced to punt . Chattanooga . Kevin Richard became the Appalachian ' s all - time leading rusher , breaking John Settle ' s record , in a 37 – 17 victory over the Chattanooga Mocs . The Mountaineers also claimed a share of the Southern Conference title , their third straight . James Madison . A forced fumble with 22 seconds left in the game gave the Mountaineers a 28 – 27 win over James Madison . The Dukes controlled the game in practically every statistical category , most notably the time of possession , which was over 40 minutes . James Madison ' s quarterback , Rodney Landers , led the dukes with 253 yards of total offense . Armanti Edwards accounted for 258 total yards of offense for the Mountaineers . The Mountaineers were down 27 – 22 with less than two minutes remaining in the game and facing fourth down . Edwards found the end zone after completing a pass to Devon Moore to put the Mountaineers ahead 28 – 27 . On the ensuing possession , the Dukes drove 62 yards down the field to put themselves within easy field goal range . James Madison head coach Mickey Matthews made the decision to run one more play which resulted in a fumble . Defensive end Gary Tharrington knocked the ball from the grasp of the Dukes ' running back , Jamal Sullivan , and it was recovered by linebacker Pierre Banks to give the Mountaineers an improbable win in front of 14 , 040 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium . Eastern Washington . Armanti Edwards accounted for 347 yards of offense and three touchdowns in leading the Mountaineers to a 38 – 35 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles . Safety Corey Lynch led the defense with an interception , fumble recovery and a blocked field goal in limiting Eastern Washington ' s passing attack by more than 120 yards off their season average . The victory tied the Mountaineers with the Eagles of Georgia Southern as the only two programs to have 10 consecutive postseason wins in contiguous years . Richmond . A record FCS postseason crowd of 24 , 140 packed Kidd Brewer Stadium to see the Mountaineers defeat the Richmond Spiders 55 – 35 on December 7 , 2007 . Armanti Edwards racked up 313 yards on the ground , setting an NCAA Division I record for rushing by a quarterback in the win . He accounted for seven touchdowns ( four rushing and three passing ) and 495 of the Mountaineers 617 total yards . Appalachian jumped out to an early 35 – 14 lead only to see the Spiders tie up the game in the third quarter . The Mountaineers responded with 20 straight points capped with an incerception by senior safety Corey Lynch . With the win , Appalachian became just the fifth program in FCS history to advance to three - consecutive national title games , joining Eastern Kentucky ( 1979 – 82 ) , Georgia Southern ( 1988 – 90 and 1998 – 2000 ) , Marshall ( 1991 – 93 ) and Youngstown State ( 1991 – 94 ) . Delaware . Entering their third consecutive national championship game , the Mountaineers were looking to become the first team to win three in a row at the FCS ( I - AA ) level since the playoffs began in 1978 . The Blue Hens of Delaware stood in the way of history . Senior running back Kevin Richardson led the way for the Mountaineers with 111 yards rushing and 27 receiving , finishing his career as Appalachian ' s all - time leading rusher with 4 , 797 yards . Accounting for three passing touchdowns , Armanti Edwards threw for 198 yards and rushed for another 98 . The Blue Hens offensive attack was paced by future National Football League first round draft pick Joe Flacco at quarterback , who threw for 334 yards and one touchdown . Trey Elder , in his last game in black and gold , finished the scoring for the Mountaineers with a 53 - yard scamper to make the score 49 – 14 . Armanti Edwards finished the season with 1 , 948 yards passing and 1 , 587 yards rushing . He was 52 passing yards short of becoming only the second player in NCAA history to pass for 2 , 000 yards and rush for 1 , 000 twice . The record attendance of 23 , 010 on hand at Finley Stadium was the largest neutral site crowd for the NCAA Division I Championship Game .