Year later -- after Michigan -- App State still glowing with pride

BOONE, N.C. -- Jerry Moore looks like he hasn't slept in a week, which kind of overrates the benefits of sleep. At times the Appalachian State coach looks like he hasn't blinked since Sept. 1.

Jerry Moore is carried off the field at The Big House following the Michigan win. (AP)

On this day in early August, the 69-year-old shuffles into a conference room wearing a T-shirt, gym shorts and several days' worth of stubble. Last night, it was Chicago, or was it Omaha? Maybe Lincoln. Actually it was all three during a trip home from another speaking engagement that ended with him pulling into the driveway at 4 a.m. Moore hasn't said no since that afternoon almost a year ago when his Mountaineers climbed the mountain in Michigan.

There are clinics, banquets, alumni functions, an Emmy ceremony. An Emmy? Yes, Moore was there for that too after Fox Sports won a regional Emmy for a documentary on his program. Moore has honored almost all the requests, having been on the road an estimated 25 days each month during the offseason. All of it is beginning to resemble a Springsteen tour. Greatness in a different city every night. None of the performances scripted.

"Good or bad," the coach says of his speeches while pointing to his head, "it's all here."

Moore feels he owes it to the school, to the players, to himself to tell the story of the greatest upset in history. But of course it goes much further than that. Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 defined the season in 2007 and maybe defined college football for a while.

Almost a year after the Michigan game, the defending I-AA champions open against LSU, the defending I-A champions. Who would have thought a year ago that chat rooms and message boards would be filled with debate whether the mighty Tigers are "ready" or not to play the previously faceless team from the boondocks of Boone. Who would have thought that Moore would be behind all of it?

If nothing else, this is some sort of lifetime achievement award for the coach entering his 20th season here. No one voted on the honor. His peers, though, had to smile when fate came to Ann Arbor that afternoon. Like a lot of them, Moore is somewhat of a coaching vagabond. Since 1973, he has coached at SMU, Nebraska, North Texas, Texas Tech and Arkansas before coming to Appalachian State.

On days like today the wear shows. The lines on his face are just a little deeper than they were in 1985 when Texas Tech fired him and Moore thought he'd never be a head coach again.

"It was a place to coach," Moore said of the day in 1988 he was hired here. "It was just a job. I couldn't pronounce Appalachian. I couldn't spell it. I didn't know where Boone was."

Now it's a part of him, a part of everyone who was on the field that day, who experienced a life-changing event. From the kid who blocked the game-winning Michigan field-goal attempt, to the defensive back-turned-missionary to the banker down the street.

A year after the greatest upset in history lives, programs and a sport has changed. Here are some of the stories surrounding them.

The Capitalist

Welcome to Jeff Fancher's midlife crisis. The vice president at Mountain 1st Bank and Trust is 50 and divorced. Each morning before the bank job he wanders over to WXIT and becomes "Jeff the Ref" hosting "The Sports Page", a three-hour lovefest for all things Mountaineer.

This week Fancher had the idea/made the mistake of getting on an LSU message board to invite its fans onto his show. See the, uh, friendly reaction at Tigerdroppings.com.