Background: Michigan started the season ranked 5th in the nation and with a home opener against DIAA Appalachian State, everyone expected Oregon to go the Big House to face a tough ranked opponent.  Instead Appalachian State upset the Wolverines and pretty much stole the thunder that would have come with the beating Oregon gave Michigan.  Oregon started the season unranked. They beat their first opponent, Houston, in their home stadium, the raucous Autzen Stadium, 48-27. Much like Appalachian State, Oregon had a mobile quarterback, Dennis Dixon. Leading to the game one popular opinion was, Oregon, who was a fast team that ran the spread, much like Appalachian State, but with more talent, would win. The other side of the coin was, Michigan would come out embarrassed, angry and looking to take out their frustration would come out fired up and route the Ducks.

Michigan came in favored by 8.5 points despite the previous weeks results. Michigan looked like they came to play when the game started. Their opening drive went 40 yards to the Oregon 30 before a 5 yard Michigan penalty. On the next play Michigan went for the home run strike and Henne threw for the end zone. The ball was caught on the goal line, but the man that caught it wasn't wearing a Michigan uniform. Oregon safety Matthew Harper intercepted the ball and returned it 55 yards to the Michigan 45.

Oregon's offense came out and led by quarterback Dennis Dixon, took the ball to the Michigan 1 yard line. A false start put Oregon back to the 6 and on 4th down Oregon scored the first points of the game on a Matt Evansen 23 yard field goal.

Michigan took the ensuing kickoff to their own 29 yard line to start their second possession. Mike Hart took the ball on 3 straight plays, for a loss of 1, a gain of 17 and a gain of 3. Henne then passed to Manningham for a 35 yard gain to cross the 50 yard line and get inside the Duck 20. A few short gain plays later, Michigan found the end zone on a 7 yard pass from Henne to Adrian Arrington. After the extra point the score was Michigan 7 Oregon 3.

The scouting report of Oregon showed they could move the ball and score quick. They showed they could move the ball on their first drive so for their second they decided to show they could score quick. The entire drive took 2 plays and 39 seconds. On 2nd and 6 from their own 15, Dixon passed to Brian Paysinger who ran away from the Michigan defense to complete the 85 yard touchdown. Oregon must have been expecting a high scoring game where every point would count. Instead of going for the extra point, the Ducks lined up for a 2 point conversion. Tight end Ed Dixon took the direct snap in for the conversion. It appeared their may be a shoot out in Ann Arbor.

Michigan moved the ball in to Oregon territory in 4 quick plays. However, on 1st down Michigan fumbled the ball and Oregon corner Jairus Byrd recovered on the Oregon 29 yard line. Oregon took the ball back across the 50 as far as the Michigan 32, but missed their field goal attempt.

Michigan ran 1 play before the end of the first quarter. Michigan again moved the ball and got well in to the Oregon side of the field they were still unable to finish the drive. Gingell missed on a 42 yard field goal try. The shootout that everyone thought was coming slowed down. Oregon was ready to turn the speed back up.

So far, a lot of Oregon's production was in the air. The Ducks had a dangerous couple of running backs as well. Juniors Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson were a thunder and lightning combination. On this possession both took their turns at running on, over and through the Michigan defense. One key play on 1st down with 11:00 on the clock, not only netted 15 yards and another 1st down, but also two touchdowns, one now and one 7 minutes later. The play was a Statue of Liberty play. Made popular one year earlier in the Fiesta Bowl where Boise State ran it for the win over favored Oklahoma. Oregon ran it to the right side Dixon faking the pass and handing off to Stewart who took the ball to the Michigan 10. Four plays later Stewart found the end zone on a 3 yard run.

Oregon now led 18-7. Michigan came out and took the ball 40 yards but had to punt. Oregon, who thus far had little trouble moving the ball continued to do so at will. Again, a combination of runs by Stewart, Johnson and Dixon, as well as a couple passes got Oregon to the Michigan 14. An encroachment penalty on Michigan moved Oregon to the 9. Remember that Statue of Liberty play I told you got two touchdowns? This was the second. Oregon ran it again. Only this time, Dixon didn't give the ball to Stewart. Instead, while Michigan looked to Stewart, Dixon ran the other way and into the end zone. Oregon now led 25-7.

Michigan went another 3 and out and punted on 4th down. Oregon came back on the field but felt their defense needed to be back out and decided to score in one play. Dixon found receiver Derrick Jones 5 yards behind the defense and the Ducks scored on a 61 yard touchdown pass that took 8 seconds off the clock.

Michigan got the ball back with 2:50 left in the half. Starting from their own 29 the Wolverines drove the field getting three 1st downs including a 4th down conversion to keep their drive alive. Unfortunately, they only got one 4th down conversion and turned the ball over on downs on the Oregon 6 with 24 seconds left. Oregon let the clock run out and went to the locker room with a 32-7 lead.

A green and yellow sledgehammer with O's on the side has been a fixture of Oregon coach Mike Bellotti's half time speeches. Coming back on to the field for the second half, running back Jeremiah Johnson took the sledgehammer to one of the end zones and struck it down, as if to say "The Big House is coming down."

The second half both teams played defense much more intensely. On Oregon's opening drive they only managed 22 yards before having to punt. Michigan had even less luck and could only gain 1 yard and went 3 and out. Oregon got the ball back and went 3 and out also, gaining just 8 yards.

On the next Michigan drive, on 3rd and 10 Ryan Mallett, who had taken over the quarterback duties for Henne in the second half, threw an interception. Oregon was able to finally sustain a drive and took the ball down to the Michigan 10 yard line. On 2nd and 9, Johnson fumbled the ball on the 6 and Michigan recovered. Still unable to move the ball, Michigan had to punt again.

Oregon received the punt but was unable to return it. They started from their own 48 yard line. 1st and 10 was a hand off to Stewart for a 6 yard gain to take it across the 50. That brought up 2nd and 4 where Dixon unloaded a pass to Jaison Williams for a 46 yard touchdown. The first and only score of the third quarter came with 2:39 left. Michigan was again forced to punt and Oregon got 1 play off as the third quarter ended.

That last Oregon touchdown was not only the only score of the third quarter, but it was the only score of the second half. The fourth quarter saw Oregon turn it over on downs. Michigan fumble the ball away. Oregon missed a field goal attempt. A Michigan punt. To end the game Oregon simply ran out the clock.

If you go back to the end of the 2006 season Michigan was actually in a four game losing streak. 2006 ended with a loss to hated rival, Ohio State and then a Rose Bowl loss to Southern Cal. The last time Michigan had this many losses in a row was a five loss streak in 1967. Michigan hasn't lost two straight home games to start the season since 1959. The loss to the Ducks was also the worst loss for Michigan since 1969. That's since before Bo Schembechler was the coach of the Wolverines.

In the hierarchy of college football conferences there has been one consistent, out of 11 conferences, The Sun Belt conference is number 11. The Sun Belt is where teams making the step up from FCS start. Florida Atlantic and Florida International made the jump 2005 and Western Kentucky will play it's first full Sun Belt schedule in 2009. The schools that make up the Sun Belt conference, are largely viewed as the warm up schools for much of the SEC and other conferences.

In 2007, things didn't change much for the Sun Belt, they were still used as warm up games for a good number of BCS schools. They did manage to take a step up though. They were able to get wins over more BCS conference schools in a single season than they had before.

In 2007 the Sun Belt teams earned wins over BCS conference teams from the Big 12, BIG 10, and even the mighty SEC. Compare that to 2006, when no Sun Belt team was able beat a BCS school. The last win over a BCS school was in 2005 when Middle Tennessee State beat Vanderbilt 17-15. Going from 1 win, to 0 wins, to 3 wins is vast improvement. Conference USA managed only 2 wins over BCS schools. Along with a .500 record against Conference USA, arguably the next conference above the Sun Belt, and it could be said the Sun belt was better than Conference USA. The question of course now is, can they keep it up?

I don't think it matters that none of the teams they beat from BCS conferences had outstanding seasons. That none of the teams they beat finished the regular season higher that .500. What mattered was the fact that the Sun Belt teams were moving in the right direction to no longer be viewed as an easy win for the other conferences. They were showing that they can play football and if you don't take them seriously from now on, they will jump on you and never look back.

On Sept 14 Troy hosted Big 12 opponent Oklahoma State. Troy came in to the game 0-2 while Oklahoma State was 1-1. Troy was led by senior quarterback, Omar Haugabook, who threw for a career high of 371 yards and a touchdown. Haugabook added 49 yards on the ground and 2 rushing touchdowns en route to 41-23 victory.

It wasn't just Haugabook that came to play that day. Senior running back Kenny Cattouse rushed for 62 yards on 12 carries. Receivers Kennard Burton and Gary Banks both had 5 receptions for 77 and 66 yards respectively. Troy put up 562 total yards of offense compared to 432 for Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State's production came from running back Kendall Hunter who ran for 125 yards on 16 carries and from quarterback Zac Robinson who threw for 191 yards and a touchdown and ran for 61 more. The Cowboys didn't help their cause much by losing 3 fumbles and throwing 2 interceptions.

The next day, on Sept 15th eventual Sun Belt Conference champion, Florida Atlantic (FAU), a school that played its first football game in 2001, hosted the Big 10's Minesota, a school that played its first game in 1882. And while Minnesota hasn't been in the championship picture lately, has 4 national championships in it's history.

While Troy was led by a senior quarterback in their win, FAU put a sophomore in control. Rusty Smith threw for 463 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions. FAU's offensive yardage totaled 580 yards, out gaining the Gophers by 110 yards.

Minnesota had a sophomore quarterback, Adam Weber, of their own but he didn't have as great a day throwing for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns but also 4 interceptions. To add to the turnover woes, Minnesota also fumbled the ball away 3 times. Minnesota was actually driving at the end, but with 3 seconds left, red shirt freshman Tavious Polo picked off his second interception. FAU picked up their first win over a Big 10 school, 42-39.

The signature win of the season came on November 17 when Louisiana Monroe (ULM) went to Alabama and beat the Crimson tide 21-14. Alabama didn't come in with a great record. They were only 6-4 but had already beat 2 ranked teams, #16 Arkansas and #21 Tennessee. ULM had played and lost to 2 #25 teams, Clemson and Texas A&M, by a combined score of 103-40.

Unlike the previous victories for the Sun Belt, this game was played late in the season rather than early. In fact the game was played one week before the Iron Bowl, Alabama vs. Auburn. How could the Alabama players be expected to give their all on a team like ULM when their rival was right around the corner?

Alabama is a school that runs deep in tradition and their fans let anyone that will listen know it. The Tide can, and do, claim as many as 12 national championships. Actually if you ask some fans may even claim more. Alabama plays in the SEC, year in and year out, arguably the best conference in college football. And it is barely an argument. They currently have the highest paid coach in the country.*

ULM, on the other hand, have no national championships They just had to change their mascot from the Indians to the WarHawks. To be honest, I am not even sure what else to say about them. Oh, Tim McGraw is an alumnus. He didn't play football though his roommate there, Doug Pederson, went on to have a NFL career.

Back to the game. Looking at the stats it would be kind of hard to believe Alabama didn't win. Alabama out gained ULM, 409 yards to 282. The Tide had more passing and rushing yards, and gained more 1st downs. ULM even had more penalties against them, giving up 65 yards.

This one wasn't as high scoring as the other Sun Belt wins, but it stayed true to the turnover theme. The Tide gave up the ball on 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles. The WarHawks didn't turn it over even one time. They may not have beat the Tide in the same fashion as the other Sun Belt teams won their games, but any time a Sun Belt team can beat a historical program like Alabama, they take the win however they can get it.

Along with the wins Sun Belt teams also had a few close games. Middle Tennessee lost to Virginia 23-21. Arkansas State gave Texas a scare, losing 21-13. Troy took a 44-34 loss at Georgia. For all these steps forward though, they were still on the receiving of quite a few lopsided games. North Texas lost to Oklahoma 79-10 and Florida International lost to Penn State 59-0 just for a couple.

I like to hope that this step forward will continue in to the future. Looking ahead at the 2008 schedules I can already see a handful of games that Sun Belt team have a legit chance of winning. I don't think they will be competing for the national championship or have a BCS buster team anytime soon or vie for the title of best conference, but being out of the number 11 spot isn't bad either.