The question now is not whether Appalachian State has North Carolina’s best college football program — which it clearly does — but how exactly the Mountaineers defied the odds to build it in such an enduring way. And also: why no other school in the state has come close to replicating it.
Now keep in mind: a program is different than a team. Nobody has forgotten (or is likely to soon forget) North Carolina’s still-fresh 63-61 victory in Boone. That’s all well and good for the Tar Heels, who proved it (kind of) on the field on that particular Saturday.
This past Saturday, meanwhile, in College Station, Texas, the Mountaineers proved some things, too, with their 17-14 victory at then-No. 6 Texas A&M. They proved they have short memories, for one. They proved, again, that recruiting rankings and endless resources aren’t always the end-all, be-all.
