Duane Burleson / AP

Appalachian State kicker Julian Rauch (91) and linebacker Brett Irvin celebrate their 34-32 win over Michigan on Saturday. Rauch kicked a 24-yard field goal with 26 second remaining to win it.

As Appalachian State was becoming a household name on Saturday, the Hilltoppers were getting pounded 49-3 by defending national champion Florida. Eventually they’ll be a full-fledged member of the Sun Belt Conference and it appears they’ll fit in perfectly.

Here are some of the other Sun Belt scores from the opening weekend of college football: Troy lost 46-26 to Arkansas; Florida International lost 59-0 to Penn State; and North Texas lost to Oklahoma 79-10. Arkansas State carried the banner for the conference this weekend, losing 21-13 at Texas.

Even before the win over Michigan, folks in Boone, N.C., were pumped for the season. The Mountaineers are trying to become the first team to win three straight national titles in what is now called the Football Championship Subdivision.

“They love to come and watch when you’re winning,” said Peacock, who came home from Michigan to find the goal posts from Kidd Brewer Stadium in his front yard. “They’re not quite as loyal as you want them to be when you’re losing.”

At Troy, North Texas and Arkansas State, the fans are hoping for a bid to the New Orleans bowl on Dec. 21. Whoopee!

Appalachian State could probably walk into the Sun Belt right now and win the league.

“They run that (spread) offense as precise as any offense you want to play against,” Florida State linebackers coach Chuck Amato said.

Amato’s North Carolina State team beat Appalachian State 23-10 in last year’s season opener, and the Mountaineers haven’t lost since.

“They have an awful lot of team speed as anybody who got a chance to watch (the Michigan game) saw,” Amato said.

Could Appalachian State hang in one of the better conferences week-to-week?

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Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who began his career in I-AA and beat Appalachian State 22-15 in his first game with the Tigers eight years ago, said there’s not a lot of difference in the upper echelon of I-AA and I-A teams and the spread-option offense helps close the gap further.

“It’s like the wishbone was 25 years ago,” he said. “It gets one-on-one battles out there on the field, and usually quickness is going to win out.”

Quickness definitely won out on Saturday, but quickness needs a lot of depth to do it against the big guys every week.

Appalachian State is quite happy staying where it is right now. On top of the football world.

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