Fansided

20 college football records that will never be broken

By Nathaniel Reeves

7 Nov 1998: Head coach Bobby Bowden of the Florida State Seminoles looks on as players celebrate during the game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Doak Campell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. The Seminoles defeated the Cavaliers 45-14. Mandatory Credit: Scott Halleran /Allsport
7 Nov 1998: Head coach Bobby Bowden of the Florida State Seminoles looks on as players celebrate during the game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Doak Campell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. The Seminoles defeated the Cavaliers 45-14. Mandatory Credit: Scott Halleran /Allsport /
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2 Dec 1989: Quarterback Andre Ware #11 of the Houston Cougars looks on during a game against the Rice Owls in Houston, Texas. The Houston Cougars won the game 64-0.
2 Dec 1989: Quarterback Andre Ware #11 of the Houston Cougars looks on during a game against the Rice Owls in Houston, Texas. The Houston Cougars won the game 64-0. /

7. Team total offense in one game: Houston, 1,021 yards 

The run and shoot offense didn’t just produce individual records, as Houston’s single-game output in a 1989 game against SMU that even the best Air Raid teams won’t be able to touch.

Following a successful 9-2 campaign under Pardee, the Cougars entered the 1989 season ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll with high expectations. Houston’s offense ended up being much more potent than expected in the early going, with quarterback Andre Ware quickly separating himself in the Heisman race en route to a four-game winning streak and No. 8 ranking to begin the season.

The Cougars finished the season ranked 14th at 9-2 overall and led the nation in scoring offense at a whopping 53.5 points per game. Helping that total was a 95-21 beatdown of SMU in October, with the Cougars racking up a record 1,021 yards of total offense, which comfortably broke the previous mark held by 1982 Nebraska by 138 yards.

Among the many other records set in the game which still stand was a 521-yard passing performance in the first half for Ware, as the recently reinstated Mustangs were overwhelmed by the explosive offense. Even last season’s Oklahoma-Texas Tech shootout that broke the record for combined total offense couldn’t challenge the record, with both the Sooners and Red Raiders amassing a mere 854 yards apiece.

Ware was the most high-profile draft pick from the team in 1990 at No. 7 overall, but busted out of the league by 1993 with only five career touchdown passes.

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