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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CANTON, OH – AUGUST 8: Former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson and Derrion Thomas unveil the bust of the late Derrick Thomas at his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the 2009 enshrinement ceremony at Fawcett Stadium on August 8, 2009 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CANTON, OH – AUGUST 8: Former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson and Derrion Thomas unveil the bust of the late Derrick Thomas at his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the 2009 enshrinement ceremony at Fawcett Stadium on August 8, 2009 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

19. Individual sacks in a single season: Derrick Thomas, 27

Some challengers have at least been in the vicinity of this record, but the late great Thomas figures to keep his name in the college football history books forever thanks to a legendary 1988 campaign at Alabama.

Thomas arrived in Tuscaloosa prior to the 1985 season and racked up 25 in his first three years as the major force on Alabama’s fearsome defensive line while shattering a number of school records. While Thomas was expected to maintain that level of production alongside Keith McCants as a senior in 1988, he took things to a completely different level.

The unanimous first-team All-American and 10th-place Heisman finisher piled up an incredible 27 sacks to set a single-season record in addition to a not-too-shabby 39 tackles for loss. Picking one standout game from Thomas’ brilliant career is next to impossible, but many will remember his three-sack, nine-hurry effort in an 8-3 slugfest win over Penn State in October of 1988.

While Thomas’ career mark of 52 sacks has since been matched by Tedy Bruschi, no player has racked up more than 24 in a single campaign since, even as offenses rely on a higher volume of passes across college football. The record is so untouchable that Alabama’s Tim Williams and Jonathan Allen, two of the best pass-rushers in the nation over the past two years, combined for no more than 22.5 sacks in any given season.

After being selected fourth overall in the following draft, Thomas was playing at an All-Pro level in just his second year in the league and set an NFL record with seven sacks in a November 1990 game against the Seattle Seahawks. Tragically, Thomas died in 2000 due to injuries sustained in a car crash, but will be immortalized forever in both the NCAA record book and Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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