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20 college football records that will never be broken

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Nathaniel Reeves

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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

These 20 college football records will stand the test of time and never again be broken in the history of the sport.

Sports records are made to broken, and college football has seen no shortage of new all-time marks in recent years.

Players across sports are consistently getting more physically dominant, allowing individuals and teams to put up previously unheard of numbers. College football has been particularly prone to record-breaking in recent years, as dynamic innovative offenses continue to change the game.

Last season alone in college football brought a number of new records, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes racked up 819 yards of offense in a loss to Oklahoma, Connor Halliday broke a decades-long FBS record for single-game passing yards, and East Carolina’s Zay Jones set a new NCAA mark of 399 career receptions.

Even more hallowed marks like Bear Bryant’s six national championships as a head coach could be in danger soon enough. Still, the NCAA record books feature a number of marks that have stood for decades and don’t figure to be seriously challenged.

20. Rushing yards in a quarter: Corey Dillon, 222 

Prior to etching his name in the NFL record brooks, Dillon turned in an untouchable quarter while playing for the Washington Huskies in a 1996 game against San Jose State.

Dillon is a native of Seattle, but spent the first two years of his college career at JUCOs before transferring to Washington ahead of the 1996 season. By the time the mid-November matchup against the Spartans rolled around, Dillon was well on the way to the best rushing season in school history and helped the Huskies to a No. 15 ranking following three straight down years for the program.

The Huskies figured to have little trouble against a San Jose State team that finished the season with the No. 107 scoring defense in the country, but nobody could have foreseen Dillon’s first-quarter onslaught. Dillon scored on touchdown runs of 78, 48 and four yards that helped him to an unbelievable 222-yard quarter on the ground before being taken out of the game with Washington up 25-0.

Even with the explosive offenses of today’s game, it’s hard to image a running back reeling off enough big plays over the course of 15 minutes to top Dillon’s mark. Just for good measure, Dillon also scored on an 83-yard screen pass and also owns the NCAA record for total yards in a quarter with 305, although that one may be a little easier to break for an effective dual-threat quarterback.

Dillon was selected in the second round of the subsequent draft, and set a then-NFL record with 278 rushing yards in a game against the Denver Broncos in 2000, eclipsing the old mark held by Walter Payton.

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.

PORTGeneral View of the Main entry to Providence Park before the game between the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders FC at Providence Park on April 5, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTGeneral View of the Main entry to Providence Park before the game between the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders FC at Providence Park on April 5, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

18. Individual touchdowns in a quarter: Neil Lomax, 7

The run and shoot offense claimed a number of new NCAA records after Mouse Davis popularized the system at Portland State in the late 1970s, including an absurdly prolific quarter for Vikings signal caller Neil Lomax in a 1980 contest against Delaware State.

Davis took over at Division II Portland State in 1975 and installed the run-and-shoot offense, which typically featured one back and four receivers with heavy use of motion and adjusting on the fly. Quarterback and future offensive guru June Jones set a Division II record with 3,518 passing yards in 1975, but Davis’ system wouldn’t really take off until Lomax took over under center two years later.

Lomax finished his career with 90 different NCAA records, including 13,220 passing yards and 106 touchdowns over 42 games, many of which would later be broken. However, nobody figures to top Lomax’s first quarter on Nov. 8, 1980, as he tossed seven touchdown passes in the opening frame en route to a 105-0 destruction of the Hornets.

To put things in perspective, Lomax’s seven touchdowns in a quarter match the FBS record for an entire half, most recently set by Memphis’ Paxton Lynch in 2015. Quarterbacks like Andre Ware and David Klingler would re-write the record books in later iterations of the run-and-shoot, but Lomax’s 15-minute stretch against the overmatched Hornets hasn’t been challenged since.

Unlike so many other quarterbacks from the system, Lomax enjoyed a solid enough NFL career with the Cardinals from 1981-1988 that included a pair of Pro Bowl appearances.

DALLAS – JANUARY 2: Wide receiver Rashaun Woods #82 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys plays against the Mississippi Rebels during the SBC Cotton Bowl on January 2, 2004 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. ‘Ole Miss defeated Oklahoma State 31-28. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS – JANUARY 2: Wide receiver Rashaun Woods #82 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys plays against the Mississippi Rebels during the SBC Cotton Bowl on January 2, 2004 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. ‘Ole Miss defeated Oklahoma State 31-28. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

17. Individual touchdown receptions in a single game: Rashaun Woods, 7

Receiving records are a little tricky to project in the current college football landscape, but Woods’ seven touchdown receptions in one game is going to be tough for anyone to eclipse.

Woods joined Oklahoma State prior to the 2000 season and helped the Cowboys improve from the nation’s 97th best scoring offense all the way to 13th by 2002, the second year of the Les Miles era. After a pair of 1,000 yard seasons plus a first-team All-American nod, Woods seemed poised for a massive senior campaign on a team that also featured prolific junior quarterback Josh Fields.

Nebraska limited Woods to 47 yards in the 2003 season opener, but the future first-round pick wouldn’t be kept down for long. Three weeks later in a win over SMU, Woods reeled in scoring receptions on three straight snaps in the first half en route to a seven-touchdown catch performance, eclipsing a Division I record that had stood for 34 years.

The SMU game was the highlight of a brilliant career that included 293 receptions, 4,414 yards and 42 touchdowns, all of which were Big 12 records at the time. Even with a number of Air Raid offenses lighting up scoreboards across the country, an individual receiver reeling in eight touchdowns in one game to actually eclipse Woods seems next to impossible.

Woods was selected near the end of the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft, but couldn’t replicate his college success and quickly bounced out of the league with seven receptions to his name.

STILLWATER, OK – NOVEMBER 7 : An Oklahoma State Cowboys helmet before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs November 7, 2015 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Horned Frogs 49-29. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK – NOVEMBER 7 : An Oklahoma State Cowboys helmet before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs November 7, 2015 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Horned Frogs 49-29. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

16. Individual passes intercepted in one game: Four different players, 5

While three others have been able to at least match the current single-game interception mark since it was originally set in 1942, it’s hard to imagine a lone defender besting the group with six picks in one contest.

Oklahoma State’s Lee Cook, Brown’s Walt Pastuszak, Houston’s Byron Beaver and Miami Ohio’s Dan Rebsch are the four individuals to record five interceptions in a single game. Despite college football games featuring as many as 120 pass attempts on the regular in the modern era, no player has piled up five picks in a game since Rebsch accomplished the feat in 1972.

Cook may own the most historically significant performance out of those four players to accomplish the feat. In a 1942 blowout win over Detroit University, Oklahoma State recorded 10 interceptions to set a Division I team record in a single game, another mark which is likely to never be topped.

Pastuszak, who also served as a quarterback for the Bears, recorded his effort in a 46-0 win over Rhode Island in 1949, one of the best seasons in Brown program history. Beaver picked off Baylor four times in a 19-0 win over Baylor to open the 1962 season before Rebsch became the fourth player in the records books a decade later with a stalwart performance against Western Michigan.

None of those four record setters played at the next level, but they will forever own a piece of college football history.

26 Aug 2000: Travis Prentice #41 of the Cleveland Browns runs with the ball while Jude Waddy #54 the Green Bay Packers tries to tackle him during the Pre-Season game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Browns 34-33. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport
26 Aug 2000: Travis Prentice #41 of the Cleveland Browns runs with the ball while Jude Waddy #54 the Green Bay Packers tries to tackle him during the Pre-Season game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Browns 34-33. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport

15. Consecutive carries without a fumble: Travis Prentice, 862

For his remarkable run of ball security with Miami Ohio in the late 1990s, Prentice owns a safe spot in the NCAA record books.

The Louisville native earned All-State recognition in high school before attending nearby Miami to play collegiately. After redshirting in 1995, Prentice broke into the RedHawks’ rotation as a freshman with 123 carries for 601 yards and twelve touchdowns.

From then on, Prentice would develop into a workhorse feature back with at least 296 carries, 1,349 yards and 17 touchdowns in each of his three remaining collegiate seasons to finish his career as one of the most prolific rushers in NCAA history and help Miami to one of its best stretches ever. Beyond that terrific production as a volume rusher, Prentice began a remarkable record streak of 862 carries without a fumble as a sophomore in 1997.

That ball security record is almost certain to hold up throughout college football history as even reaching Prentice’s sheer number of carries is a tall enough order for any running back in today’s game. Prentice also finished his career with a then-record 73 rushing touchdowns and 78 total scores, although Ron Dayne and Keenan Reynolds would both top those marks.

The Cleveland Browns selected Prentice in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft, but the college legend was out of professional football three years later with just 525 yards and 10 touchdowns to his credit.

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 10: General view of the field during the NFL preseason game between the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears on August 10, 2002 at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illniois in Champaign, Illinois. The Broncos won 27-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 10: General view of the field during the NFL preseason game between the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears on August 10, 2002 at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illniois in Champaign, Illinois. The Broncos won 27-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

14. Career individual interceptions: Al Brosky, 29

Despite playing just three seasons at Illinois, Brosky owns an all-time record for most interceptions that has stood for over six decades.

A native of Cincinnati, Brosky played running back for one year in high school before enlisting in the United States Army from 1946-1948. Legendary Illinois head coach Ray Eliot brought Broksy on ahead of the 1950 season and converted him to safety, a move that would pay off handsomely over the next three years.

Broksy started his career with the Fighting Illini  by intercepting 11 passes in 1950, and matched that mark again the next season while recording at least one pick in 15 straight games. The Fighting Illini won their most recent national championship in 1951, as Brosky recorded an interception in a blowout win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl to close out the year.

After piling up another eight interceptions in 1952, Broksy finished his career with 29 picks in just 27 career games (bowl statistics did not count towards official totals at the time), a mark that has continued to stand the test of time. Bowling Green’s Martin Bayless fell two interceptions short of Broksy’s record in 1983, and no individual has recorded more than 20 career picks since Wake Forest’s Alphonso Smith in 2008.

Broksy went on to play one season at the next level, recording two interceptions for the Chicago Cardinals in 1954.

STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 01: A Penn State Nittany Lions helmet sits on the field during warm ups prior to the start of the Nittany Lions game against the Ohio Bobcats at Beaver Stadium on September 1, 2012 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 01: A Penn State Nittany Lions helmet sits on the field during warm ups prior to the start of the Nittany Lions game against the Ohio Bobcats at Beaver Stadium on September 1, 2012 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

13. Team rushing yards allowed per game: Penn State, 17

As terrific as Alabama’s rush defense has been during its current dynasty, even Nick Saban can’t construct a unit capable of approaching Penn State’s 1947 unit.

Following a run of eight straight winning seasons under longtime successful head coach Bob Higgins, the Nittany Lions were again expected to be a national contender entering the 1947 campaign. Penn State opened the year with a 27-4 victory over Washington State in what would turn out to be one of the better offensive outputs against the stingy Nittany Lions defense that season.

Three weeks later, Penn State put together one of the more unbelievable defensive box scores in college football history by holding Syracuse to -47 total yards — the worst offensive mark in NCAA history — in a 40-0 win. The Nittany Lions tied No. 4 SMU in the Cotton Bowl to finish the season at 9-0-1 while allowing just four points per game, with only the Mustangs and West Virginia managing to score more than once.

Penn State’s run defense was the driving force behind the legendary unit by surrendering all of 17 yards on the ground per game, still the best mark in NCAA history. For comparison’s sake, Alabama allowed 63.9 rush yards per game in 2016 to lead the nation by a healthy amount, and no run defense has dipped below the 40 yards per game mark in the past decade.

The 1947 unit also set a third record that will likely stand forever by allowing 0.64 yards per rush. As All-American honors were reserved for the offensive side of the ball at the time, no Nittany Lions defender earned any individual accolades.

19 Sep 1993: Quarterback David Klingler of the Cincinnati Bengals looks to pass the ball as a Pittsburgh Steelers player rushes him during a game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers won the game, 34-7.
19 Sep 1993: Quarterback David Klingler of the Cincinnati Bengals looks to pass the ball as a Pittsburgh Steelers player rushes him during a game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers won the game, 34-7.

12. Individual passing touchdowns in one game, David Klingler, 11

Fifteen years after Davis brought the system to college football, the run and shoot offense continued to shatter records thanks to Klingler and the Houston Cougars.

A native of Houston, Klingler attended Stratford High School in his hometown before joining the Cougars ahead of the 1988 season. Head coach Jack Pardee had the Houston offense rolling as Klingler sat on the bench his first two years in college, as quarterback Andre Ware took home the 1989 Heisman Trophy.

With Ware off to the next level and Pardee set to try his hand at the NFL with the Oilers, Klingler finally got  a chance to start in 1990 under former offensive coordinator John Jenkins, and made the most of his opportunity. Klingler threw for 5,140 yards and a then-NCAA record 54 touchdowns to help Houston to a 10-1 campaign, one of the best in program history.

The most impressive individual performance of that season was easily an 11-touchdown outing in an 84-21 destruction of Eastern Washington late in the year, one of Klingler’s few all-time records that has held up. Future run and shoot signal callers like Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan would put up more prolific career numbers, but neither had more than even six touchdowns in a single game.

Like Ware before him, Klingler was selected in the top 10 of the NFL draft but quickly busted out of the league with a 16:22 TD:INT ratio across seven seasons with three different teams.

NORMAN, OK – SEPTEMBER 20: Defensive back Antonio Perkins #28 of the University of Oklahoma Sooners returns a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown against the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins at Memorial Stadium on September 20, 2003 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated UCLA 59-24. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK – SEPTEMBER 20: Defensive back Antonio Perkins #28 of the University of Oklahoma Sooners returns a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown against the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins at Memorial Stadium on September 20, 2003 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated UCLA 59-24. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

11. Punt return touchdowns in one game: Antonio Perkins, 3

Having three punt return touchdowns over the course of an entire season would rank among the most prolific special teams efforts of all time, but Perkins took it to a different level by accomplishing the feat in just one game.

Perkins attended high school in Lawton, about an hour outside Norman, and chose to remain in-state to play under second-year head coach Bob Stoops prior to the 2000 season. While the speedy defensive back took a redshirt and watched from the sidelines as the Sooners captured the 2000 national title, Perkins got into 10 games the next season and reeled in three interceptions.

Stoops moved Perkins to special teams the following year, and he instantly transformed into one of the best kick and punt returners in the nation with three touchdowns. In a September 2003 game against UCLA, Perkins achieved the impossible by bringing three punts back for scores in an easy 59-24.

Perkins had four punt return touchdowns in 2003, tied for the third-most in FBS history, and his career mark of eight scores matched Texas Tech’s Wes Welker atop the record books. Somebody matching Perkins’ three punt return scores in one game feels like a stretch, and his mark being bested will almost certainly never happen.

Following his brilliant college career that included unanimous All-American honors, Perkins was selected in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft and appeared in six games with the Cleveland Browns before heading to Canada.

NORMAN, OK – DECEMBER 3: A member of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad waves a wet flag after a touchdown against the Oklahoma State Cowboys December 3, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 38-20 to become Big XII champions. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK – DECEMBER 3: A member of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad waves a wet flag after a touchdown against the Oklahoma State Cowboys December 3, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 38-20 to become Big XII champions. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

10. Team rushing yards per game: Oklahoma, 472.4

While passing records are constantly falling every year in college football, Oklahoma’s decades-old team rushing record appears to be quite safe.

Oklahoma hadn’t quite returned to glory of the Bud Wilkinson days by the early 1970s, but were quickly perfecting the wishbone offense under coordinator Barry Switzer. With terrific option quarterback Jack Mildren set to enter his senior year, Oklahoma offered plenty of promise heading into the 1971 season.

The Sooners shattered expectations by piling up an eye-popping 472.4 yards per contest en route to an 11-1 record and No. 2 AP ranking at the end of the season, their highest since 1956. Nebraska was the only opponent to keep Oklahoma under 300 yards on the ground, while a Sooners rusher eclipsed the 100-yard mark 18 different times.

Greg Pruitt led Oklahoma with 1,760 yards and 18 touchdowns on just 196 attempts, while Mildren piled up 1,298 yards and 20 scores himself. Even option teams like the service academies and Georgia Tech can’t come anywhere close to that number, as the 1971 Sooners gained nearly 50 yards per game more on the ground then the 1987 Oklahoma squad. the second-best rushing team in history.

Mildren played three years in the NFL as a defensive back, while Pruitt stared at the next level with five Pro Bowl nods between the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Raiders.

LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 29: Nevada Wolf Pack mascot Alphie attends a game against the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada won 49-27. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 29: Nevada Wolf Pack mascot Alphie attends a game against the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada won 49-27. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

9. Longest punt: Pat Brady, 99 yards 

No record on this list is safer than Brady’s 99-yard punt, as he will forever own at least at least a share of college football history thanks to his mammoth boot in 1950.

After spending his early years in Seattle, Brady played collegiately at Nevada, which was just in its third year as a Division I program in 1948. The Wolf Pack initially started Brady under center before also moving him to punter shortly after.

Few detailed records exist about punting during the era, but Brady was skilled enough to get drafted by the New York Giants as a specialist four years later. That showed in an October 1950 game against Loyola Marymount, as Brady unleashed a 99-yard punt, becoming the only player in college football history to do so.

The punt reportedly sailed over 70 yards in the air before rolling down past the 1-yard line, although it did little to help the Wolf Pack in a 34-7 loss. Steve O’Neal came closest to matching Brady in the NFL ranks with a 98-yard boot in 1968, but the Nevada punter’s record can’t technically be broken.

Brady finished out his collegiate career at Bradley in 1951 before moving to the CFL for one season. The Pittsburgh Steelers scooped up Brady in 1952, and he went on to lead the NFL in punting twice.

SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 1: Defensive back Johnnie Jackson #40 of the San Francisco 49ers listens to special teams coach Lynn Stiles during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Candlestick Park on December 1, 1991 in San Francisco, California. The 49ers won 38-24. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 1: Defensive back Johnnie Jackson #40 of the San Francisco 49ers listens to special teams coach Lynn Stiles during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Candlestick Park on December 1, 1991 in San Francisco, California. The 49ers won 38-24. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

8. Individual pick sixes in one game: Johnnie Jackson, 3

Only two players in the entire nation where able to tally three interception return touchdowns in 2016, showing just how tough Jackson’s record will be to top.

Jackson played his high school ball in Harlingen in southeastern Texas before remaining in-state for college at Houston ahead of the 1985 season. While Jackson was originally hoping to play quarterback at the collegiate level, he quickly wound up buried on the depth chart and moved full-time to safety.

After getting in the rotation as a freshman, Jackson earned a starting safety spot as a sophomore and recorded a pair of interceptions. By the next season, Jackson had transformed into one of the most dynamic playmaking safeties in the nation with eight interceptions, earning honorable All-American status in the process.

The standout performance from that brilliant 1987 campaign was a three-interception effort in a November win over Texas, all of which were returned for touchdowns. It would take a miracle for any defender to break that record amount, as even a pair of pick sixes for an individual in one contest is a rare occurrence.

Jackson was selected in the fifth round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and played in all 16 games as a rookie, helping the team win Super Bowl XXIV.

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.

DETROIT, MI – OCTOBER 18: Barry Sanders during the Pro Football Hall of Fame half time show during the Chicago Bears v Detroit Lions game at Ford Field on October 18, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI – OCTOBER 18: Barry Sanders during the Pro Football Hall of Fame half time show during the Chicago Bears v Detroit Lions game at Ford Field on October 18, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

6. Individual rushing yards per game in a single season: Barry Sanders, 238.9

As perhaps the most explosive running back in both college and pro football history, Sanders amassed some incredible numbers during his legendary 1988 season that will never be duplicated.

Sanders did not start at running back until the fourth game of his senior year at Wichita North High School, and did not receive many Division I offers as a result. Oklahoma State was the only major program to recruit Sanders, and he joined the Cowboys ahead of the 1986 season.

All-American Thurman Thomas was ahead of Sanders on the depth chart for his first two collegiate seasons, although he did rack up nine touchdowns in 1987. Sanders was finally given the chance to start in 1988 and responded with the most legendary season for a running back in NCAA football history, racking up  2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns in the regular season alone.

Among the 34 records Sanders set that year, the mark of 238.9 rushing yards per game remains the most unbreakable. Melvin Gordon owns the second-best rushing total in history with 2.587 yards, although he did so in 14 games for an average of 184.8 per contest.

Sanders went on to become a Hall of Famer at the next level and likely could have owned the NFL rushing record had he chosen not to retire just 10 years into his career.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – JANUARY 01: Head coach Bobby Bowden of the Florida State Seminoles is carried off the field by his players after defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers during the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl on January 1, 2010 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Florida State defeated West Virginia 33-21 in Bobby Bowden’s last game as a head coach for the Seminoles. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL – JANUARY 01: Head coach Bobby Bowden of the Florida State Seminoles is carried off the field by his players after defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers during the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl on January 1, 2010 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Florida State defeated West Virginia 33-21 in Bobby Bowden’s last game as a head coach for the Seminoles. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

5. Consecutive finishes in the AP top five: Florida State, 14 

Top five AP finishes is a rather arbitrary record, but Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles still deserve a ton of credit for their unbeatable run that spanned the entire 1990s and more.

Following successful stints at Samford and West Virginia to begin his coach career, Bowden took over at Florida State prior to the 1976 season. The Seminoles were not quite the powerhouse program of today, and had won just four games over the three seasons prior to Bowden’s arrival.

That changed in a hurry, as the Seminoles improved all the way to 11-1 by 1979 and have been a national contender in the vast majority of seasons since. Florida State went 11-1 again in 1987 to finish in the No. 2 spot in the AP Poll, and it wouldn’t slip outside the top five again until an eight-win season in 2001.

The fact that it’s slightly disappointing the Seminoles only captured the 1993 and 1999 national titles out of that stretch is a testament to how dominant Bowden’s program was. Saban’s Alabama, widely considered one of the greatest dynasties the sport has ever seen, is currently at a streak of three straight top five finishes, showing how unbreakable the record is.

After a down period near the end of Bowden’s career, the Seminoles are rolling again under Jimbo Fisher, although he has a long way to go to match the longevity of the previous dynasty.

LUBBOCK, TX – NOVEMBER 9: A special edition Lone Survivor helmet with the motto “NEVER QUIT” was worn by the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 9, 2013 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. The Kansas State Wildcats won the game 49-26. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – NOVEMBER 9: A special edition Lone Survivor helmet with the motto “NEVER QUIT” was worn by the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 9, 2013 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. The Kansas State Wildcats won the game 49-26. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)

4. Punting yards in a single game: Charlie Calhoun, 1,318

Regarded as perhaps the worst college football game of all time, the 1939 contest between Texas Tech and Centenary set a number of punting records that are simply impossible to top.

Neither team was particularly successful during the 1939 season, but that was only a small part of the disastrous matchup between the Red Raiders and Gents. A torrential downpour hit Centenary College Stadium ahead of the November 1939 game in Shreveport, muddying the field to the point of being basically unplayable and forcing the teams to punt often on first down.

Given the fitting nickname “When Punts Rained From the Sky,” the two teams combined for 77 punts, 14 fumbles and 30 total yards on 33 offensive plays across the entire game. The matchup ended in a 0-0 tie, although the Gents easily outgained the Red Raiders 31 to -1 and managed to punt one fewer time.

None of the 14 records set during the game will likely ever be broken, but Calhoun’s mark of 1,318 punting  yards in one game for the Red Raiders seems particularly absurd. Virginia’s Nicholas Cante led the nation in total punting last year with just 3,279 yards across 12 games.

Texas Tech managed to recover from the punting spree with two wins in its final three games to finish the season at 5-5-1 overall.

GAINESVILLE, FL – NOVEMBER 07: A general view of a Florida Gators flag before the game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL – NOVEMBER 07: A general view of a Florida Gators flag before the game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)

3. Individual passed intercepted in one game: John Reaves, 9

While Reaves actually enjoyed an outstanding career under center for the Gators, he will be more remembered in the college football history books for a terrible outing in November of 1969 against Auburn.

Reaves was born in Alabama but moved to Tampa for high school, where he became one of the top prospects in the state. Head coach Ray Graves kept Reaves in-state at Florida, and he earned the starting quarterback job in 1969 while surrounded by a loaded group of playmakers.

Thanks to Reaves’ passing ability, the Gators entered the matchup with Auburn at a perfect 6-0 and ranked seventh in the nation. Inexplicably, Reaves tossed an NCAA record nine interceptions in Florida’s lone loss of the season, as four different Tigers had multiple picks in the game.

While Reaves did attempt 66 passes in the game, that level of inaccuracy and poor decision-making has not been approached since. The sheer number of picks would be tough to match in any number of attempts in one game, and a quarterback would likely be pulled today before it reached that point.

Reaves was able to recover from the horrible showing and went on to earn All-American honors in 1971 before spending 10 seasons in the NFL.

NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 29: Oklahoma Sooners helmets on the field before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks October 29, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Jayhawks 56-3. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 29: Oklahoma Sooners helmets on the field before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks October 29, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Jayhawks 56-3. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

2. Team winning streak: Oklahoma, 47 games 

While there have been some memorable dynasties since Wilkinson’s Sooners, the dominance of a 47-game winning streak will never be matched.

By the beginning of the immortal streak in 1953, the Sooners were already rolling under Wilkinson with five straight top 10 finishes, including the 1950 national championship. The 1953 season got off to a rough start with a loss to Notre Dame and tie against Pittsburgh, but Oklahoma would go on to take things to a completely different level over the next four years.

After winning out over the rest of the year, the Sooners were unblemished over the next three seasons, capturing national titles in 1955 and 1956. Memorable moments from the win streak included two straight Orange Bowl wins against Maryland and a 40-0 destruction of the Fighting Irish in October of 1956.

Notre Dame won its first seven games in 1957 before falling to Notre Dame 7-0 on Nov. 16, ending the streak at 47 consecutive victories. It’s impossible to imagine a program turning in three perfect seasons in a row and then some to top the Sooners in today’s game, and no team was piled up more than 35 straight victories since.

The Sooners remained nationally competitive over the rest of Wilkinson’s tenure and even won 28 straight later on under Barry Switzer, but the period from 1953 to 1957 holds a special place in college football history.

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 12: A general view of Bobby Dodd Stadium during the game between the of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Tulane Green Wave on September 12, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 12: A general view of Bobby Dodd Stadium during the game between the of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Tulane Green Wave on September 12, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

1. Margin of victory: Georgia Tech, 222 points

The infamous Georgia Tech beatdown of Cumberland in 1916 stands out as the most unbreakable record in college football history, as no team is likely to even reach half of the Engineers’ margin of victory ever again.

Legendary head coach John Heisman guided the Engineers to an unblemished campaign in 1915, and the team won its first two games the next season entering the October matchup against the Bulldogs. Cumberland had previously discontinued its football team but was not allowed to back out of the Georgia Tech matchup, meaning the Bulldogs were force to assemble a team of fraternity brothers weeks before.

Adding context to Heisman’s motivation was the fact that Cumberland’s baseball team ran up the score in a 22-0 win over Georgia Tech earlier in the year. The Engineers scored 63 points in each of the first two quarters and only slowed down slightly in the second half, finishing with an unbelievable 222-0 victory.

Cumberland immediately punted on many of its possessions and was outgained 522 to -28, although it did have 14 passing yards to Georgia Tech’s zero. Michigan gained some national attention for its 78-0 win over Rutgers last season, but that isn’t even in the same ballpark as Heisman and Georgia Tech.

The Engineers would continue to assert their dominance over college football and did not lose a game until November of 1918.

nathanielreeves

Nathaniel Reeves

Journalism graduate from the University of Washington. Fan of Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, UDub and Team Chaos.