Every year new records are set and old ones are broken, in any sport, including College Football. But some seem to be so untouchable, they’ll last forever, like Case Keenum throwing for nearly 20,000 yards in his career, or Barry Sanders posting an unreachable number of yards during the 1988 season for Oklahoma State.
But there’s also Georgia Tech destroying Cumberland nearly 100 years ago, or Nebraska not allowing any of their quarterbacks, especially not Tommie Frazier, to be sacked even once during the 1995 season. Even if a team has their quarterback try and run on each of their snaps for an entire season, I’m not sure that can be done again.
Georgia Tech 222 Cumberland 0
Player on October 7, 1916, the game became the most lopsided in the history of college football. Cumberland, from Lebanon, Tennessee, had discontinued its football program before the season but was not allowed to cancel its game against the GT Engineers, and John Heisman, GT’s coach, threatened with a $3000 fine to Cumberland if they failed to show. Fueled by being crushed in a baseball game against the Bulldogs, Heisman pushed to run up the score (also because rankings were based on points scored as well) against a quickly assembled 14-man team that traveled to Atlanta.
Oklahoma Winning 47 Consecutive Games (1953-1957)
OU lost to Notre Dame, 28-21, in the 1953 season opener and tied Pittsburgh, 7-7, the next week. The winning streak began with a win over Texas on Oct. 10, 1953. They finished with a 9-1-1 record in 1953, beating Maryland in the Orange Bowl. The Sooners went 10-0 in 1954 and 11-0 in 1955. Maryland were beaten in the Orange Bowl once again for the 30th consecutive win. Win number 35 was a legendary beating of Notre Dame, 40-0 in South Bend. On Nov. 9, 1957, in Columbia, Mo., Oklahoma won its 47th-consecutive game with a 39-14 victory against the Missouri Tigers. The streak came to an end on Nov. 16, 1957, when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish claimed a 7-0 victory at Owen Field in Norman.
1,021 Yards of Total Offense in One Game, by Houston
SMU were back after the “death penalty” punishment to the program, and weren’t really in any shape to contend against even the weakest of rivals in college football. Andre Ware led the Cougars to a 95-21 win, passing for 517 yards. Seventeen of SMU’s 22 starters are freshmen. The last time freshmen played so prominent a role, there were four of them and they were singers.
Nebraska not Having a Quarterback Sacked in 1995
Tommie Frazier is one of four quarterbacks to have led his team to consecutive national titles (1994 & 1995) since the 1950s. He was the MVP in three consecutive bowl games played for the national championship. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, playing for a Nebraska team that might have been the best in the history of the sport. In 1995, going undefeated, both Frazier and others at the position weren’t sacked even once. The Cornhuskers didn’t throw the ball much (Frazier threw only 163 passes during the season), but they still attempted more than 200 passes during the season.
Tennessee & Ohio State Never Losing 8 Games in a Season
There’s not a lot to be proud of for the Vols in recent years, finishing with a losing record in four of the last five seasons, but that magic number of 7 losses has never been beaten, and it seems that the arrival of Butch Jones is only going to help the team move out of the SEC East cellar. Ohio State have had only one losing season since 1989, coming in 2011 under Luke Fickell, only the second 7 loss season in program history, and first since 1897.
Florida State in the Bobby Bowden Era
Bobby Bowden was the head coach of Florida State from 1976 to 2009, winning two national championships, in 1993 and 1999. Consistency and not just specific years of excellence were what helped the Semioles stand out in the 1980s and 1990s. They had 14 consecutive top 5 AP poll finishes, beginning in 1987 and ending in 2000; 14 straight ten win seasons in the same seasons; 14 straight bowls without a loss between 1982 and 1996; 11 straight bowl wins, from 1985 till 1996.
Case Keenum Passing Records
The Houston air-raid attack doesn’t make great quarterbacks, but it does put up some amazing numbers. Keenum had five years of eligibility but an injury in 2010 added another year to his college career, finishing with 19,217 passing yards and 155 touchdowns, both NCAA records. He also threw for nine touchdown passes in a single game, throwing for nine on October 27, 2011. He is the only quarterback in Division I FBS football history to have passed for more than 5,000 yards in each of three seasons.
Barry Sanders and the Greatest Rushing Season Ever
There are quite a few people who’ll give the “Greatest running back in history” to Barry Sanders, but he’s also in charge of the greatest rushing season ever for a college running back, posting 2,628 yards for Oklahoma State in 1988, and when including the bowl game it adds up to 2850 that year. He averaged 238 yards per game. The last time a running back won the Heisman Trophy (Mark Ingram), he averaged only 118 yards per game.