[h=1]College football's 10 unbreakable records[/h]Chris LowESPN Senior Staff Writer
ESPN INSIDER
This summer marks the 75th anniversary of one of the most cherished (and unbreakable) records in all of sports.
Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games from May 15 to July 17, 1941, a record that hasn't really been challenged since. Ted Williams also ended that magical year for Major League Baseball hitting .406 and remains the last big leaguer to hit .400 for a season.
To truly appreciate DiMaggio's brilliance, consider that the closest anyone has come to the record was in 1978, when Pete Rose hit safely in 44 consecutive games. Nobody has reached the 40-game mark since Rose did so 38 years ago.
It's true that records are meant to be broken. But in the case of DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, don't hold your breath.
What does all this have to do with college football?
There are similarly untouchable records, and we've ranked the 10 most unbreakable ones in college football history and added 10 current teams, players or conferences that could maybe, possibly, but probably won't approach those marks. Can't imagine there will be any disagreement with our choices.
1. Tennessee's shutout streak: The game has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, so consider how much it's transformed over the past 70-plus years. The athletes, the parity, the rules, the strategy -- they've all changed. So it stands to reason that we'll never see a team go the entire regular season unbeaten, untied and unscored on again like Tennessee did in 1939 under then-Major Robert Neyland, who would go on to become Gen. Neyland. His Vols racked up 17 straight regular-season shutouts from Nov. 5, 1938 season through Oct. 12, 1940. That's a total of 68 straight quarters in which nobody scored on Tennessee.
It's hard to fathom such defensive dominance in this day and age, especially considering 30 FBS teams averaged more than 35 points per game last season.
As it was, the Vols were unable to achieve total perfection in 1939. They lost 14-0 to USC in the Rose Bowl after outscoring opponents 212-0 during the regular season. Neyland didn't make any excuses afterward. "We weren't stale or off form. We were outclassed," he said. "We were beaten badly by a superior team, and my hat is off to [then-USC coach] Howard Jones."
The year before, Duke also came agonizingly close to throwing up all zeros, going 9-0 during the regular season while not allowing a single point. Like the Vols, the "Iron Dukes" made the cross-country trek to the Rose Bowl in the postseason and led USC 3-0 early in the fourth quarter. But the Trojans' fourth-string quarterback, Doyle Nave, came off the bench late in the game to connect with "Antelope" Al Krueger on four straight passes. The final one was a 19-yard touchdown with 40 seconds remaining, lifting USC to a 7-3 win and spoiling Duke's perfect -- and unblemished -- season.
Current team that could come close: It's foolish to even suggest that this one would ever be broken, even if the 1985 Chicago Bears were allowed to come back and play a season in the collegiate ranks. But we'll go with Alabama. As long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide are going to be a load on defense.
2. Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak: There was no stopping Bud Wilkinson's Oklahoma football machine in the 1950s. The Sooners steamrolled their way to 47 consecutive wins, a streak that began in 1953 and lasted most of five seasons, producing national championships in 1955 and '56. Wilkinson's teams were big, powerful and disciplined, but he was also an innovator. He perfected the Sooners' split-T offensive formation and also invented the no-huddle offense.
Notre Dame, an 18-point underdog, ended the streak on Nov. 16, 1957, in Norman with a 7-0 win. The game's only touchdown came inside the final four minutes. It was a stunning defeat for the Sooners, and their fans sat in the stands for more than 30 minutes after the game trying to come to grips with what they'd just witnessed -- an actual Oklahoma loss.
We're going on nearly 60 years since Oklahoma reeled off the longest winning streak in major college football history, and the closest any team in the FBS ranks has come to breaking the record was Toledo, who notched 35 straight wins from 1969-71. Among power conferences, Miami (2000-02) and USC (2003-05) each reeled off 34 wins in a row. Those were some great teams, too, and they still fell 13 games -- an entire season -- short. As far as unbreakable records in college football go, this one has few peers.
Current team that could come close: Hey, Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes won 23 in a row before they were upset at home last season by Michigan State. And Meyer's at the level now that he doesn't recruit; he selects. Plus, the Buckeyes are in the Big Ten. Just saying.
3. Barry Sanders' wizardry: Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon made a run two years ago at Sanders' single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards, but finished 41 yards short with 2,587. Here's the catch: Sanders set the record in only 11 games in 1988 on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State (Gordon played in 14 that year). Back then, bowl statistics didn't count, and he had an additional 222 yards in the Holiday Bowl against Wyoming.
With running backs playing as many as 14 or 15 games in a season now, there's a chance somebody will eclipse Sanders' season-rushing total. But what seems untouchable is his NCAA record of 238.9 rushing yards per game. Only two other running backs in major college history have averaged 200 rushing yards per game -- USC's Marcus Allen (1981) and Cornell's Ed Marinaro (1971). Yes, the same Ed Marinaro who starred in "Hill Street Blues," and yes, Ivy League schools were classified as Division I-A back then. Sanders had four 300-yard games in 1988, and his lowest output of the season was 154 yards against Missouri. Counting the bowl game, he rushed for 43 touchdowns. Hard to imagine we'll ever again see anybody like Sanders -- or anybody special enough to rush for nearly 240 yards per game.
Current player who could come close: There are great running backs everywhere you look right now in college football, but LSU's Leonard Fournetteis on another planet. He led the country with an average of 162.8 rushing yards per game last season, and everybody knows that Les Miles likes to run the ball. Then again, with No. 7 in his backfield, why wouldn't he?
4. Florida State's top-5 finishes: Just think: If a few of those field goals had been good, how many more national championships would Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles have? Bowden finished his legendary 34-year career at FSU with two titles and having put Florida State football on the map. His 377 career wins are second only to Penn State's Joe Paterno in the FBS ranks, but Bowden's most impressive accomplishment as FSU coach was his incredible consistency.
The Seminoles finished in the top 5 of every final AP poll from 1987-2000, an amazing run in any era. Nobody else comes close. Those vaunted USC teams under Pete Carroll produced seven straight top-5 finishes from 2002-08, but that's only halfway to FSU's 14. The best Oklahoma did under Wilkinson was seven straight top-5 finishes, while Bear Bryant at Alabama never went more than three straight years with a top-5 finish in the AP poll, although he managed it three separate times. Even considering what Nick Saban has done at Alabama with four national championships in 10 years in Tuscaloosa, he's never finished in the top 5 of the AP poll more than two years in a row.
Current team that could come close: Dabo Swinney has it rolling right now at Clemson, on the field and on the recruiting trail. He's built that program to last, and the Tigers have the look of a 10- or 11-win team for a long time to come.
5. John Reaves' nine picks: There are hallowed records, and then there are dubious records. Florida's John Reaves was an All-American quarterback at Florida and put up even better career numbers than Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier. When Reaves left following the 1971 season, he was college football's all-time leading passer with 7,549 yards and was taken in the first round of the NFL draft. But as a sophomore in a 1969 game against Auburn, he threw an NCAA-record nine interceptions in a 38-12 loss that was the only game the Gators dropped all season. Reaves threw 66 passes in the game and joked years later that the "safeties were the only guys who were open that day." Even with the way teams sling the ball all over the field today, it's doubtful we'll ever see anybody get to nine interceptions again -- unless he's allowed to throw passes from the bench.
Current player who could come close: It would have to be somebody who averages 50-plus passes per game, sees his team get behind early and just keeps airing it out. Washington State's Luke Falk only threw eight interceptions all of last season, but he did attempt 53.8 passes per game. Who knows? Maybe in one of those bizarre West Coast shootouts ...
6. Derrick Thomas' sack parade: Was there ever a better pure pass-rusher than the late Thomas, who once had seven sacks in an NFL game? At Alabama, he was equally unblockable, finishing his senior season with 27 sacks and 39 tackles for loss before going on to stardom with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Nearly 30 years later, Thomas' 1988 season is still considered the gold standard in the SEC for defensive excellence. Don't go looking for his gaudy numbers in the NCAA record book, though. At the time, sacks weren't considered an official NCAA statistic, meaning Arizona State's Terrell Suggs has the official NCAA sack record with 24 in 2002. With more games in a season now, it's true that defenders have more opportunities to rack up big sack numbers. But in the past five years, only two players have registered more than 18 sacks in a season: Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha had 19 in 14 games, and Utah's Nate Orchard had 18.5 in 13 games, both during the 2014 season.
Current player who could come close: Texas A&M's Myles Garrett is a pass-rushing machine and the potential No. 1 pick in next year's NFL draft. He's already said his goal is 20 sacks this season. Why stop there?
7. Oklahoma's wishbone onslaught: The most devastating rushing attack in the history of college football belongs to the 1971 Oklahoma team, which averaged an NCAA-record 472.4 yards per game. Barry Switzer was the offensive coordinator for that team under head coach Chuck Fairbanks and had installed the wishbone the season before. Nobody could derail the Sooners' ground game, as they averaged 45 points per game and lost only once to eventual national champion Nebraska 35-31 in the Game of the Century. Even in that game, Oklahoma rushed for 279 yards.
The late Jack Mildren was the trigger man at quarterback and had 1,140 rushing yards himself, while running back Greg Pruitt averaged 8.98 yards per attempt. The only team in the past 40-plus years to come within 50 yards of the Sooners' record was the 1987 Oklahoma team, which averaged 428.8 rushing yards per game. Even for triple-option offenses in today's game, 472.4 yards per game is a staggering figure. Georgia Southern led the country in rushing last season and averaged 363 yards per game.
Current team that could come close: Yes, Keenan Reynolds is gone, but Ken Niumatalolo's option offense at Navy is still a thing of beauty and ultraproductive. The Midshipmen averaged 326.7 rushing yards per game last season.
8. SEC's national championship streak: Not long before Mike Slive retired as SEC commissioner, he read the book "56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports." A Utica, New York, native, Slive is quick to tell you that DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak is a record that will never be broken. He's even quicker to tell you that the SEC's seven-year streak of national championships in football from 2006-12 will also never be broken. Granted, all seven were captured during the BCS era (cue the SEC bias chants), and the SEC certainly had a few things fall its way in terms of teams in other conferences losing late and opening the door for an SEC team move up in the BCS standings. Additionally, USC took home the AP national title in 2003 while LSU won the BCS crown. But the most impressive part of the SEC's streak was that four different schools won titles: Alabama (2009, 2011 and 2012), Auburn (2010), Florida (2006 and 2008) and LSU (2007).
The sport's landscape has changed with the playoff, but to think that one conference would produce seven straight national champions again seems far-fetched. To be fair, many of the powers that be in college football would have told you 10 years ago that a playoff seemed far-fetched.
Current conference that could come close: The SEC has had its run. The Pac-12 may end up having a two-loss champion more times than not, so here's a thought: Michigan gets it rolling under Jim Harbaugh, and Harbaugh's Wolverines, Meyer's Buckeyes and Mark Dantonio's Michigan State Spartans find a way to share seven straight titles.
9. Chuck Nelson's 30-for-30: For parts of the 1981 and '82 seasons, Nelson converted 30 straight field-goal attempts, which remains an NCAA record. He made his first 25 attempts during his All-America 1982 season and was the surest thing going when it came time to make a big kick. The year before, he'd kicked a clutch 46-yarder in nasty conditions to help Washington beat USC and secure a trip to the Rose Bowl.
In a cruel twist of fate -- and with a second straight Rose Bowl trip looming -- his streak was snapped on the final field-goal attempt of his college career, and in one of the best Apple Cups of all. He pushed wide right a 33-yarder that would have put Washington ahead of Washington State late in the game. The 2-7-1 Cougars went on to stun the No. 5 Huskies, 24-20 and ruined their Pasadena plans.
Nelson's been a pretty good sport about the miss over the years. For one thing, his kick wasn't the only thing that lost it for the Huskies. And as the past 30-plus years have shown us, making 30 field goals in a row is one of those records that stands the test of time.
Current player who could come close: Oregon's Aidan Schneider made 22 of 24 field goal attempts last season and is 33-of-36 for his career, and with the Ducks breaking in another first-year starter at quarterback, they may have to settle for more field goals than coach Mark Helfrich would prefer.
10. Houston goes for 1,000: Offenses are putting up some crazy numbers these days in college football, but what Houston did to an NCAA probation-beleaguered SMU team in 1989 may never be duplicated. The Cougars and Andre Ware lit up the Mustangs for 1,021 yards in a 95-21 rout at the Astrodome. Ware only played the first half, but still passed for 517 yards and six touchdowns. His backup, David Klingler, "mopped up" in the second half and threw four more touchdowns.
SMU coach Forrest Gregg was furious after the game that Houston would feel the need to run up the score on the Mustangs, who were coming off an imposed two-year NCAA "death penalty" and started at least 14 freshmen; he called it a "sad day for college football." Ironically, Houston was also on NCAA probation and wasn't allowed to appear on television that season. Ware still won the Heisman Trophy and finished with 4,699 passing yards and 44 touchdowns in just 11 games.
Current team that could come close: Kliff Kingsbury needs a big season at Texas Tech, and he has a quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who can put up numbers in bunches. The Red Raiders only know one way to play -- fast and faster -- and won't take it easy on anybody.
ESPN INSIDER
This summer marks the 75th anniversary of one of the most cherished (and unbreakable) records in all of sports.
Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games from May 15 to July 17, 1941, a record that hasn't really been challenged since. Ted Williams also ended that magical year for Major League Baseball hitting .406 and remains the last big leaguer to hit .400 for a season.
To truly appreciate DiMaggio's brilliance, consider that the closest anyone has come to the record was in 1978, when Pete Rose hit safely in 44 consecutive games. Nobody has reached the 40-game mark since Rose did so 38 years ago.
It's true that records are meant to be broken. But in the case of DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, don't hold your breath.
What does all this have to do with college football?
There are similarly untouchable records, and we've ranked the 10 most unbreakable ones in college football history and added 10 current teams, players or conferences that could maybe, possibly, but probably won't approach those marks. Can't imagine there will be any disagreement with our choices.
1. Tennessee's shutout streak: The game has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, so consider how much it's transformed over the past 70-plus years. The athletes, the parity, the rules, the strategy -- they've all changed. So it stands to reason that we'll never see a team go the entire regular season unbeaten, untied and unscored on again like Tennessee did in 1939 under then-Major Robert Neyland, who would go on to become Gen. Neyland. His Vols racked up 17 straight regular-season shutouts from Nov. 5, 1938 season through Oct. 12, 1940. That's a total of 68 straight quarters in which nobody scored on Tennessee.
It's hard to fathom such defensive dominance in this day and age, especially considering 30 FBS teams averaged more than 35 points per game last season.
As it was, the Vols were unable to achieve total perfection in 1939. They lost 14-0 to USC in the Rose Bowl after outscoring opponents 212-0 during the regular season. Neyland didn't make any excuses afterward. "We weren't stale or off form. We were outclassed," he said. "We were beaten badly by a superior team, and my hat is off to [then-USC coach] Howard Jones."
The year before, Duke also came agonizingly close to throwing up all zeros, going 9-0 during the regular season while not allowing a single point. Like the Vols, the "Iron Dukes" made the cross-country trek to the Rose Bowl in the postseason and led USC 3-0 early in the fourth quarter. But the Trojans' fourth-string quarterback, Doyle Nave, came off the bench late in the game to connect with "Antelope" Al Krueger on four straight passes. The final one was a 19-yard touchdown with 40 seconds remaining, lifting USC to a 7-3 win and spoiling Duke's perfect -- and unblemished -- season.
Current team that could come close: It's foolish to even suggest that this one would ever be broken, even if the 1985 Chicago Bears were allowed to come back and play a season in the collegiate ranks. But we'll go with Alabama. As long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide are going to be a load on defense.
2. Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak: There was no stopping Bud Wilkinson's Oklahoma football machine in the 1950s. The Sooners steamrolled their way to 47 consecutive wins, a streak that began in 1953 and lasted most of five seasons, producing national championships in 1955 and '56. Wilkinson's teams were big, powerful and disciplined, but he was also an innovator. He perfected the Sooners' split-T offensive formation and also invented the no-huddle offense.
Notre Dame, an 18-point underdog, ended the streak on Nov. 16, 1957, in Norman with a 7-0 win. The game's only touchdown came inside the final four minutes. It was a stunning defeat for the Sooners, and their fans sat in the stands for more than 30 minutes after the game trying to come to grips with what they'd just witnessed -- an actual Oklahoma loss.
We're going on nearly 60 years since Oklahoma reeled off the longest winning streak in major college football history, and the closest any team in the FBS ranks has come to breaking the record was Toledo, who notched 35 straight wins from 1969-71. Among power conferences, Miami (2000-02) and USC (2003-05) each reeled off 34 wins in a row. Those were some great teams, too, and they still fell 13 games -- an entire season -- short. As far as unbreakable records in college football go, this one has few peers.
Current team that could come close: Hey, Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes won 23 in a row before they were upset at home last season by Michigan State. And Meyer's at the level now that he doesn't recruit; he selects. Plus, the Buckeyes are in the Big Ten. Just saying.
3. Barry Sanders' wizardry: Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon made a run two years ago at Sanders' single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards, but finished 41 yards short with 2,587. Here's the catch: Sanders set the record in only 11 games in 1988 on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State (Gordon played in 14 that year). Back then, bowl statistics didn't count, and he had an additional 222 yards in the Holiday Bowl against Wyoming.
With running backs playing as many as 14 or 15 games in a season now, there's a chance somebody will eclipse Sanders' season-rushing total. But what seems untouchable is his NCAA record of 238.9 rushing yards per game. Only two other running backs in major college history have averaged 200 rushing yards per game -- USC's Marcus Allen (1981) and Cornell's Ed Marinaro (1971). Yes, the same Ed Marinaro who starred in "Hill Street Blues," and yes, Ivy League schools were classified as Division I-A back then. Sanders had four 300-yard games in 1988, and his lowest output of the season was 154 yards against Missouri. Counting the bowl game, he rushed for 43 touchdowns. Hard to imagine we'll ever again see anybody like Sanders -- or anybody special enough to rush for nearly 240 yards per game.
Current player who could come close: There are great running backs everywhere you look right now in college football, but LSU's Leonard Fournetteis on another planet. He led the country with an average of 162.8 rushing yards per game last season, and everybody knows that Les Miles likes to run the ball. Then again, with No. 7 in his backfield, why wouldn't he?
4. Florida State's top-5 finishes: Just think: If a few of those field goals had been good, how many more national championships would Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles have? Bowden finished his legendary 34-year career at FSU with two titles and having put Florida State football on the map. His 377 career wins are second only to Penn State's Joe Paterno in the FBS ranks, but Bowden's most impressive accomplishment as FSU coach was his incredible consistency.
The Seminoles finished in the top 5 of every final AP poll from 1987-2000, an amazing run in any era. Nobody else comes close. Those vaunted USC teams under Pete Carroll produced seven straight top-5 finishes from 2002-08, but that's only halfway to FSU's 14. The best Oklahoma did under Wilkinson was seven straight top-5 finishes, while Bear Bryant at Alabama never went more than three straight years with a top-5 finish in the AP poll, although he managed it three separate times. Even considering what Nick Saban has done at Alabama with four national championships in 10 years in Tuscaloosa, he's never finished in the top 5 of the AP poll more than two years in a row.
Current team that could come close: Dabo Swinney has it rolling right now at Clemson, on the field and on the recruiting trail. He's built that program to last, and the Tigers have the look of a 10- or 11-win team for a long time to come.
5. John Reaves' nine picks: There are hallowed records, and then there are dubious records. Florida's John Reaves was an All-American quarterback at Florida and put up even better career numbers than Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier. When Reaves left following the 1971 season, he was college football's all-time leading passer with 7,549 yards and was taken in the first round of the NFL draft. But as a sophomore in a 1969 game against Auburn, he threw an NCAA-record nine interceptions in a 38-12 loss that was the only game the Gators dropped all season. Reaves threw 66 passes in the game and joked years later that the "safeties were the only guys who were open that day." Even with the way teams sling the ball all over the field today, it's doubtful we'll ever see anybody get to nine interceptions again -- unless he's allowed to throw passes from the bench.
Current player who could come close: It would have to be somebody who averages 50-plus passes per game, sees his team get behind early and just keeps airing it out. Washington State's Luke Falk only threw eight interceptions all of last season, but he did attempt 53.8 passes per game. Who knows? Maybe in one of those bizarre West Coast shootouts ...
6. Derrick Thomas' sack parade: Was there ever a better pure pass-rusher than the late Thomas, who once had seven sacks in an NFL game? At Alabama, he was equally unblockable, finishing his senior season with 27 sacks and 39 tackles for loss before going on to stardom with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Nearly 30 years later, Thomas' 1988 season is still considered the gold standard in the SEC for defensive excellence. Don't go looking for his gaudy numbers in the NCAA record book, though. At the time, sacks weren't considered an official NCAA statistic, meaning Arizona State's Terrell Suggs has the official NCAA sack record with 24 in 2002. With more games in a season now, it's true that defenders have more opportunities to rack up big sack numbers. But in the past five years, only two players have registered more than 18 sacks in a season: Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha had 19 in 14 games, and Utah's Nate Orchard had 18.5 in 13 games, both during the 2014 season.
Current player who could come close: Texas A&M's Myles Garrett is a pass-rushing machine and the potential No. 1 pick in next year's NFL draft. He's already said his goal is 20 sacks this season. Why stop there?
7. Oklahoma's wishbone onslaught: The most devastating rushing attack in the history of college football belongs to the 1971 Oklahoma team, which averaged an NCAA-record 472.4 yards per game. Barry Switzer was the offensive coordinator for that team under head coach Chuck Fairbanks and had installed the wishbone the season before. Nobody could derail the Sooners' ground game, as they averaged 45 points per game and lost only once to eventual national champion Nebraska 35-31 in the Game of the Century. Even in that game, Oklahoma rushed for 279 yards.
The late Jack Mildren was the trigger man at quarterback and had 1,140 rushing yards himself, while running back Greg Pruitt averaged 8.98 yards per attempt. The only team in the past 40-plus years to come within 50 yards of the Sooners' record was the 1987 Oklahoma team, which averaged 428.8 rushing yards per game. Even for triple-option offenses in today's game, 472.4 yards per game is a staggering figure. Georgia Southern led the country in rushing last season and averaged 363 yards per game.
Current team that could come close: Yes, Keenan Reynolds is gone, but Ken Niumatalolo's option offense at Navy is still a thing of beauty and ultraproductive. The Midshipmen averaged 326.7 rushing yards per game last season.
8. SEC's national championship streak: Not long before Mike Slive retired as SEC commissioner, he read the book "56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports." A Utica, New York, native, Slive is quick to tell you that DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak is a record that will never be broken. He's even quicker to tell you that the SEC's seven-year streak of national championships in football from 2006-12 will also never be broken. Granted, all seven were captured during the BCS era (cue the SEC bias chants), and the SEC certainly had a few things fall its way in terms of teams in other conferences losing late and opening the door for an SEC team move up in the BCS standings. Additionally, USC took home the AP national title in 2003 while LSU won the BCS crown. But the most impressive part of the SEC's streak was that four different schools won titles: Alabama (2009, 2011 and 2012), Auburn (2010), Florida (2006 and 2008) and LSU (2007).
The sport's landscape has changed with the playoff, but to think that one conference would produce seven straight national champions again seems far-fetched. To be fair, many of the powers that be in college football would have told you 10 years ago that a playoff seemed far-fetched.
Current conference that could come close: The SEC has had its run. The Pac-12 may end up having a two-loss champion more times than not, so here's a thought: Michigan gets it rolling under Jim Harbaugh, and Harbaugh's Wolverines, Meyer's Buckeyes and Mark Dantonio's Michigan State Spartans find a way to share seven straight titles.
9. Chuck Nelson's 30-for-30: For parts of the 1981 and '82 seasons, Nelson converted 30 straight field-goal attempts, which remains an NCAA record. He made his first 25 attempts during his All-America 1982 season and was the surest thing going when it came time to make a big kick. The year before, he'd kicked a clutch 46-yarder in nasty conditions to help Washington beat USC and secure a trip to the Rose Bowl.
In a cruel twist of fate -- and with a second straight Rose Bowl trip looming -- his streak was snapped on the final field-goal attempt of his college career, and in one of the best Apple Cups of all. He pushed wide right a 33-yarder that would have put Washington ahead of Washington State late in the game. The 2-7-1 Cougars went on to stun the No. 5 Huskies, 24-20 and ruined their Pasadena plans.
Nelson's been a pretty good sport about the miss over the years. For one thing, his kick wasn't the only thing that lost it for the Huskies. And as the past 30-plus years have shown us, making 30 field goals in a row is one of those records that stands the test of time.
Current player who could come close: Oregon's Aidan Schneider made 22 of 24 field goal attempts last season and is 33-of-36 for his career, and with the Ducks breaking in another first-year starter at quarterback, they may have to settle for more field goals than coach Mark Helfrich would prefer.
10. Houston goes for 1,000: Offenses are putting up some crazy numbers these days in college football, but what Houston did to an NCAA probation-beleaguered SMU team in 1989 may never be duplicated. The Cougars and Andre Ware lit up the Mustangs for 1,021 yards in a 95-21 rout at the Astrodome. Ware only played the first half, but still passed for 517 yards and six touchdowns. His backup, David Klingler, "mopped up" in the second half and threw four more touchdowns.
SMU coach Forrest Gregg was furious after the game that Houston would feel the need to run up the score on the Mustangs, who were coming off an imposed two-year NCAA "death penalty" and started at least 14 freshmen; he called it a "sad day for college football." Ironically, Houston was also on NCAA probation and wasn't allowed to appear on television that season. Ware still won the Heisman Trophy and finished with 4,699 passing yards and 44 touchdowns in just 11 games.
Current team that could come close: Kliff Kingsbury needs a big season at Texas Tech, and he has a quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who can put up numbers in bunches. The Red Raiders only know one way to play -- fast and faster -- and won't take it easy on anybody.
