For The Record

College football's record book full of the unbelievable and even breakable

June 6, 2007

By Adam Caparell

CSTV.com

	ADAM CAPARELL Adam is CSTV.com's football editor and national football writer. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- FOOTBALL 01/23: Feeling It 01/18: Post-Bowl, Pre-Spring 2008 Preseason Top 25 01/11: Late Season Run Priming Dawgs For '08 01/07: Ring A Bell? 01/04: Tressel's Hopefully Prepared For Anything 12/21: Hokies Have Something To Play For 12/14: Name Game 12/8: Little Surprise Tebow Takes Heisman 12/8: Back For More 12/7: Class Act 12/6: Flutie's Legacy Still The 'Miracle' 12/4: Dixon Can Still Smile 12/2: Wishful Thinking 11/30: Daniel Driving Missouri On BCS Run 11/28: 'Game' Still Largely Defines Beban 11/23: Long Time Coming 11/21: Bandstanding Brown 11/16: Georgia In The Know 11/14: Only Eddie Held Eddie Back 11/9: Soft Schedule Could Have Hawai'i BCS Bound 11/7: The 'Bear' And Crow 11/2: No Secret To Oregon's Success 10/31: Age Only A Number 10/26: Nittany Lions Know It's Got To Be Close 10/24: In Long Line, White Continued Tradition 10/19: Trojans In Unfamiliar Territory 10/17: Rogers Larger Than Life 10/12: Missouri The Machine 10/10: The Jet Likes To Run 10/5: Meyer's Seen This Before 10/4: Polled Over 10/3: Long On Memories 9/28: Season Begins For Dixon And Ducks Saturday 9/26: Desmond The Poser 9/21: Spurrier's Being Honest 9/19: All In The Family With Rozier 9/14: USC Ready For Another Early Road Test 9/12: Detmer's Magic Won Him Heisman 9/7: 'Show' Time For Virginia Tech 9/5: Drive Drove Dorsett 8/31: Family Affair 8/29: Count On The Gamecocks To Hatch 8/28: Youth Gone Wild On Gator Defense 8/28: Talent Comes Naturally To Tigers 8/27: SEC Preview 8/27: All Hail Saban 8/25: No More Lazy Sundays 8/24: Illinois D Brimming With New Confidence 8/23: Big Ten Preview 8/23: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 14 8/22: Tee'd Off 8/16: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 13 8/15: Brohm's Back, And All Is Well 8/15: Coaches Split On Early Signing Period 8/14: Schiano's Success Starting to Show 8/13: Big East Preview 8/13: It's Not About Respect With Leavitt And USF 8/11: Production Time for Seminole Signal Callers 8/10: Shannon Looking To Return Swagger 8/10: Wake Up? 8/9: Atlantic Coast Conference Preview 8/9: Tough Turkeys, Once Again 8/9: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 12 8/8: Preseason Top 25 8/2: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 11 8/1: Big Ten Expansion Doesn't Make Sense 7/26: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 10 7/25: Beamer's Burden 7/19: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 9 7/18: Good Vibrations 7/12: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 6 7/11: Three and Up 7/4: And The Winner Is... 7/2: Where In The World Is Ed Smith? 6/28: SEC East's Big Weekend 6/27: Summer Bowl Forecast 6/21: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 5 6/20: Big 12 Loses Its Big Man 6/14: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 4 6/13: Trick Up His Sleeve 6/7: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 3 6/6: For the Record 5/31: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 2 5/30: Like Clockwork 5/24: 2007 Schedule Planner - Week 1 5/23: Florida Freshmen Get Defensive 5/16: Maroon Affected 5/10: Brennan's A Numbers Guy 5/9: More Than Just One Play 5/2: Post-Spring, Pre-Preseason Top 25 4/27: Quinn's Fallen, But He'll Still Be Up There 4/26: Size Does Matter 4/25: Troy Smith Now Middle of Pack QB 4/24: Peterson Can't Wait For The Moment 4/21: QB Biggest Question Facing Buckeyes 4/21: Don't Forget About The D 4/20: Bowl Game A Boon For Bluegrass Boys 4/19: The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall 4/18: New Coordinator, New Scheme, New Results? 4/18: Earlier The Better 4/17: It's Your Turn Offense 4/16: Spartans Hope Big Changes Go Long Way 4/14: Defense The Question Mark For Michigan 4/12: Height's Nothing But A Number 4/5: Two Much To Handle 3/28: More To Hill Than Just TDs 3/21: Down Could Mean Up For Delaware's Patrick 3/14: Changes In Store For Gill and Buffalo 3/7: Lurking In the Backgroung 2/28: What A Mock-ery 2/25: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same 2/24: Piscataway Proud 2/23: 40, For Better or Worse 2/22: The Ultimate Q and A 2/21: Combine's A Coming 2/14: Rights For Recruiting Wrongs 2/8: Recruiting No Joke For Coaches 2/6: Lemming Retrospect: Class of 2006 1/31: Coker In No Rush To Move On 1/30: Ross Bows Out, But Leaves His Mark At Army 1/26: Seniors With Something To Prove 1/25: Coaching For The League 1/24: Welcome To The Pros 1/17: Pre-Spring, Post-Bowl 2007 Preseason Top 25 1/10: Irish Have A Ways To Go 1/8: Siler and Gators After Something More 1/4: Russell Sweeter Than Sugar 1/3: Irish Out For Respect

The old saying goes records are made to be broken. But there are always exceptions to the rules.

The 2006 college football season saw some record breaking performances, like Colt Brennan's 58 passing touchdowns, but could we see a few more fall as well in 2007? Quite possibly after a read over of the encyclopedia that is the Official NCAA Divisions I-A (BCS) and I-AA (FCS) Football Records Book. Scan its 592 pages and you'll find a few records that could fall this fall, a record that will fall and some that seem to be rock-solid safe.

Have Fun Trying: Records That Won't Be Broken

Most Passes Attempted In A Quarter

Record: Jason Davis, UNLV vs. Idaho, Sept. 17, 1994, 41 attempts in the fourth quarter - he completed 28.  

Chances of It Being Broken: Slim. Graham Harrell, last year's leader in pass attempts threw the football 617 times last year in 13 games for, if you didn't already know, Texas Tech and Mike Leach's pass-happy offense. That means Harrell averaged 47 passes per game, nearly 32 completions per game and roughly 11 attempts per quarter.

There are guys out there whose arms would fall off if they threw 41 balls in a game, let alone in a quarter. And the record for a game? Drew Brees threw 83 times in Purdue's 31-24 loss to Wisconsin on October 10, 1998. He completed 55 of his attempts - also a record.

Most Points Scored In A Season

Record: 234 by Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders in 1988 as he scored 39 touchdowns in 11 games.

Chances of It Being Broken: Practically Unthinkable. Boise State's Ian Johnson scored 25 touchdowns last season to lead the nation. That was good enough for 152 points and a 12.67 average per game. Sanders averaged 21.3 points per game in his Heisman Trophy winning season. Since 1970, only three players have come within 60 points of Sanders: Boise State's Brock Forsey and Nebraska's Mike Rozier both had 174 points in 2002 and1983, respectively, while Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards had 188 points in 1998.

Fewest Points Allowed Per Game

Record: 0 by Western Michigan in six games in 1922, Duke in nine games in 1938 and Tennessee in 10 games in 1939.

Chances of It Being Broken: Zero. Virginia Tech led the nation in scoring defense last season, giving up an average of only 11 points per game. And that's with four shutouts. But it doesn't even come close to the futility teams felt at the hands of the Blue Devils and the Vols in the first few years of the modern era.  

Highest Scoring Tie-Game:

Record: 52-52, BYU vs. San Diego State, Nov. 16, 1991

Chances of It Being Broken:  What are the chances of the NCAA changing the rules to bring back tie games?

Going Down: A Record That's Bound To be Broken

Most Touchdown Passes In A Season

Record: Colt Brennan, Hawai'i, 58 in 2006

Chances of It Being Broken: Bet The Bank. As long as Brennan stays healthy, he's going to have plenty upon plenty upon plenty of opportunities to throw the ball in Honolulu. For one, he actually thinks he'll be throwing more passes this season and it looks like the Warriors could very well play 13 regular season games - 14 if they make it to a bowl, which they'll be expected to. Two FCS opponents look to be on the docket with only one BCS opponent (Washington) and a WAC schedule that features only three teams that finished with winning records last year.

The Others: Some Records That May Live In Infamy

Most Safeties In A Game: 5 by Wake Forest in 2001.

Highest Scoring Game of All-Time/Most Lopsided Victory of All-Time: Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland 0, Oct. 7, 1916. The game was played well before the NCAA officially began keeping records, but someone in Atlanta obviously was that day. And Tech coach John Heisman, showed little mercy on the Bulldogs as the Yellow Jackets scored 18 TDs. Six teams scored 18 or fewer touchdowns in 2006.   

Longest Average Distance Field Goals Made In Season: 50.9 by Jason Hanson of Washington State in 1991.

Fewest First Downs By A Winning Team: 0 by two teams, North Carolina State who defeated Virginia in 1944, 13-0, and Michigan who beat arch-rival Ohio State, 9-3, in 1950.