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Biggest college football games: Tennessee-Kent State sparks curiosity
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Biggest college football games: Tennessee-Kent State sparks curiosity

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Tennessee football player and quarterback Nico Iamaleava is on a scoring mission.

The Vols scored 65 points in the first half of their non-conference battle with Kent State on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Dylan Sampson collected 101 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone, while DeSean Bishop added 120 yards and two touchdowns for the Vols’ vicious rushing attack.

Tennessee had a 37-0 lead after the first quarter ― the record for most points in a quarter for the Vols ― with many of the reserves in place before halftime in what ended up being a 71-0 victory. The Vols also scored 69 points in their season-opening win over Chattanooga and added 51 against NC State, showing they can beat anyone.

REQUIRED READING: Tennessee football breaks program scoring record against Kent State

A fourth-quarter field goal extended the lead to 71-0 and broke the program’s modern record for most points in a game. The previous record was 70, which UT scored in a 70-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 23, 2000.

But Tennessee’s win may have fans wondering what the college football scoring records are. Here’s what you need to know:

Most points scored in a college football game

Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland 222-0 on October 7, 1916. The Engineers ― as Georgia Tech was then known ― defeated a program that had disbanded its football program the year before. But because the university owed Georgia Tech $3,000 if the game wasn’t played, Engineer coach John Heisman, who also coached the baseball team, suspected that Cumberland had filled his program with professional ringers and handed the program a 222-0 loss.

For the game, Cumberland’s roster consisted of fraternity brothers, who were recruited by the team’s student manager. Tech won its first national championship that season, defeating Cal in the Rose Bowl.

On Thursday, South Alabama defeated Northwestern State 87-10, the best output by a team since Fresno State defeated New Mexico 94-17 in 1991. Ole Miss defeated Furman 76-0 in Week 1 of the 2024 college football season.

Highest Scoring College Football Game

The modern record for highest-scoring college football game occurred on November 24, 2018, when Texas A&M defeated LSU 74-72 in seven overtimes. Not only did the game last nearly five hours, it also set an NCAA record seven overtimes (which directly led to the overtime rule change).

The highest-scoring game was SMU’s 77-63 win over Houston on Nov. 5, 2022. The 140-point total was better than the previous record of 137 points, set by Pitt’s 76-61 win over Syracuse in 2016.

Is there a grace rule for college football?

No, there is no mercy rule in college football.

However, in South Alabama’s win on Thursday, the coaches of both teams agreed to shorten the fourth quarter by six minutes. The same thing happened earlier this year, when Auburn defeated Alabama A&M and had a 49-0 halftime lead.