Honestly, if you've ever sat through a 9-6 defensive "masterpiece" on a rainy Saturday, the idea of a team putting up 70 points feels like a fever dream. But it happens. Sometimes the dam just breaks. We're talking about those rare afternoons where the scoreboard operator gets a literal workout and the "ncaa football top ten scores" list gets rewritten in real-time.
Most people think of college football as a game of inches. These games? They were games of miles. We’re going to look at the absolute absurdity of the 222-0 Georgia Tech blowout, but also the modern-day shootouts where 140+ combined points weren't enough to end things in regulation. It’s chaotic. It’s beautiful. It’s basically what makes CFB better than the NFL.
The 222-0 Farce: Why Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland Still Holds the Record
You can't talk about ncaa football top ten scores without starting in 1916. October 7th, to be exact. Georgia Tech didn't just beat Cumberland College; they erased them from the physical plane.
The backstory is actually kind of petty, which is very on-brand for college sports. John Heisman (yes, that Heisman) was coaching Georgia Tech’s baseball team earlier that year and got crushed 22-0 by Cumberland. He suspected Cumberland used professional "ringers." He wanted blood. When football season rolled around, Cumberland had actually disbanded their team, but Heisman threatened them with a $3,000 breach-of-contract fee if they didn't show up.
So, Cumberland sent a group of 13 fraternity brothers and law students who had basically never played together.
The stats from that game are actually hilarious if you aren't a Cumberland alum:
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- Georgia Tech had zero first downs. Why? Because they scored on every single drive, usually on the first or second play.
- Cumberland had 15 turnovers (9 fumbles, 6 interceptions).
- The second half was shortened because, honestly, everyone just wanted to go home.
Heisman famously told his team at halftime, when they were up 126-0: "You're doing all right, team, we're ahead." Sarcasm? Maybe. But that 222-0 remains the highest score ever recorded in any college football game, ever.
The Modern Shootouts: 7-Overtime Madness
Modern football is different. We have rules against playing fraternity brothers now. But even with scholarship athletes, things get weird. The current gold standard for the modern era is the 2018 clash between Texas A&M and LSU.
The final? 74-72.
If you didn't see it live, you missed a five-hour marathon that changed NCAA rules forever. They literally changed the overtime rules because of this game so players wouldn't die of exhaustion. By the time they reached the 7th overtime, the players looked like they were moving through molasses.
Highest Scoring Combined Games (Modern FBS Era)
- Texas A&M 74, LSU 72 (2018): 146 total points. It was a game of "anything you can do, I can do better."
- Western Michigan 71, Buffalo 68 (2017): 139 points. This one went seven overtimes too. MACtion at its finest.
- Pittsburgh 76, Syracuse 61 (2016): 137 points. In regulation. No overtime needed. Just zero defense for 60 minutes.
- Navy 74, North Texas 62 (2007): 136 points. A triple-option team scoring 74 points is still one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen.
- Boise State 69, Nevada 67 (2007): 136 points. This was a 4-OT thriller back when the WAC was the wildest conference in America.
Why Do These Massive Scores Keep Happening?
It’s easy to blame "bad defense," but it’s usually more complicated. In the Pitt/Syracuse game, Pitt had two defensive touchdowns and a special teams score. When the defense starts scoring, the numbers spiral fast.
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Then you've got the "Air Raid" influence. You look at teams like SMU or Houston lately—they play at a tempo that would make a marathon runner collapse. In 2022, SMU beat Houston 77-63. That’s 140 points. SMU put up 642 yards of offense. When you run a play every 18 seconds, the scoreboard just can't keep up.
There's also the "mercy" factor—or lack thereof. Just this past 2024 season, South Alabama beat Northwestern State 87-10. They were up 47-10 at halftime and still dropped another 40. They eventually shortened the fourth quarter to six minutes, which is basically the refs saying, "Please, just stop."
The "100-Point Club" Nobody Wants to Join
Most people don't realize how many teams actually hit the century mark back in the day. Before the 1930s, seeing a score of 110-0 wasn't even that shocking.
- 1917: Oklahoma beats Kingfisher (a school that doesn't even exist anymore) 179-0.
- 1919: Oklahoma beats Central Oklahoma 157-0. (The Sooners were bullies back then, too).
- 1922: Alabama beats Marion 110-0.
Back then, the talent gap was more like a canyon. Now, with recruiting rankings and transfer portals, you rarely see a team hit 80, let alone 100. The last time an FBS team got really close was probably West Virginia hanging 70 on Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl. That felt like 100 because of the stage.
What We Get Wrong About High Scores
The biggest misconception? That a high score equals a "great" game.
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The 222-0 game was a tragedy. The 74-72 LSU/A&M game was a thriller, but the 87-10 South Alabama game was just boring. True fans know that the ncaa football top ten scores usually fall into two categories: legendary battles or "body bag" games where a big school paid a small school a million dollars to come get humiliated.
If you’re looking for the "highest quality" high-scoring game, look for the ones with 0 or 1 overtime. When teams trade 70 points in 60 minutes, like Pitt and Syracuse did in 2016, you’re watching a complete breakdown of modern defensive coaching. It's fascinating. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion, but the car is made of points.
Actionable Insights for the Stat Nerds
If you’re tracking these records or betting on "Overs," keep these things in mind:
- Watch the Clock: If you see a game where they shorten the quarters (like South Alabama in 2024), the record is safe. The refs will usually step in before a team hits 100 these days.
- The Overtime Trap: Total points in a 7-OT game are impressive, but they don't tell the whole story. Always look for "Points in Regulation" if you want to see who the real offensive juggernauts are.
- Conference Trends: The Big 12 and the MAC are historically where defense goes to die. If you're looking for the next entry in the top ten, start there.
Next time you see a team leading 42-0 at the half, don't turn it off. You might be watching the start of something that people will be googling a hundred years from now, just like that poor Cumberland squad.
If you want to keep diving into the weird history of the game, go look up the play-by-play of the Georgia Tech game. There’s a legend that a Cumberland player fumbled and told his teammate to pick it up, and the teammate shouted back, "Pick it up yourself, you dropped it!" That tells you everything you need to know about what it feels like to be on the wrong side of history.