Editing Running up the score (section)

===College football===
{{Excessive examples|section|date=March 2025}}

====Florida====
In 1995, with a 38–17 lead going into the fourth quarter over Georgia, Florida head coach Steve Spurrier decided to run up the score to "hang half a hundred" on the scoreboard to humiliate their opponents on their home field, something that had never been done before. His team succeeded with a final score of 52–17. That record still stands as the most points ever scored by an opposing team at Sanford Stadium.

====Georgia Tech====
{{Main|1916 Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech football game}}
On October 7, 1916, [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]] defeated the [[Cumberland Phoenix football|Cumberland College Bulldogs]] 222–0. Cumberland had previously disbanded their football team, but quickly formed a scrub team when faced with fines if they refused to play. Georgia Tech scored 63 points in the first quarter and 63 points in the second quarter, then 54 points in the third quarter and 42 points in the fourth. Cumberland did not record a first down during the game. Georgia Tech won under the coaching of [[John Heisman]], who wanted revenge after an embarrassing 22–0 loss earlier that year to a Cumberland baseball team that he suspected of having used professional players posing as students.

====Houston====
On November 23, 1968, the [[Houston Cougars football|University of Houston]] defeated the [[Tulsa Golden Hurricane football|University of Tulsa]] 100–6. Though they had a 24–0 advantage at halftime, Houston scored 11 touchdowns in the second half – including 7 in the fourth quarter – for an astounding 94-point blowout. 

They came close again in [[1989 NCAA Division I-A football season|1989]], routing a [[1989 SMU Mustangs football team|Southern Methodist]] (SMU) team [[Southern Methodist University football scandal|fresh off]] the so-called [[Death penalty (NCAA)|death penalty]] in by a score of 95–21 in what could be termed as a "revenge game" after years of humiliation against its longtime [[Southwestern Conference]] [[Houston–SMU rivalry|rival]]; Houston itself was under a bowl and television ban that season because of its own past recruiting violations, meaning only those in attendance at the [[Astrodome]] witnessed the Cougars embarrass the Mustangs.

In 1990, Houston defeated Division I-AA opponent [[Eastern Washington Eagles football|Eastern Washington University]] 84–21 and kept QB [[David Klingler]] playing late in the game to allow him to set NCAA records for most TD passes in a single game and a single season. Klinger threw 11 TD passes in that game, with 5 in the second half – including 2 in the fourth quarter. His final touchdown pass gave Houston a 77–14 lead with their starting QB still in the game. The next year, 1991, they would blow out [[Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football|Louisiana Tech University]] 73–3 in the opening game of the season.

====Miami====
On November 30, 1985, the [[Miami Hurricanes football|University of Miami]] Hurricanes were playing the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Fighting Irish of Notre Dame]] in [[Gerry Faust]]'s final game as Notre Dame head coach. The Hurricanes, led by [[Jimmy Johnson (American football coach)|Jimmy Johnson]], were trying to impress pollsters since they were ranked fourth in the polls prior to the game. The Hurricanes called a fake punt on fourth-and-11 in the fourth quarter with a 44–7 lead, scored a touchdown off a blocked punt with less than six minutes left, and went on to win 58–7. Miami was rewarded in the AP poll as it passed idle [[1985 Iowa Hawkeyes football team|Iowa]] to reach No. 3 and set up a possible national championship with a victory over [[1985 Tennessee Volunteers football team|Tennessee]] in the [[Sugar Bowl]]. Receiving criticism after the game, Johnson replied, "Nobody apologized to me when Oklahoma did it", a reference to a [[1980 NCAA Division I-A football season|1980]] rout by the score of 63–14 when Johnson was head coach at [[Oklahoma State Cowboys football|Oklahoma State University]]. Miami would go on to lose to Tennessee, 35–7, in the [[1986 Sugar Bowl]].

====Notre Dame====
[[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] defeated [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]] 69–14 in 1977. The Fighting Irish led 21–7 at halftime but scored 21 points in the third quarter and 27 in the fourth. Only a missed extra point after ND's eighth touchdown kept the Irish from scoring 70 points for the first time since 1932 and only the second time in [[Notre Dame Stadium]] history. After ND took a 62–7 lead, Georgia Tech scored its only second half points on a kickoff return for a touchdown by [[Eddie Lee Ivery]]; the Irish would not surrender another kickoff return for a touchdown until 21 years later, against [[Kevin Faulk]] and [[LSU Tigers football|LSU]] in 1998. The blowout was payback for a 23–14 upset victory by Georgia Tech over Notre Dame in 1976, after which Yellow Jacket players were quoted as deriding the Fighting Irish as fat and slow. There also was bad blood between ND coach [[Dan Devine]] and GT coach [[Pepper Rodgers]], dating back to the days when they coached arch-rivals [[Missouri Tigers football|Missouri]] and [[Kansas Jayhawks football|Kansas]], respectively; Devine's Tigers had defeated Rodgers's Jayhawks 69–21 in the 1969 season finale in Lawrence. The 1977 humiliation of Georgia Tech did not impact Notre Dame's poll standing; they remained No. 5 in the AP poll—but the Fighting Irish won the rest of their games to finish 11–1 and win the [[1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1977 national championship]].

Notre Dame defeated [[Boston College Eagles football|Boston College]] 54–7 in a 1992 game where Fighting Irish coach [[Lou Holtz]] called a fake punt on the first series of the third quarter, with his team already possessing an enormous (albeit not technically insurmountable) 37–0 lead. A year later, Boston College would upset Notre Dame 41–39 in the final regular season game of the year, knocking the Fighting Irish from 1st to 4th in the AP poll and paving the way for [[Florida State Seminoles football|Florida State]] to be voted national champions.

While playing at longtime rival [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]] in 2003, Notre Dame head coach [[Tyrone Willingham]] allowed his punter to call a fake punt in response to a punt block read while the Fighting Irish led 57–7 late in the fourth quarter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/09/spt_FBCnotebook.html |title=Irish's fake punt in rout still gnaws at Cardinal |date=October 9, 2004  |work=cincinnati.com (from Associated Press)<!-- Blocked from archive -->}}</ref> Willingham was formerly head coach at Stanford.

====Ohio State====
In 1968, the [[1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State Buckeyes]], en route to a national championship, defeated their bitter rival, the [[1968 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan Wolverines]], 50–14. Late in the game, Ohio State held a commanding 44–14 advantage and scored one final touchdown. Rather than taking the more common [[extra point]] kick, Ohio State head coach [[Woody Hayes]] opted for a [[two-point conversion]], which was unsuccessful. When asked later why he went for two points, Hayes said, "Because I couldn't go for three!", though players have commented that there was some sort of confusion on the extra point kick, and Hayes was just covering for his players. The following season, the heavily favored [[1969 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Buckeyes]] [[1969 Ohio State vs. Michigan football game|fell]] to the [[1969 Michigan Wolverines football team|Wolverines]], with [[Bo Schembechler]] using the 50–14 blowout as a motivation.

Head coach [[Urban Meyer]]'s [[2014 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|2014 Ohio State team]] defeated [[2014 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin]] 59–0 in the [[2014 Big Ten Football Championship Game|Big Ten championship game]]. Meyer later said that he intentionally ran up the score against Wisconsin to help his team be chosen for the [[College Football Playoff]], which they eventually won the National Championship.<ref name="cfbonfox20191020">{{Cite tweet |number=1186009943897456640 |user=CFBONFOX |title="When I hear someone say, 'look test' or 'I think,' that's not fair." @CoachUrbanMeyer addresses the CFP's selection criteria and breaks down how he would change the system. |date=2019-10-20}}</ref>

====Oklahoma====
On November 8, [[2003 NCAA Division I-A football season|2003]], the [[2003 Oklahoma Sooners football team|Oklahoma Sooners]] showed little mercy against the [[2003 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M Aggies]], cruising to a 49–0 halftime lead. Oklahoma head coach [[Bob Stoops]] denied running up the score as his second string players came out in the 3rd quarter and put up 28 more points to finish with a final score of 77–0 and 639 yards of total offense. This was the worst loss in Texas A&M football history. In Stoops' defense, the coaches agreed to a running clock during most of the second half and the entire 4th quarter.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} Also, at one point in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma had first and goal inside the A&M 5-yard line with a chance to score over 80 points, but Stoops called four consecutive runs up the middle to prevent another score.

====Oklahoma State====
In their 2012 season opener, the [[2012 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team|Oklahoma State Cowboys]] defeated the [[2012 Savannah State Tigers football team|Savannah State Tigers]] 84–0. In defense of the lop-sided result, interim defense coordinator Glenn Spencer claimed the shutout was a tribute to the team's full-time defensive coordinator Bill Young, who had recently undergone an undisclosed medical procedure.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8331106/oklahoma-state-cowboys-dedicate-shutout-ill-coordinator-bill-young |title=Oklahoma State Cowboys dedicate shutout to ill coordinator Bill Young |date=September 2, 2012 |work=ESPN.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902191528/http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8331106/oklahoma-state-cowboys-dedicate-shutout-ill-coordinator-bill-young |archive-date=2012-09-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> It ended up as the most lopsided victory for OSU since a 117–0 rout of Southwestern Oklahoma in 1916 and Savannah State's worst loss since a 98–0 defeat against Bethune-Cookman in 1953, a season when the Tigers were outscored 444–6.

====Penn State====
Although longtime [[Penn State Nittany Lions football|Penn State]] head coach [[Joe Paterno]] was regarded by some as one who did everything he could to avoid running up the score, such as in a 63–10 win over [[Illinois Fighting Illini football|Illinois]] in 2005 where Penn State held a 56–3 halftime lead, Pitt partisan journalist [[Beano Cook]] claimed he made an exception in 1985 against [[Penn State–Pittsburgh football rivalry|hated rival]] [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pitt]]. The game was well in hand with the score 31–0 when the assistants called the first string team off the field. Paterno supposedly immediately ordered them back in, saying, "I want to bury Pitt."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_19b4cad4-03a6-592b-832c-54cb5879e3cf.html?mode=jqm|title=Rivalry resumed|date=6 September 1997 }}</ref>   Paterno's 1991 Penn State team is often accused of running it up on [[Cincinnati Bearcats football|Cincinnati]] 81–0, but this was refuted by the Bearcats' coach [[Tim Murphy (American football coach)|Tim Murphy]], who said "I think Joe's a class guy and I don't believe he'd do that in a hundred years," Murphy said. "We made too many mistakes even for a first game of the season and that's my fault. I'm embarrassed, not Joe Paterno."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-08-sp-2993-story.html|title = Archives|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]| date=8 September 1991 }}</ref>

====Stanford====
In the early 2000s, [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]] was considered the bottom-dweller of the [[Pac-12 Conference|Pac-10]], whereas in-state rival [[USC Trojans Football|USC]] was named the "Team of the Decade" by both CBSSports.com and Football.com, as well as the "Program of the Decade" by SI.com.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usctrojans.com/blog/11prenotes.fb.pdf|title=Story Archives}}</ref> However, after the arrival of head coach [[Jim Harbaugh]] to The Farm in 2007 and [[2007 Stanford vs. USC football game|Stanford's record-breaking upset of the Trojans that fall]], the [[Stanford-USC football rivalry|Stanford-USC rivalry]] began to pick up in intensity and importance. During their 2009 meeting, Stanford was crushing USC in the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum|Coliseum]], leading 42–21 midway through the fourth quarter. After a touchdown run by future [[Heisman Trophy]] runner-up [[Toby Gerhart]] to bring the score to 48–21, Harbaugh kept the Cardinal offense on the field to attempt a two-point conversion. When asked what was going on, Harbaugh said, "I want to put fifty on these motherfuckers."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/06/27/rags-to-roses-excerpt-going-for-two/|title = 'Rags to Roses' excerpt: Going for two|date = 28 June 2013}}</ref> The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but Stanford would later score in the final minutes of the game, and ultimately won 55–21 after scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=293180030|title=Stanford vs. USC - Game Summary - November 14, 2009 - ESPN}}</ref> It was the worst home loss in USC history at the time, and is USC's largest margin of defeat in the Stanford-USC rivalry.

After the game, USC head coach [[Pete Carroll]] approached Harbaugh and, visibly angry, asked "What's your deal? You alright?" To which Harbaugh retorted "I'm fine. What's ''your'' deal?" This moment (in addition to the aforementioned Stanford upset of #1 USC in 2007) is seen by many as the turning point of the Stanford Cardinal football program, which, for the next eight years, was one of the most successful programs in college football.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teamrankings.com/ncf/trends/win_trends/?range=yearly_since_2010|title=College Football Team Win Trends - All Games}}</ref>

====Texas A&M====
In the same [[2003 NCAA Division I-A football season|2003 season]] that [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma]] defeated [[Texas A&M Aggies football|Texas A&M]] 77–0 (see above), A&M themselves ran up the score in a 73–10 home romp against [[Baylor Bears football|Baylor University]]. A&M naturally entered the rematch a year later as huge favorites, and the game was to be played the week prior to the major rematch game against Oklahoma. Perhaps too busy awaiting their moment of revenge against the Sooners the week to come, Texas A&M succumbed to the Baylor team they had humiliated the year before. As the Bears only managed three wins [[2004 Baylor Bears football team|that entire 2004 season]], the revenge-minded Baylor team's 35–34 overtime victory was arguably the biggest upset of the year. (Texas A&M did end up losing to Oklahoma again the following week, as well, although this time only by a score of 42–35.)

====Washington and Oregon====
The largest margin of victory turnaround in Division I-A football in successive years belongs to the [[Washington Huskies football|University of Washington]] and the [[Oregon Ducks football|University of Oregon]] and showcased two prime examples of running up the score. In 1973, Oregon ran up the score at [[Autzen Stadium|home]], burying [[1973 Washington Huskies football team|Washington]] 58–0. A year later, [[1974 Washington Huskies football team|Washington]] responded with a 66–0 drubbing of Oregon back home in [[Husky Stadium|Seattle]]. In that game, Washington's starting quarterback Chris Rowland played longer than necessary and suffered a season-ending knee injury. Rowland recalled that Washington head coach [[Jim Owens]] "wanted me in and said, 'We're going to beat these guys more than they beat us.' He [Owens] apologized to me because it was a personal thing for him."

====BYU and Utah====
The [[Holy War (BYU–Utah)|BYU-Utah football rivalry]]'s history is replete with lopsided games on both sides. During the early days of the [[BYU Cougars football|BYU football]] program, the Cougars would frequently be blown away by physically superior [[Utah Utes football|Utah]] teams. At one point, between the years of 1931–37, Utah outscored BYU by a combined score of 200–6.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sltrib.cougarstats.com/teams.php?id=13|title=CougarStats: BYU Football: Utah}}</ref> The tide changed with BYU's hiring of [[LaVell Edwards]], who brought the program credibility (and a national championship in [[1984 BYU Cougars football team|1984]]). During the Edwards years, the Cougars were regularly accused of running the score up mercilessly against the Utes. Years where this was particularly true included 1977 (38–8), 1980 (56–6), 1981 (56–28), 1983 (55–7), and 1989 (70–31). Normally, this practice was orchestrated by Edwards' assistants, such as touchdown-happy offensive coordinator [[Doug Scovil]]. Perhaps the most infamous example of Scovil's tendency toward scoring at all times was the 1977 match-up between the two teams. BYU quarterback [[Marc Wilson (American football)|Marc Wilson]] was in the midst of a spectacular sophomore season, and Utah was struggling defensively. During the fourth quarter, having already passed for 555 yards and four scores, Wilson was benched with his team leading 31–8. However, a member of the stadium press contingent recognized that Wilson had left the game just six yards shy of the NCAA single-game passing record. Scovil was informed, and promptly sent Wilson back into the game; the quarterback promptly threw an eight-yard pass that gave him the record. Scovil indicated for him to remain in the game, and he subsequently threw a fifth touchdown pass, giving BYU a 38–8 victory. Utah head coach [[Wayne Howard (American football)|Wayne Howard]] was enraged, and that incident helped fuel the venom of the rivalry moving forward.<ref>Benson, Lee. And They Came to Pass. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988. Print.</ref> BYU has rarely beaten Utah since Edwards' departure, although the most recent (2021) match-up of the two teams saw BYU winning 26-17 and costing Utah its national ranking.