UGA-GT games flirt with history

On November 30, 2024By Littum

no. 6 Georgia and Georgia Tech’s The Friday Night Football game started at 7:30 PM ET.

After 60 minutes of regulation – about four and a half hours of real time – and an astonishing eight overtimes, the Bulldogs and Yellow jackets finally decided the winner of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate around midnight for East Coast viewers.

The Bulldogs stormed back from a 17-0 halftime deficit and a 27-13 deficit with five minutes left in regulation to send the game to overtime (albeit with some controversy). There, the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets traded scores in the first, second and fifth overtimes — and defensive stands in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh OT periods — before Georgia emerged victorious, 44-42, in the eighth overtime.

After the game, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he had never been in a game like this, adding that both his and Brent Key’s teams had run out of two-point plays when the score was finally decided.

In fact, Smart was part of a near-historic game that flirted with becoming the longest game in college football history, at least in terms of overtime periods.

While the dust is still settling from Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, here’s what you need to know about the longest games in college football history:

Most overtime in college football history

The Georgia-Georgia Tech game was really long, going to eight overtimes. But it’s not the longest game in college football history.

Instead, it goes to Illinois and Penn State’s nine overtime thriller on Oct. 23, 2021, with the Fighting Illini coming away with a 20-18 victory. Somehow, Illinois and Penn State combined for just 395 and 227 yards, respectively, in a game where the only scoring in the second half was a James McCourt 39-yard field goal with 11:49 left to play.

The longest games in college football history

Here is a list of the longest overtime games in college football history, courtesy of the NCAA:

1. 23 October 2021: Illinois 20, Penn State 18 (9 OTs)
2. 29 November 2024: Georgia 44, Georgia Tech 42 (8 OTs)
T-3. 10 September 2022: Eastern Kentucky 59, Bowling Green 57 (7 OTs)
T-3. November 24, 2018: Texas A&M 74, LSU 72 (7 OTs)
T-3. October 7, 2017: Western Michigan 71, Buffalo 68 (7 OTs)
T-3. October 7, 2006: North Texas 25, FIU, 22 (7 OTs)
T-3. November 1, 2003: Arkansas 71, Kentucky 63 (7 OTs)
T-3. November 3, 2001: Arkansas 58, Miss Ole 56 (7 OTs)

College football OT rules

Oddly enough, the rules of college football have made it easier to get through overtime faster while also making it easier to accumulate overtime.

Beginning in 2019, the NCAA began implementing overtime periods that simply traded 2-point conversion attempts beginning with the fifth overtime. It was widely seen as a response to the 2018 game between LSU and Texas A&M that went to seven overtimes and saw the Aggies win 74-72 over the Tigers.

The rule was further changed in 2021, with teams trading 2-point attempts beginning with the third overtime. That said, there are some nuances to the rules:

In the first period of overtime, both teams get a chance to score a touchdown, starting from the 25-yard line. Teams can kick a point-after attempt or 2-point conversion after their touchdown
If the game goes to a second overtime, the teams must go by 2 after a touchdown.
Beginning in the third overtime period, both teams will trade 2-point attempts until one team scores and the other is held out of the end zone.