IRON COLLEGE FOOTBALL / On this day /October 24

October 24 in college football

Every October 24 in Iron's archive: the ranked teams that lost to unranked ones, the ranked matchups, and the games worth retelling. Every result links to its game card.

Unranked over ranked on October 24

The 28 such results, best rank beaten first; the top 14 are listed.

SeasonWinnerRanked loserWhere
1953 Purdue 6 #2 Michigan State 0 At home · West Lafayette, IN
1942 LSU 34 #2 Georgia Pre-Flight 0 At home
1936 Tennessee 15 #2 Duke 13 At home
2015 Southern California 42 #3 Utah 24 At home
1981 South Carolina 31 #3 North Carolina 13 On the road
1953 Minnesota 22 #5 Michigan 0 At home
1981 Minnesota 12 #6 Iowa 10 On the road
1987 NC State 30 #7 Clemson 28 On the road
2020 Indiana 36 #8 Penn St. 35 At home · Memorial Stadium · Bloomington, IN
1964 Oregon State 31 #8 Syracuse 13 At home
2015 Georgia Tech 22 #9 Florida State 16 At home
2009 Clemson Tigers 40 #10 Miami Hurricanes 37 On the road · Land Shark Stadium
1970 Oregon 10 #10 USC 7 At home
1964 Virginia Tech 20 #10 Florida State 11 At home

Ranked vs ranked on October 24

28 meetings in all; the ten with the highest-ranked team are listed.

SeasonWinnerLoserWhere
1953 #1 Notre Dame 27 #4 Georgia Tech 14 At home
1936 #1 Minnesota 33 #5 Purdue 0 At home
1964 #3 Alabama 17 #9 Florida 14 At home
1959 #4 Ole Miss 28 #10 Arkansas 0 At home
1942 #13 Minnesota 16 #4 Michigan 14 At home
1942 #8 Notre Dame 21 #5 Illinois 14 On the road
2020 #6 Oklahoma St. 24 #17 Iowa St. 21 At home · Boone PickensStadium · Stillwater, Oklahoma
1998 #6 Florida State 34 #20 Georgia Tech 7 On the road
1970 #14 LSU 17 #6 Auburn 9 On the road
1953 #6 Baylor 14 #15 Texas A&M 13 On the road

One-score finishes between ranked teams

Decided by three points or fewer.

SeasonWinnerLoserMargin
1953 #6 Baylor 14 #15 Texas A&M 13 1 pt
1942 #13 Minnesota 16 #4 Michigan 14 2 pts
1970 #8 Stanford 9 #16 UCLA 7 2 pts
1981 #10 Texas 9 #8 SMU 7 2 pts
1964 #3 Alabama 17 #9 Florida 14 3 pts

Top-10 teams routed

The widest losses by a team ranked in the top ten.

SeasonWinnerRanked loserMargin
1942 LSU 34 #2 Georgia Pre-Flight 0 34 pts
1936 #1 Minnesota 33 #5 Purdue 0 33 pts
1959 #4 Ole Miss 28 #10 Arkansas 0 28 pts
1936 #9 Pittsburgh 26 #7 Notre Dame 0 26 pts
1953 Minnesota 22 #5 Michigan 0 22 pts

Biggest comebacks

Deficit the winner erased. Measured from in-game margins where play data exists, cross-checked against quarter scores; a row prints only when the quarter lines corroborate it, so this list starts in 2000.

SeasonWinnerLoserTrailed by
2009 Northwestern Wildcats 29 Indiana Hoosiers 28 25 ptsin game
2015 #19 Toledo Rockets 51 Massachusetts Minutemen 35 18 ptsin game
2015 Nevada 30 Hawaii 20 17 ptsin game
2015 Air Force 42 Fresno State 14 14 ptsin game
2015 Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 52 Murray State Racers 45 14 ptsin game

Highest-scoring games

Combined points, both teams.

SeasonWinnerLoserPoints
2009 Nevada Wolf Pack 70 Idaho Vandals 45 115 pts
2015 Richmond 59 James Madison 49 108 pts
2015 Bethune-Cookman 59 Norfolk State 49 108 pts
2015 Fordham 59 Lehigh 42 101 pts
2013 Middle Tenn. 51 Marshall 49 100 pts

Biggest crowds

Announced attendance.