IRON COLLEGE FOOTBALL / On this day /November 2

November 2 in college football

Every November 2 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 November 2

The 31 such results, best rank beaten first; the top 14 are listed.

SeasonWinnerRanked loserWhere
2002 Pittsburgh 28 #3 Virginia Tech 21 On the road
1946 Princeton 17 #3 Pennsylvania 14 On the road
2002 Boston College 14 #4 Notre Dame 7 On the road · Notre Dame Stadium
2002 Florida 20 #5 Georgia 13 On the road · AllTel · Jacksonville, FL
1946 Ohio State 39 #6 Northwestern 27 On the road
1957 Georgia Tech 13 #7 Duke 0 At home
1963 Michigan State 30 #8 Wisconsin 13 At home · East Lansing, MI
2024 South Carolina Gamecocks 44 #10 Texas A&M Aggies 20 At home · Williams-Brice Stadium · Columbia, SC
2002 Georgia Tech 24 #10 NC State 17 On the road · Carter-Finley · Raleigh, NC
1940 Tulane 13 #10 Clemson 0 At home
2024 Louisville Cardinals 33 #11 Clemson Tigers 21 On the road · Memorial Stadium · Clemson, South Carolina
2024 Texas Tech Red Raiders 23 #11 Iowa State Cyclones 22 On the road · Jack Trice Stadium · Ames, IA
1974 Rice 21 #13 Texas Tech 7 At home
1957 SMU 19 #13 Texas 12 At home

Ranked vs ranked on November 2

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

SeasonWinnerLoserWhere
1985 #8 Ohio State 22 #1 Iowa 13 At home
1957 #1 Texas A&M 7 #11 Arkansas 6 On the road
2002 #2 Oklahoma 27 #13 Colorado 11 At home · Memorial Stadium
1995 #24 Virginia 33 #2 Florida State 28 At home
1985 #2 Florida 14 #6 Auburn 10 On the road
1968 #2 Ohio State 25 #16 Michigan State 20 At home · Columbus, OH
2024 #4 Ohio State Buckeyes 20 #3 Penn State Nittany Lions 13 On the road · Beaver Stadium · University Park, PA
2013 #3 Florida St. 41 #7 Miami (FL) 14 At home
2006 #5 Louisville Cardinals 44 #3 West Virginia Mountaineers 34 At home
1974 #4 Alabama 35 #17 Mississippi State 0 At home

One-score finishes between ranked teams

Decided by three points or fewer.

SeasonWinnerLoserMargin
1957 #1 Texas A&M 7 #11 Arkansas 6 1 pt
1940 #4 Minnesota 13 #8 Northwestern 12 1 pt

Top-10 teams routed

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

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
2024 Morgan State Bears 38 Norfolk State Spartans 37 21 ptsin game
2013 Butler 33 Dayton 30 21 ptsin game
2013 Delaware 32 Towson 31 21 ptsin game
2013 Louisiana 49 New Mexico St. 35 21 ptsin game
2024 Western Carolina Catamounts 38 Chattanooga Mocs 34 20 ptsin game

Highest-scoring games

Combined points, both teams.

SeasonWinnerLoserPoints
1996 California 56 Arizona 55 111 pts
2013 Sam Houston 56 SFA 49 105 pts
2019 Eastern Washington 66 Northern Arizona 38 104 pts
1996 Central Michigan 52 Kent State 51 103 pts
2019 #24 Memphis 54 #15 SMU 48 102 pts

Biggest crowds

Announced attendance.