Why its untouchable: The Cougars waxed SMU, 95-21, in a biblical beating that featured an all-out aerial assault from Ware, who threw for 517 yards and later won the Heisman. During the 2013 campaign at Washington State, Halliday also set a new NCAA record with 89 passing attempts at Oregon. Do you have a sports website? I sat in awe, refreshing ESPN.coms GameTracker last season after every carry from Melvin Gordon, waiting on Wisconsins star running back to surpass the 400-yard barrier and inch closer to Ladainian Tomlinsons all-time mark. 2022 The Game Before the Money All Rights Reserved. Michigan State must replace All-American punter and fix disastrous Spiller racked up 2,052 yards and seven touchdowns (an FBS record) on kickoff returns and added 569 yards and a score on punt returns for good measure. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Twenty-five players in college football history have run two kickoffs back for touchdowns in the same game. "White Lightning" was another dual-sport football/track star who finished his Iowa career ('94-97) as the Big Ten's all-time leader in punt-return yardage and touchdowns. Kickoff Return Touchdowns Single Season Leaders and Records | College Football at Sports-Reference.com , Google Podcasts, or YouTube. Jameis Winston led Florida State to 29 consecutive victories during his tenure, an impressive streak snapped in violent fashion by Oregon in last years first College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl. Please see our Contributors and Sources page for data source details. The score set records for the longest kickoff return and longest play in Super Bowl history. Patterson somehow broke through the throng of tacklers and then it became a track meetand he won. Watch on. One of the college football's best receivers in 2021, Williams tore his ACL in Alabama's national championship game loss to Georgia and played limited snaps in six games with the Lions last season. I mean, when you talk to him theres one thing I love about him. Well, in this case, its probably a good idea that Jones didnt listen to that advice. The Irish victory at Michigan in front of over 105,000 fans made Norte Dame the first school to defeat Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler in three straight seasons. Down three points with just six seconds left in this ACC matchup against Duke, the Miami Hurricanes were in a desperate positionthey needed to find a way to score a touchdown after a late score by the Blue Devils. Check out The Game Before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL available at Amazon.comBarnes and NobleUniversity of Nebraska Press. But even if he'd been stopped for 10- and 12-yard gains every time, surely he'd find some way to remain memorable. Most episodes include stories from legendary football stars. In 2010, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn content even if head coach jobs never materialize, Brad Holmes: 'I don't think the cupboard's bare on defense'. That season, he averaged 19.8 yards per kickoff return and scored three TDs on punt returns. most games with two kickoff returns for touchdowns, A Brief History of The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers vs Houston Oilers Rivalry. By any measure, it was a near-perfect performance and the one incompletion was a dropped pass. Not only is it remarkable that Burleson didn't reach the end zone that day, but in his previous game, he didn't catch a single pass, and in the game after he set this record, he had a pedestrian four catches for 23 yards. Read more about our data coverage. Just look at Moore's freshman (36.2 receiving yards per game) and sophomore (70.8 yards per game) seasons to see that it took Moore time (and potentially a coaching change to offensive mind Lane Kiffin) for him to develop into a receiver who could average that many yards per game. All NFL Teams. Detroit Lions could have interesting plan for Jameson Williams in 2023 Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp is open to the idea of incorporating Williams into a return role, and Williams himself has expressed . But scan through the FBS record book and you'll find other records in the highest level of college football that are likely so untouchable either due to rule changes and the evolution of the game, or due to a flash of brilliance (or the opposite of brilliance) that we think they'll stand in the history books forever. He is a graduate of Indiana University. Notre Dame beat Michigan 24-19 on that day in a battle of the nations top two ranked teams. Rocket Ismails record of most games with two kickoff returns for touchdowns set in 1989 still stands today. Cecil Turner (4/1970), 1. Kick return touchdown in the Super Bowldoes it get any more exciting than that? Who holds it: Connor Halliday, Washington State, 2014 Join our linker program. The Lane College alum ratcheted up his speed at the 15-yard line and bursted through a small seam in between the 49ers special teams front line. Before Hester was torching NFL special teams units in the pros, he was making complete fools of his fellow college players while playing at the University of Miami. Some school's results have been altered by retroactive NCAA penalties. 44 touchdowns are tied with Kmic for the most ever and ahead of anyone else in NCAA history. 4-ranked Auburn Tigers (10-1, 6-1 in the SEC). Jackson is a pending free agent, while Raymond is coming off the best season of his career. Ismails first touchdown return against Michigan was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown against the Wolverines since 1957 over 30 years before Rockets epic launch. As a senior in 1997, Rossum finished fourth nationally in kickoff-return average; as a junior he led the country in punt-return average. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. And its like, 'Well, yeah, thats good, but what happens when the balls punted to that side of the field, we thought it was going to be over (on the other) side of the field and hes like, 'Oh, (expletive), I got to go over there.' As a matter of policy, Sports Reference only reports the results of games as played on the field. But others, at least on the surface, appear untouchable. As a receiver, Williams caught one pass for a 41-yard touchdown last season, had three drops on nine targets and had one carry for 40 yards. Lions' brass has a plan. That's roughly what Nevada's Alex Van Dyke averaged during his two-year career Nevada. NFL Single Season Leaders - Kickoff Return Touchdowns UTEP quarterback Brooks Dawson once threw a touchdown pass on six consecutive attempts against New Mexico and what makes it really unbreakable is that he started the game 6-for-6 with six touchdowns. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. 10 unbreakable records in college football - Saturday Down South The best kick-returners have a knack for making big plays in big games. 1977 1976 1947 NFL Punt Returns for Touchdown Single Game Leaders All-Time Punt Returns for Touchdown Leaders Players must meet the minimum requirements to show up on this leaderboard. Feel free to disagree because that's part of what this is about. Build your own custom leaderboards with Stathead Football. Interview quotes are usually edited for length and clarity. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Do you have a blog? He took a kickoff in his own end zone with 4:31 . ), is safe in our opinion. Return to Top; Players. INDIANAPOLIS The Detroit Lions are making big plans to get more out of explosive wide receiver Jameson Williams next season, and that could include using him on returns. I want to be the punt returner, too. Why its untouchable: Insley, the NCAAs all-time receiving yards leader, managed just 574 yards as a freshman in 1996 before exploding for 4,431 yards and 30 touchdowns over his final three seasons. In the 2020 season, Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz completed his first 17 pass attempts in the Badgers' season-opener against Illinois as he finished 20-for-21 passing for 248 yards and five touchdowns. But wiping out the kickoff? Most games scoring two or more touchdowns, season. Reaves led the SEC in passing yards and attempts all three seasons in Gainesville and is the leagues all-time leader in interceptions thrown with 59. Active players are listed in bold. NFL Single Season Leaders - Kickoff Return Touchdowns The following is a list of the NFL single season kickoff returnleaders ranked by kickoff return touchdowns. Subscribe to Stathead Football: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Pro Football Reference Database. NFL Kick Returns for Touchdown Single-Season Leaders With this play against Tennessee in 2011, the Arkansas wide receiver and return specialist made the argument that he pulled off the best punt return in football history. NFL Punt Returns for Touchdown Single Game Leaders Andy Wittry has written for Stadium, SI.com, Sporting News, the Indianapolis Star, Louisville Courier-Journal and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Like, 'Damn, I dont think I got that in me right now,' as opposed to the guy whos coming off the bench and like, 'Dude, I just want to play right now. So its always an accountability factor on both sides, but we expect big things from him.". Single game leaders only reflect years for which we have complete boxscore data (1950 onward), all playoff games, and all 100 yard rushing/receiving or 300 yard passing games from 1940-1959. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Build your own custom leaderboards with Stathead Football. Josh Cribbs (3/2009), Sports Reference Baseball Football(college) Basketball(college) Hockey Ftbol Blog Stathead Questions or Comments? Consider what we've seen from the most electrifying kick-returners to mark the college football landscape over the past quarter-century. To start things off, Jones commited what many special teams coaches say is the biggest mistake for all return mendont take the ball out of the endzone if you catch it over five yards deep. NFL Career Leaders - Punt Return Touchdowns - FootballDB.com The national leader in receiving yards per game during the 2020 season was Ole Miss' consensus All-American wide receiver Elijah Moore, who averaged 149.1 yards per game. As a freshman in just his second game for the Hurricanes, against rival Florida, Hester took the opening kickoff 98 yards to the house. Why its untouchable: Kevin Sumlins facilitator of the Air Raid during his time in college, Keenum was fearless from the pocket channeled visions of high-powered Cougars offenses of old, slinging it around like record-setting quarterbacks Andre Ware and David Klingler before him. Who holds it: Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, 1996-99 Recruited to play defensive back and run track, Ginn made an immediate impact with the ball, leading the nation in punt return average (25.6) as a freshman and scoring four touchdowns. Watching Spiller make defenders look like clowns while flying down the field in Clemson's orange unis, it was easy to recall images of Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State. Like, he wants to do everything. Theres no way Im going to let that ball hit the ground. See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. None of the members of this class will ever hear their names called in Canton, but as a group, and what they provided for the Titans, even though small in some cases, was a solid class top to bottom that played some excellent football and were part of some good, but not great Titans teams. "I dont totally know the answer to it, only because he is just kind of coming back," Fipp said when asked if he's open to using Williams as a kick returner in 2023. Ten players have done that in NFL history. Welker scored eight touchdowns on punt returns in his career ('00-03), tying the FBS record. In 1997 he totaled a Super Bowl-record 90 punt return yards and 154 kickoff return yards with one . "Hes done it. Devin Hester (Miami) 11 of 15 Jamie. Hester blew through an open lane to go basically untouched into the endzonehigh-stepping his way in all the way from the 20-yard line. Im going to go track that thing down. Playing on Sunday Night Football in front of a national television audience, the ridiculously fast return manhe posted a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combinetook the ball and ran straight up the middle of the field into what looked like a barrage of Packers players. But we're putting these types of records off to the side, because they're unbreakable based on the size of the playing field and the rules of the game. Jameson also has to hold his part and make sure that hes doing everything that he needs to do. NASHVILLE - It's time to reveal our No.3 class in the top-ten draft classes of the Titans history countdown. Miami kick returner Jakeem Grant, in his fourth NFL season, had a 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Week 11, his second career kick-return touchdown of at least . A compilation of every kick return touchdown of the 2021 college football season. That's why Dominique Davis' record for consecutive completions in a season is unbreakable, even as passing efficiency in college football has improved over the course of the last decade. Ismail dashed for 88 yards on that kickoff. The longtime NFL cornerback made everyone look like a fool on this play while he was playing with the Los Angeles Rams. "Obviously, it would be great to see him back there (as a returner) if thats what his role provides," Fipp said. And I think the great players are like that, and they want to do all that stuff. In an interview with an Atlanta radio station. Another score against Missouri later that year gave Perkins the FBS single-season record for punt return TDs. Most games scoring a touchdown, career. Klingler also holds the NCAA mark for most touchdown passes in one game (11). Jameson Williams could handle kick returns for Detroit Lions in 2023 After the game, Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz told reporters he simply told Ismail to run to middle. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. That year, he took the opening kickoff of the opening game back for a TD against Tulsa. Lions coach Dan Campbell said he planned to use Williams as a gunner on punt team in his first NFL game, but the Lions never got the opportunity as the Jacksonville Jaguars failed to force a punt. Hail Mary passes, knockout tackles, and deep throws down the sideline are all cool plays in football, but there's nothing quite as exciting as a kick return touchdown. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Catch up on DI women's conference tourneys, There are a handful of FBS records and milestones that could be broken and reached this season, respectively. He has been covering the NFL for various outlets since 2000. His career punt-return average (23.2) ranks second all-time nationally. Every Kick Return Touchdown of the 2020 College Football Season As a West Coast resident and Pac-10 fan, I watched Reggie Bush do some incredible things. It is the most violent, video-friendly, terrifying, electrifying, dangerous and dramatic play in football. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? One of the most controversial endings in college football history, Colorado scored a last second touchdown on the last play of the game on mistakenly-given . Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. That will never be topped. ROAD WARRIORS: College football's longest active road winning streaks, Record: 3,690 rushing yardsRecord-holder: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State and Byron Sanders, NorthwesternSeason: 1988. Statistics are current through the 2022 NFL season and include stats accrued in NFL, AFL and APFA games. From there it was a track meetand no one could catch Jones. Every Kick Return Touchdown of the 2021 College Football Season Stats: 2,854 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 1,473 rushing yards, 20 rushing touchdowns, 42 receiving yards, receiving touchdown Newton got his one SEC chance after his troubled time. NCAA Individual Records for Scoring | College Football at Sports Most rushing touchdowns, game [ edit] FBS: 8 - Howard Griffith, Illinois, 1990; Kalen Ballage, Arizona State, 2016; Jaret Patterson, Buffalo, 2020 FCS: 7 - Archie Amerson, Northern Arizona, 1996 Div II: 8 - Junior Wolf, Oklahoma Panhandle State, 1958 Div III: 8 - Donavan Henderson, Manchester, 2019; Carey Bender, Coe, 1994 The score marked the first time an opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown in Super Bowl history. NFL Kick Returns for Touchdown Single Game Leaders All-Time Kick Returns for Touchdown Leaders Build your own custom leaderboards with Stathead Football. 3 running back Justin Jackson as their top kick returner last season. Hester took the opening kickoff from his own 10-yard line and darted through the first wave of would-be tacklers with a fantastic juke step, and he was offHester made it 90 yards before anyone on the Colts touched him, but by then he was already in the endzone. Two TD Kickoff Returns in One Game | The Game Before the Money Hall was fasthe once recorded a 40-yard dash time of 4.29 secondsand his slender frame at 58, 187 pounds made it easy for him to slip around tacklers. Ron Brown (3/1985), 3. Insane. It took about two years of post-Rocket recovery before I realized kick return TDs are actually a rare football gift. An asterisk (*) after a player's name indicates bowl stats are included.Read more about our data coverage. 20 college football teams we aren't sold on in 2023, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Mizzou shocks Tennessee, Alabama downs Auburn and more, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Alabama stays unbeaten in SEC play, Tennessee outlasts Auburn and more, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: A new top team emerges, Alabama loses in blowout fashion, Mizzou lights it up again. . Join our linker program. The record? Roby was a miss for the Titans, but he was ultimately the only member of his class to play a prominent role on a team and win a Super Bowl. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Hundreds waited in line for Jamaal Williams to sign autographs at DC Sports on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. 1 Georgia Tech trampled Cumberland Gap (Tenn.) 222-0 in 1916 (Looking at you, Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder, and Ohio State wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.). Why its untouchable: College footballs Heisman winner in 1999, Dayne topped 2,000 yards for the second time in his Big Ten career to finish with an incredible NCAA-record 7,125 yards on the ground on a record-breaking 1,220 carries. 50 of the Most Memorable Touchdowns in College Football Leaders Since 1976 Share & Export It would take a dynamic talent like Randy Moss, who was interested in playing four seasons, to come close. CLICK HERE. It's also worth noting that numerous Nevada players from the 1990s and early 2000s hold FBS passing and receiving records, so Van Dyke's record might be a case of the right player in the right system in the right era, which is why it may never be topped. Read more about our data coverage. Their role on special teams is more influenced by offense and defense than it is on what he can do on teams.". Like sports history? Contact Dave Birkett atdbirkett@freepress.com. Please see our Contributors and Sources page for data source details. Or write about sports? Kick Six - Wikipedia Green Bay Packers wideout Randall Cobb was anxious to get his pro career startedso anxious that he brought out a kickoff after receiving it eight yards deep in the end zone. NFL Kick Returns for Touchdown Single Game Leaders Roos and Stewart were bookend tackles throughout their career, and it's not often a team finds a pair of starting offensive tackles in the same draft. He ran for 92 yards on the second touchdown. Raghib Rocket Ismail from Notre Dame returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 1988 game against Rice. All rights reserved. For those that don't know, a kick return touchdown is when the kickoff retu. Jacoby Jones has had a few standout returns in his career, and this one against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII might be his most impressive. It's almost unfathomable to see a stat line of 12 receptions, 326 yards, 27.2 yards per reception andzero touchdowns. As good as Jones-Drew was, UCLA has never seen a return man as dangerous as Antonio Perkins. Still, he has breakaway. List of NCAA football records - Wikipedia Before there was Devin Hester, there was Dante Hall. 2023 NFL combine: Current drill record-holders and candidates to break He finished his college career ('03-05)averaging 25.5 yards per kickoff return and 15.6 per punt return, with six return touchdowns. Though I understand the safety concerns, it would be a shame to tear down a stage on which some of college football's most talented players have put in work. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Bears game on Sunday. Only twice since the turn of the century has a team surpassed 30 or more straight wins USC and Miami. The raw video game-like numbers nearly 20,000 yards passing and 155 touchdowns jump off the page. As a senior, he won the Mosi Tatupu Award as the nation's top special teams player. Howard, the 1991 Heisman trophy winner, is the only return man to win the Super Bowl MVP. You could still try to maintain possession of the ball. Why its untouchable: Houston quarterback David Klinglers single-game FBS passing record of 716 yards stood for nearly 25 years before Halliday, a lesser-known quarterback and Air Raid product, eclipsed the mark last season. Why its untouchable: Youve got to feel for Reaves, the Gators errant passer who tossed nine completions to the opposing defense at Auburn in 1969. See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. Travis Etienne. Most kick return TDs in NFL history: Falcons' Cordarrelle Patterson 1 pick in the NFL draft (Mayfield), the former of whom is arguably a generational talent at the position and the latter of whom was named the best player in the country one year later. His 65-yard catch-and-run score against Kansas State, 82-yard punt return touchdown against Texas Tech, and 80-yard jet sweep touchdown in 2022 are plenty of evidence that he could rewrite the . All rights reserved. Adams slipped through a couple tackles and appeared to be at a dead end againbut with blazing speed he darted up the sideline and got a key block, sending him straight towards the end zone with nearly the entire Tennessee team chasing him, but all coming up short. 1 on that list? So, Sanders' Heisman-winning season in '88 when he ran for 332 yards against Texas Tech, 320 yards against Kansas State, 312 yards against Kansas and 304 yards against Tulsa hasn't been matched by any other running back in their career, let alone a single season. No one will forget the Heisman pose after the 93-yard punt return TD against Ohio State, but they also shouldn't forget the body of work that led to Howard's defining moment. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. On one September day in 2003, Perkins tortured the Bruins for 277 yards on seven punt returns, scoring touchdowns from65, 74 and 84 yards out. It's impossible for someone to break Nevada punter Pat Brady's 99-yard punt without having a touchback, and similarly, no player will ever top the record of a 100-yard return of an extra-point attempt, which is held by eight different players. "It's hard to ask a guy to do all those things at a really high level, and people dont realize that," Fipp said. Whether it be a kickoff return or a punt return, football players put their amazing athletic ability on display as they weave in and out of tacklers, rushing down the field after receiving a kick. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:41AM. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Some might argue how much of a hit Jones really was, but he produced on the field, and if he had spent his off-field time as efficiently, who knows where he might rank with the all-time greats of the game. Thomas is a member of both the College Football and NFL Hall of Fame. And his most memorable returna 91-yard dash with one minute left in the 1991 Orange Bowl that (would have) dashed Colorado's national championshipdidn't even count due to a clipping penalty. Not that the Red Raiders' notoriously potent offense needed help putting points on the board, but Welker was an extra threat to score any time he fielded a kick. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. And unfortunately, its days may be numbered. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:41AM. Cordarrelle Patterson was tied for the most kick return touchdowns in NFL history entering Week 11 of the 2022 season. You want to see over 100,000 people afraid to move?