No. 6 Georgia and Georgia Tech’s Friday night football game kicked off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
After 60 minutes of regulation — roughly four-and-a-half hours of real time — and an astounding eight overtimes, the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets finally determined the winner of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at around midnight for viewers on the East Coast.
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The Bulldogs stormed back from a 17-0 halftime deficit and a 27-13 deficit with five minutes 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 triumphant, 44-42, in the eighth overtime.
Speaking after the game, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he had never partcipated in a game like this, adding that both his and Brent Key’s teams had run out of two-point plays by the time the score was finally settled.
Indeed, Smart was part of near-historic game that flirted with becoming the longest game in college football history, at least in terms of overtime periods.
With the dust still settling from Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, here’s what you need to know of the longest games in college football history:
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The Georgia-Georgia Tech game was indeed long, going to eight overtimes. But it’s not the longest game in college football history.
That instead goes to Illinois and Penn State’s nine-overtime thriller on Oct. 23, 2021, which saw the Fighting Illini come away with a 20-18 victory. Somehow, Illinois and Penn State only amassed 395 and 227 yards, respectively, in a game in which the only second-half score was a James McCourt 39-yard field goal with 11:49 left to play.
Here is a list of the longest games, in terms of overtime periods, in college football history, courtesy of the NCAA:
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Curiously, college football rules have made it easier to get through overtime periods quicker, while also making it easier to rack up overtime periods.
Beginning in 2019, the NCAA began implementing overtime periods that simply traded 2-point conversion attempts beginning with the fifth overtime. It was widely viewed 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 amended in 2021, with teams trading 2-point attempts beginning with the third overtime. That said, there are some nuances to the rules:
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