Which division 1 NCAA football team has the most shutouts in a season and how many?

Answer 1

This kind of depends on the context. 1) I'll assume you mean Division 1-A... (not 1-AA or lower divisions). 2) I'll assume we can include some of the older teams, modern teams have an obvious schedule advantage (over 50% more games) but the skill development, physical development, recruiting funds/scouting, equipment... all make todays play MUCH harder to record a shutout. Older teams could definitely record easy wins over small, local schools and still qualify as Div-1A. 3) I don't know where to find ALL the data for this, but I can tell you that in: Michigan 1932 - 6 shutouts. (8-0-0, 123pts for / 13 pts against) 1931 - 8 shutouts... but 2 of them were to Div-1AA teams, and one of the remaining 1A shutouts actually resulted in a TIE. (8-1-1 in 1A, 10-1-1 overall, 187 pts / 27 pts). 1925 - 7 legitimate shutouts and lost the only other game in their season by a score of 3-2. (7-1-0. 227 pts / 3 pts) You can go back until 1917 when their were non NCAA and see they recorded 3 to 5 shutouts every year. Michigan's '25 season is probably the most perfect season in NCAA history, all time. Notre Dame, the second most successful (win%) football team in NCAA history after Michigan, had A LOT of 5 to 6 shutout seasons before the 1940's, and even some 7 and 8 seasons as well... but never more than 6 Div 1A team shutouts. To demonstrate just how lop-sided football USED to be, in 1989 Notre Dame had a nearly undefeated season... 12-1-0... and they only recorded 1 shutout. There are so many football teams now, and so many GOOD teams, that finding 5 or 6 suckers to pad your schedule with shutouts just isn't possible in the modern era. USC, Ohio State, Purdue, etc... if their a top-10 team in win% all time, their programs follow a similar pattern... 3 to 5, sometimes 6 shutouts per season in the 20's and earlier... then as other teams got better, the number of shutouts per season dropped, even though the schedules lengthened substancially. USC: in 1943 they recorded 7 shutouts... but one of them was "technically" an non-1A team... The Washington University Huskies... in the Rose Bowl. Obviously the Huskies are NOW a Div-1A team... but they were "unranked" by the NCAA for that season. A bone for Washington: in 1936 they recorded 6 shutouts. Harvard recorded 7 in 1919, to finish with a 9-0-1 record including a 7-6 win over the Oregon Ducks to win the Rose Bowl... only 3 of the shutouts were on Div-1A teams though (limited by their Ivy League schedule), but 6 of the 7 shutouts were in a row.. they started the season 7-0-0! So how about the Modern Era? ----------------------------- 1973 Auburn: 3 shutouts 1974 Texas A&M: 3 shutouts 1992 Boston College: 3 shutouts 2000 Texas Tech: 3 shutouts 2001 U of Miami (FL): 3 shutouts + 3 games with only 1 score 2003 U of Miami (FL): 3 shutouts 2006 Virginia Tech: 3 shutouts + 1 shutout to a non-1A team Interesting shutout trivia: --------------------------- In 1908 LSU laid claim the to the only ALL-SHUTOUT SEASON season in NCAA Div 1 history... they won 3 games by shutouts, and lost the other 4 by GETTING shutout. Final record? (3-4-0) overall; (2-2-0) in Div-1A. 38 points for... and 38 against. First College Football shutout? Princeton over Rutgers University... eight nothing, 11/13/1869. (2nd college football game in the USA)

Answer 2

1904 National Champion Minnesota Gophers 13 -0 with 12 Shutouts