We've all heard numerous times in our lifetime that records are made to be broken. It's just the nature of progress. But just the same, there are some achievements that will likely stand the test of time, and the Oklahoma football program lays claim to several of them.
Chris Lowe and some of his colleagues at ESPN took a look back over the past 75 years of college football, back to 1950 and the beginning of what's called the modern era of college football, and came up with a list ranking what they consider to be the 10 most "unbreakable" records in the sport, which included three OU records.
"In every sport, there are hallowed records, dubious records and records that are seemingly unbreakable," wrote Lowe in the article this week. "Some good, some not so good."
Oklahoma owns several of college football's most unbreakable records
Oklahoma's remarkable 47-game winning streak, achieved from the third game of the 1953 season through the seventh game of the 1957 season, topped the list. The Sooners lost 7-0 to Notre Dame on Nov. 16, 1957. It was their only loss that season. Said another way, that was 1,499 days (more than four years) without a loss.
You have to go back more than 100 years (Washington with 40 from 1908 to 1914) to the next closest to Oklahoma's 47-game record. Since 1950, though, the longest win streak recorded was 34 by Toledo in 1969-71 and 34 by both Miami (2000-02) and USC (2003-05).
The Sooners also ranked No. 4 and No. 7 on the list of ESPN's 10 most unbreakable college football records and were part of another record performance belonging to former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which sat at No. 9.
At No. 4 was Oklahoma's 1971 team, which in the second season of its vaunted Wishbone offense averaged a record 472.4 rushing yards per game. To illustrate how truly special that was in comparison to today's college game, only four teams averaged more than 250 yards rushing in the 2024 season. The 1971 Sooner team averaged 45 points a game and lost just once that season, 35-31 to No. 1 Nebraska in the much ballyhooed "Game of the Century."
OU's Antonio Perkins amazingly returned three punts for touchdowns in a 2003 game against UCLA. That incredible performance ranked No. 7 on the list. As rare as it is to have a punt returned for a touchdown, it's almost unthinkable for a player to do it three times in the same game. Perkins' three punt returns totaled 84, 74 and 65 yards in a 59-21 home blowout against UCLA. In four seasons at Oklahoma, Perkins ended up with eight punts returned for touchdowns, a program record and second-best in NCAA history.
In 2016, Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, two future NFL quarterbacks, faced off against each other in a classic shootout that produced a combined 125 points and an NCAA Division I record 1,708 yards of offense. Mayfield and OU outlasted the Red Raiders, but it was Mahomes who lit up the scoreboard, as well as the record books, in a performance that ranked No. 9 in ESPN's list of the 10 most unbreakable records.
Mahomes accounted for a record 819 yards of total offense in the game. He put the ball in the air an incredible 88 times, completing 52 passes for 734 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 85 yards, all while playing the second half with a separated throwing shoulder and a fractured left wrist.
As eye-popping as Mahomes' stats were in that game, Mayfield, who it should be noted began his career at Texas Tech, produced some impressive numbers of his own, throwing for 545 yards and seven touchdowns.
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