It’s said that records are made to be broken, but not all will be. The SEC record book has many marks that will never be broken, barring some major change in the way that football is played. In fact, that’s why so many of those records are unbreakable, because football has undergone major changes since the conference kicked off in 1933.
For instance, no team will play a complete regular season without being scored on, as Tennessee did in 1939. It can’t happen today.
The conference has other records that, while products of their times, possessed an outlier quality even when they were set. They dwarfed what preceded the accomplishment and haven’t been approached in the seasons since.
For career records, there’s also the matter of playing enough games to amass the quantity needed to break a mark. And with fewer great players staying around for four seasons before going to the NFL, that can make some career records even more unreachable.
Here are 15 SEC football career records that likely will continue to stand the test of time:
Auburn running back Bo Jackson carries the football against Florida State on Oct. 12, 1985, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.Getty Images
6.62 yards per carry by Auburn’s Bo Jackson
A lot of players have taken a run at this record, compiled by Jackson by rushing for 4,303 yards on 650 carries from 1982 through 1985 for the Tigers. Of the 10 SEC players who have averaged at least 6 yards on a minimum of 400 career rushing attempts, seven of them have played in the past six seasons, and current Alabama running back Najee Harris enters the 2020 season at 6.14 yards per carry and 13 carries short of the 400 qualifier. But the closest any of the challengers has come hasn’t been good enough to top Jackson’s 35-year-old record. LSU’s Derrius Guice is second at 6.53 yards per carry from 2015 through 2017.
Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant is carried off the field after the Crimson Tide defeated Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3, 1978, in New Orleans.AP
14 conference championships by Paul “Bear” Bryant
Surely, Alabama’s Nick Saban is going to break this record for coaching conference champs, right? After all, Saban has guided the Crimson Tide to six SEC crowns in the previous 11 seasons. With his two SEC championships from LSU, if Saban keeps up that pace he’d be tied with Bryant in 11 seasons. He’ll also be 79 years old by that time. Saban also is chasing Bryant’s record for most victories as an SEC coach. Saban has 200 officially (and 205 when five that were vacated are considered). Bryant won 292 games as an SEC coach. Over the past 12 seasons, Alabama has averaged 12.5 victories per season. At that rate, Saban would catch Bryant in the 2027 season. Bryant’s SEC championships came in 1950 at Kentucky and 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981 at Alabama.
Bobby Wilson played on offense and defense while at Ole Miss.AL.com file
20 interceptions by Ole Miss’ Bobby Wilson and LSU’s Chris Williams
This record doesn’t appear so out-of-reach. But then consider that Wilson played his final season for the Rebels in 1949 and Williams made his last appearance for the Tigers in 1980, and it looks more firmly entrenched. Only four other SEC players have more than 16 career interceptions, and none of them played in the past 26 seasons. At the end of the 2019 season, Auburn’s Javaris Davis and LSU’s Grant Delpit were the SEC’s leaders in career interceptions with eight apiece (and neither is back for 2020).
Teammates congratulate Arkansas wide receiver Anthony Lucas during the Cotton Bowl against Texas on Jan. 1, 2000, in Dallas.Getty Images
21.0 yards per reception averaged by Arkansas’ Anthony Lucas
Three SEC players who have caught 100 passes have averaged at least 20 yards per reception. Lucas is the most recent of the three to play in the conference, completing his career at Arkansas in 1999 with 2,879 yards on 137 receptions. LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had a chance to join the group after averaging 21.2 yards per catch during his monster 2019 season. But even if he precisely duplicated his 84 receptions for 1,780 yards (without quarterback Joe Burrow this time), Chase’s career average still would be short of Lucas’ at 20.4 yards per catch. That won’t happen now because Chase has chosen not to play in the 2020 season. The other SEC players who have averaged at least 20 yards on a minimum of 100 receptions are Alabama’s Ozzie Newsome (20.3 yards on 102 receptions from 1974-77) and Ole Miss’ Willie Green (20.1 yards on 113 receptions from 1986-89).
Georgia running back Herschel Walker carries the football against Georgia Tech on Nov. 27, 1982, in Athens, Ga.AP
30.1 rushing attempts per game averaged by Georgia’s Herschel Walker
Which of the Georgia running back’s SEC career records is the most unassailable? His 994 rushing attempts, 5,289 rushing yards or average of 159.4 rushing yards per game? They’ve all stood for 37 seasons. So has Walker’s mark for average number of carries per game, and it may be even more out there than his other career records. Walker’s average of 30.1 rushing attempts per game from 1980 through 1982 is 34 percent more than the second player on the SEC list – Florida’s Emmitt Smith, who averaged 22.5 carries per game from 1987 through 1989.
Tennessee’s Evan Berry returns a kickoff against Georgia Tech on Sept. 4, 2017, in Atlanta.AP
34.3 yards per kickoff return averaged by Tennessee’s Evan Berry
It remains to be seen how many SEC players reach the minimum number of 50 kickoff returns to qualify for this record in the future. Last season, only four conference players returned more than 12 kickoffs, topped by the 17 of Vanderbilt wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley. But when Berry passed the 50 mark in 2017, he obliterated the league record for kickoff-return average. Alabama’s Christion Jones ranks second at 28.3 – 6 yards per return behind Berry’s mark. Even if the minimum number of returns for the record is reduced to 30, Berry remains well ahead of South Carolina’s Deebo Samuel, who had a 29.0-yard average on 42 returns.
Alabama linebacker Derrick Thomas records a sack against Penn State on Oct. 22, 1988, at Legion Field in Birmingham.BN
52 sacks by Alabama’s Derrick Thomas
Is this really even a record? Not according to the NCAA. The Alabama linebacker compiled the total from 1985 through 1988, but the NCAA didn’t install sacks in its record book until 2000. The NFL started in 1982, and some conferences got the jump on the NCAA, too, so Thomas’ name tops a list in the SEC record book that features Mississippi State’s Billy Jackson with 49 and no other player with more than 37. Only three SEC players this century have come within 20 of Thomas’ career record – Georgia’s David Pollack with 36 sacks, Tennessee’s Derek Barnett with 33 and Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett with 32.5.
Georgia quarterback Zeke Bratkowski’s SEC career record for passing yards has been broken, but his mark for interceptions thrown likely won’t be.AL.com file
68 interceptions thrown by Georgia’s Zeke Bratkowski
Quarterbacks just don’t throw interceptions the way they used to. Arkansas QB Nick Starkel tossed the most INTs in the SEC in 2019 with 10 of his 179 passes picked off. Bratkowski threw 68 interceptions in 369 passes for Georgia from 1951 through 1953. No SEC player in the past 25 years has come within 20 of Bratkowski’s interception record. If the stats imply that Bratkowski was a bad QB, consider that he left the Bulldogs with the most passing yards in college football history – 4,863 – and was the 17th player picked in the 1953 NFL Draft, which was before he’d played his senior season at Georgia.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow carries the football against Florida International on Nov. 21, 2009, in Gainesville, Fla.AP
145 touchdown responsibility by Florida’s Tim Tebow
If only LSU quarterback Joe Burrow had another year of eligibility, he could have broken this record – but only if he had a season approximating his 2019 campaign, when he was responsible for 65 touchdowns – 60 passes and five runs. That shattered the single-season record of 55 set by Tebow in 2007. The SEC has had only one other player reach 50 in touchdown responsibility in one season – Auburn QB Cam Newton in 2010 – and it would take nearly three such seasons to break Tebow’s record. (It might be noted that Burrow, Tebow and Newton won the Heisman Trophy during those seasons.) Georgia’s Aaron Murray is closest to Tebow’s career record at 137 by setting the SEC record with 121 TD passes. Tebow had 88 touchdown passes, and the Florida quarterback also had 57 rushing TDs from 2006 through 2009, which is another career mark that could stand for a while.
Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship kicks a field goal against Baylor during the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2020, in New Orleans.AP
200 consecutive extra points by Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship
The Bulldogs place-kicker completed his four seasons last year without missing a point-after, breaking by two the conference’s consecutive PAT record set just three seasons earlier by Auburn’s Daniel Carlson. But it’s liable not to be so easy for future kickers. The NFL pushed the line of scrimmage for extra-point attempts to the 15 in 2015. College football kept its conversions at the 3-yard line, but if this becomes one of the rules on which the NCAA follows the NFL’s lead, Blankenship’s record becomes tougher on two fronts: The kick becomes harder to make, and teams have greater incentive to go for 2.
Tennessee safety Eric Berry intercepts a pass against Memphis on Nov. 7, 2009, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.ASSOCIATED PRESS
494 interception-return yards by Tennessee’s Eric Berry
The Tennessee safety has 30 percent more interception-return yards than any other player in SEC history. On his 14 interceptions from 2007 through 2009, Berry piled up 494 yards, an average of 35.3 yards per return, which is another conference record. Georgia’s Dominick Sanders, No. 2 on the SEC list for career interception-return yards, had two more interceptions than Berry and still came up 113 yards short of the Tennessee All-American’s record.
Tennessee linebacker Andy Spiva’s SEC record for career tackles has stood since 1976.AL.com file
547 tackles by Tennessee’s Andy Spiva
The Tennessee linebacker compiled his total from 1973 through 1976 – a stone-etched relic from another time in football. Eight of the top 12 tacklers in SEC history played in the 1970s, when the number of rushing attempts was higher than in any period of college football history. The lowest average number of rushing attempts for the teams in NCAA’s top division in the 1970s was 49.1 in 1979. Ole Miss led the SEC in rushing attempts per game at 46.6 in 2019, when the NCAA FBS average was 39.2. In the 1970s, the SEC had eight teams average at least 62 rushing attempts per game in a season. That’s a lot of tackles available for linebackers. The NCAA also decreed in 2004 that all individual defensive statistics would be compiled by the press-box statistics crew during the game. That eliminated the practice of taking tackle totals from coaches after film review. No one in the conference’s career top 10 tacklers played after that demarcation. At the end of the 2019 season, the SEC’s leader in career tackles was Arkansas linebacker De’Jon Harris with 371. The conference’s leading returning tackler is Mississippi State linebacker Erroll Thompson with 217 in his career.
Alabama’s Javier Arenas returns a punt for a touchdown against Chattanooga on Nov. 21, 2009, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Alabama.AP
1,752 punt-return yards by Alabama’s Javier Arenas
The Alabama cornerback’s SEC career record isn’t all that old. Only 10 seasons have gone by since he set the mark. But it broke a record that was quite old. Vanderbilt’s Lee Nalley had held the SEC record for career punt-return yards since 1949. Last season, Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle set an SEC single-season record (for players with at least 20 returns) by averaging 24.4 yards per punt return. Waddle totaled 487 punt-return yards. Even if he duplicated that number for two more seasons, Waddle’s career total of 1,694 yards still would be short of Arenas’ record.
LSU running back Kevin Faulk carries the football during an SEC game against Alabama on Nov. 8, 1997, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.Getty Images
6,833 all-purpose yards by LSU’s Kevin Faulk
Arkansas running back Darren McFadden could have broken the LSU running back’s SEC record for career all-purpose yards if he had returned to the Razorbacks for his senior season. But that’s the point. A player good enough to do that isn’t going to stay in college for more than three seasons. To break Faulk’s record in three seasons, a player would need to average 2,278 all-purpose yards per season, and an SEC player has reached that totaled only five times in the league’s history. To reach his record total, Faulk had 4,557 rushing yards, 600 receiving yards, 844 kickoff-return yards and 832 punt-return yards for LSU from 1995 through 1998. He’s 1,002 yards ahead of second-place McFadden in the SEC record book.
Vanderbilt’s Jim Arnold launched more punts for more yards than any player in SEC history.AL.com file
12,171 punt yards by Vanderbilt’s Jim Arnold
Arnold doesn’t hold the SEC record for career punt average anymore. Since his final game at Vanderbilt in 1982, more than a dozen SEC punters have surpassed Arnold’s average of 43.9 yards per punt. But Arnold does still hold the SEC record for career punts at 277, so while recent top punters like Florida’s Johnny Townsend and Alabama’s JK Scott outdid Arnold in average by 2.3 and 1.6 yards, respectively, they finished more than 1,000 behind his total yardage. Arnold broke the SEC record of 11,549 punt yards set by Ole Miss’ Bill Miller from 1976 through 1979, and Miller remains in second place on the conference list.
15 SEC FOOTBALL SINGLE-GAME RECORDS THAT MIGHT NEVER BE BROKEN
15 SEC SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS THAT MIGHT NEVER BE BROKEN
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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