Top 10 Most Embarrassing Bowl Game Blowouts in College Football History ft. Florida State, Oregon and more

The most embarrassing blowouts for college football bowl games are not just because they happen, but because no one expected them to. For a blowout to be truly embarrassing, the consensus going into the game is that it would at least be competitive, and then it ends up not being at all.

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Most Embarrassing Bowl Game Blowouts in College Football History

#10. 2011 Capital One Bowl

Alabama was coming off a national championship the season before and still had Heisman winner and future NFL Star Mark Ingram at running back. They went 9-3 in the regular season and were able to face off against the Michigan State University Spartans. The Spartans had an impressive 11-1 record and split the BIG 10 that year. The Crimson Tide annihilated their opponents by scoring on their first four possessions, making this game a blowout quickly.

#9. 1996 Fiesta Bowl

In a similar scenario, Nebraska was the defending national champion and faced a Florida team with future Heisman quarterback Danny Wueffel. This was a highly anticipated matchup between the number one and number two, and the game started as Florida was up 10 to 6 at the end of the first quarter. Nebraska then responded with 29 unanswered points in the second quarter, and they never took their foot off the gas. They defeated the Gators 62 to 24 and won their second national championship in a row.

#8. 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship

The first-ever College Football National Championship Game had many questions to answer. Would the playoff format be better than the BCS? Would it give the best matchup to determine a champion? The result was a mixed bag as Oregon dominated Florida State, while Ohio State upset Alabama in the semifinal. Both the Ducks and Buckeyes deserved to be in the championship, but the Buckeyes dominated the line of scrimmage. While Oregon, led by Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, did its best to keep up, by the second half, Ohio State could not be stopped. The game ended 42 to 20 with an Ohio State blowout victory.

#7. 2005 Orange Bowl

This BCS National Championship game pitted number one USC, led by Pete Carroll, versus number two Oklahoma, coached by Bob Stoops. This was a great matchup between running backs as USC’s Reggie Bush competed with Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson. USC ran the table with the Sooners as they defeated them 55 to 19. USC's quarterback Matt Leinhart was named MVP of the game. While USC would later come under fire from the NCAA about this game and the previous season, USC’s blowout history will always be remembered.

#6. 2001 Fiesta Bowl

The 2001 Fiesta Bowl featured the fifth-ranked Oregon State Beavers from at the time Pac-10 Conference and the tenth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In an impressive display, Oregon State's quarterback, Jonathan Smith, threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Beavers to a dominant 41–9 victory. Wide receiver Chad Johnson contributed with two touchdown receptions, and T. J. Houshmandzadeh, a future Cincinnati Bengals teammate to Johnson, caught another. The Beavers' Ken Simonton added 85 yards rushing and a touchdown. This game demonstrated the special talent the Beavers had in 2001.

#5. 2015 Rose Bowl

The 2015 Rose Bowl, officially titled the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual, unfolded at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. This marked the 101st edition of the Rose Bowl Game and featured a matchup between the Oregon Ducks and the Florida State Seminoles. This game was a semifinal for the first College Football Playoff and garnered a large number of eyeballs for the new playoff format. Oregon exploded with 27 points in the third quarter after a competitive first half. They cemented their victory with a final score of 59 to 20, and moved on to the first College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

#4. Orange Bowl 2023

The Georgia Bulldogs absolutely crushed Florida State. With many narratives going into this game as Florida State was snubbed from the College Football Playoff after an undefeated 13-0 season, this blowout is considered different from most. Due to the injury of starting quarterback Jordan Travis and Alabama’s upset of Georgia in the 2023 SEC title game, this matchup was born. Georgia entered this game heavily favored, as many Florida State starters sat out or entered the transfer portal. The best blowouts are usually from shock factor, but this result was the expected one, albeit not in terms of the staggering numbers disparity as this game became the biggest blowout in bowl game history.

#3. 2019 Peach Bowl

The 2019 Peach Bowl matchup featured the LSU Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners, both vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship, as this game was a part of the semifinal round. Heisman winner Joe Burrow led the dynamic LSU offense. This game was the definition of lopsided as the score just at halftime was 48 to 14 with LSU leading. Burrow would finish the game with almost 500 yards passing and 7 touchdowns.

#2. 1997 Sugar Bowl

The Florida Gators may have been on the receiving end of a blowout against Nebraska in 1996, so they took their aggression out on Florida State in this rivalry bowl matchup. This is the only national championship that has featured teams from the same state. Led by their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Danny Wuerffel, and head coach Steve Spurrier, Florida's high-powered offense executed flawlessly as they scored 52 points to Florida State’s 20.

#1. 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship

Georgia defeated TCU 65–7. The 58-point victory for Georgia is the most lopsided win in a College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the largest margin of victory in a title game, and at the time, was the largest margin of victory in any bowl game at the FBS level (see above #4 above). This was Georgia’s second national title in a row. While Georgia was favored, this lopsided outcome was unexpected after TCU was able to defeat Jim Harbuagh’s Michigan team in the semifinal. This victory cemented the Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart’s college football legacies in the current era.