Grambling State coach Mickey Joseph knew what was coming when his team faced No. 1 Ohio State.
Oh, he was right. And he wasn't alone Saturday, a day the likes of which college football hadn't seen in more than a decade.
As for Grambling State, it lost 70-0 to the defending national champion. And by day's end, there were seven games decided by 60 points or more — the most in major college football since there also were seven such games on Sept. 6, 2014, exactly 11 years earlier.
The last instance of seven such games in the same day before that? Sept. 26, 1931 — five years before the first AP football poll.
“It's no secret,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said after the Grambling game. “This was not a matchup game.”
No, it wasn't. There was a lot of that going around Saturday.
The other 60-point-or-more wins: No. 14 Florida State beat East Texas A&M 77-3, No. 21 Alabama beat Louisiana-Monroe 73-0, Nebraska beat Akron 68-0, No. 6 Oregon beat Oklahoma State 69-3, Minnesota beat Northwestern State 66-0 and UCF beat North Carolina A&T 68-7
Joseph went viral for a midweek interview in which he pointed out that Grambling's band can hold its own with Ohio State's band — but on the field, he knew it looked like a mismatch.
“We understand what we’re getting into. We understand what’s going to happen,” Joseph said during the week. “We understand it. It’s not balanced with the scholarships, it’s not balanced with what they have resources-wise and what we have resources-wise. We all know why we’re playing the game.”
That reason: money.
In the longstanding tradition of bigger programs offering guarantees to smaller programs for being willing to play as what typically is a huge underdog, Grambling State received $1 million from Ohio State for playing Saturday’s game.
“It was a great experience for my kids. It’s a great memory for them," Joseph said. “Everybody can’t say they played the No. 1 team in the country.”
Day tipped his cap to Joseph afterward.
“I've got a lot of respect for coach," Day said. “And I thought their team played hard in this game. They were outmatched, talent-wise, for sure. I think he expressed that. But I give them a lot of respect for playing hard and playing for four quarters, all the way to the end.”
According to Stats LLC, Saturday was the first day since Sept. 10, 2016, that three major college football teams had leads of 48 or more points by halftime on the same day. At halftime — yes, halftime — Minnesota led Northwestern State 59-0, Florida State led East Texas A&M 49-0 and Texas Tech led Kent State 48-0.
Those games stayed lopsided the rest of the way: Minnesota's win was cut short by weather, Florida State had seven TD plays of 35 yards or more and Texas Tech prevailed 62-14.
Minnesota used 76 players. “Mission accomplished,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said.
“The score is what it is,” Northwestern State coach Blaine McCorkle said. “You play these games, and sometimes these things get sideways in a hurry, but we didn’t do anything to help ourselves."
There were other routs by halftime Saturday. Alabama, smarting from a season-opening loss to Florida State, led Louisiana-Monroe 42-0 at the break. No. 22 Tennessee led East Tennessee State 48-7 on its way to a 72-17 victory. UCF led North Carolina A&T 40-0 after two quarters, Florida Atlantic took a 39-0 halftime lead and beat Florida A&M 56-14, and Oregon led Oklahoma State 41-3 at the break.
The Ducks didn't even score in the fourth quarter.
“It's fun to win,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “Tight games are a little bit more exhilarating.”
Added Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, after the worst loss of his tenure at the school — which came days after he raised eyebrows by discussing the NIL investment disparity between the programs: “Sometimes, you're going to play people that have the ability to run away from you.”
Lots of money was paid out for some Saturday romps.
Alabama paid Louisiana-Monroe nearly $2 million. Texas Tech paid Kent State $1.5 million, which probably didn't give the Golden Flashes a whole lot of consolation when they saw 48-0 on the scoreboard at halftime.
“Not the way we wanted to start. ... Proud of the resolve of the team and responding the way they did in the second half,” Kent State interim coach Mark Carney said.
A similar situation found Kent State last season, too. On Sept. 14, 2024, the halftime deficit the Golden Flashes faced was worse — Tennessee took a 65-0 lead at the break and won 71-0.
“Learned a lot about these guys today,” FIU coach Willie Simmons said. “I think a foundation was laid today that could help us propel through the rest of the season.”
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“It was a weird day,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said postgame, after the teams had to wait through a 92-minute first-half lightning delay.
No. 2 Penn State paid FIU $1.6 million for their game in Happy Valley. FIU showed up ready to earn that money: Penn State led only 10-0 at the half and got a 34-0 win — getting its last 14 points in the final 3:29.
“Learned a lot about these guys today,” FIU coach Willie Simmons said. “I think a foundation was laid today that could help us propel through the rest of the season.”
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