58 Fun Facts About College Football Trivia 2023

Which quarterback led Michigan to the 2023 national title before the Minnesota Vikings drafted him 10th overall?

J.J. McCarthy threw for just 140 yards in the title game, a modest night by his standards, yet the win took his record as Michigan's starter to 27–1.

Which Michigan player opened the 2024 title game with two long touchdown runs?

Donovan Edwards had scored only three touchdowns in 14 games that season, then broke runs of 41 and 46 yards in the first quarter of the final.

The 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship was played at which venue?

NRG Stadium, Houston hosted the last final of the four-team playoff. It doubled as a preview of a league fixture: Washington joined Michigan's Big Ten the following season.

Who was offensive MVP of the 2024 national championship game with two fourth-quarter scores?

Blake Corum had missed the previous season's playoff with a knee injury, then came back for a senior year and ran for 134 yards in the final.

With a win over Maryland in November 2023, Michigan became the first college program to reach how many wins?

1,000. Michigan, which first played in 1879, got there with a 31–24 win while its suspended head coach was absent from the stadium.

Who won the 2023 Heisman Trophy?

Jayden Daniels won even though his team finished the regular season 9–3 and missed the playoff: he led the nation in total offense and accounted for 50 touchdowns.

The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner spent his final two college seasons at which SEC school?

LSU. Like Joe Burrow, the Tigers' 2019 winner, he arrived as a transfer: he had started for three seasons in the Pac-12 before moving to Baton Rouge in 2022.

Which quarterback finished second in the 2023 Heisman Trophy voting?

Michael Penix Jr. had all four of his seasons at Indiana ended by injury, two of them by ACL tears, before he moved to Washington and finished his sixth college season in the national title game.

Where did Oregon's Bo Nix play his first three college seasons?

Auburn. Nix never completed more than 61% of his passes in a season there, then set the NCAA record at 77.4% with Oregon in 2023.

Which receiver won the 2023 Fred Biletnikoff Award?

Marvin Harrison Jr. then skipped the workouts at both the NFL combine and Ohio State's pro day to train for the season instead, and the Arizona Cardinals still drafted him fourth overall.

Which undefeated Power Five champion was left out of the 2023 four-team College Football Playoff?

Florida State went 13–0 and won the ACC, but the committee ranked it fifth behind one-loss Alabama, calling it "a different team" without injured quarterback Jordan Travis.

Against which opponent did FSU quarterback Jordan Travis suffer his career-ending injury in November 2023?

North Alabama. Travis was carted off with his left leg in an air cast after a first-quarter run, and the injury forced him to retire in 2025 without ever playing an NFL down.

The 63–3 scoreline in the 2023 Orange Bowl set which bowl-game record?

Largest margin of victory: the 60-point gap beat the 58 from the previous season's national title game. The losing Seminoles were without more than two dozen players through opt-outs and transfers.

Alabama's 27–24 win in the 2023 SEC Championship Game ended which team's 29-game winning streak?

Georgia. The two-time defending champion went into the game ranked No. 1, and the loss made it the first top-ranked team in the penultimate rankings to fall out of the playoff field.

What did Isaiah Bond call his fourth-and-31 catch that won the 2023 Iron Bowl?

Gravedigger. Alabama had first-and-goal at the 7 and went backwards to the 31 before Jalen Milroe found Bond with 32 seconds left, in what proved Nick Saban's last Iron Bowl.

Which team handed Alabama its only regular-season loss of 2023, winning 34–24 in Tuscaloosa in September?

Texas trailed 16–13 entering the fourth quarter, then scored three touchdowns in under six minutes in front of 100,000 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Which quarterback threw for 452 yards and four touchdowns in the 2023 Big 12 Championship Game?

Quinn Ewers threw one of his four touchdown passes to 362-pound defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat as the Longhorns won 49–21 in their final Big 12 season before joining the SEC.

Michigan won the 2023 Big Ten Championship Game 26–0 over which team?

Iowa. The shutout left the Big Ten West 0–10 in title games against the East, and the league dropped its divisions the next season, when it grew to 18 teams.

The 2023 Iowa Hawkeyes became infamous for which lopsided combination?

Great defense, historically bad offense: Iowa ranked 133rd of 133 FBS teams in total offense, and coordinator Brian Ferentz, the head coach's son, was told in October he would not be kept on.

Who was Michigan's acting head coach for the November 2023 win over Ohio State?

Sherrone Moore, the offensive coordinator, was filling in during Jim Harbaugh's Big Ten suspension; two months later he succeeded Harbaugh as head coach.

Jim Harbaugh's three-game Big Ten suspension in 2023 began with Michigan's road game at which school?

Penn State. With Harbaugh kept away from the stadium, Michigan ran the ball on 32 straight plays and won 24–15 without an official pass attempt in the second half.

Which Michigan staffer was at the centre of the 2023 sign-stealing scandal?

Connor Stalions bought tickets so a network he called the "KGB" could film future opponents' sideline signals; the NCAA found it had scouted 13 opponents across 52 games.

Jim Harbaugh left Michigan weeks after the 2023 title to coach which NFL team?

Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh had quarterbacked the franchise in 1999 and 2000, when it played in San Diego, and rejoined it 16 days after winning the national title.

How was Michigan's 27–20 win over Alabama in the 2024 Rose Bowl semifinal decided?

A fourth-down stop in overtime: Roman Wilson's touchdown catch with 1:34 left forced only the second overtime in Rose Bowl history, and Jalen Milroe was then stopped short on fourth-and-goal.

After retiring as Alabama's coach in January 2024, Nick Saban joined which TV show as an analyst?

College GameDay. Saban retired with seven national titles, six of them at Alabama, and within a month had signed on with ESPN's travelling pregame show.

Who did Alabama hire to replace Nick Saban in January 2024?

Kalen DeBoer was hired 49 hours after Saban retired. He had begun his head-coaching career in the NAIA, where he won three national titles at Sioux Falls.

Which 2023 bowl game ended with the winning team eating the sponsor's mascot?

Pop-Tarts Bowl. After Kansas State beat NC State 28–19, a mascot named Strawberry was lowered into a giant replica toaster and an edible look-alike came out for the players.

Which receiver's 23-yard run on fourth-and-1 set up Washington's last-play win in the 2023 Apple Cup?

Rome Odunze. His run came from Washington's own 29 with the score tied, and it set up Grady Gross's 42-yard kick; the walk-on was handed a scholarship in the locker room afterwards.

The 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game, the last before ten schools left the league, was played in which city?

Las Vegas. Washington beat Oregon 34–31 at Allegiant Stadium, its second three-point win over the Ducks that season, before both schools left for the Big Ten.

Which two schools were left behind when the Pac-12 collapsed in 2023?

Oregon State and Washington State carried on as a two-team league through 2025, then relaunched the Pac-12 in 2026 with new members including Boise State and Gonzaga.

Deion Sanders coached which school in his first FBS season, 2023?

Colorado had won one game the year before; Sanders replaced most of the roster through the transfer portal, and his first team took the field with dozens of newcomers.

Deion Sanders' first FBS game as head coach was a 45–42 upset of which national runner-up?

TCU led 42–38 with seven minutes left before freshman Dylan Edwards scored the winner on a 46-yard catch-and-run; Shedeur Sanders, the coach's son, threw for a school-record 510 yards.

Deion Sanders' 2023 team led 29–0 at halftime, then lost in double overtime to which Pac-12 school?

Stanford. Elic Ayomanor caught three touchdown passes, one of them from 97 yards, in a 46–43 comeback; Sanders' team, 3–0 in September, finished the season 4–8.

Two-way star Travis Hunter followed Deion Sanders to the FBS in 2023 from which school?

Jackson State. Hunter, one of the nation's top-ranked recruits, had signed with the HBCU in 2021; in 2024 he became the first Heisman winner to have begun his career in the FCS.

Northwestern fired longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald in July 2023 after an investigation into what?

Hazing within the program: Northwestern first suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay, then fired him three days later, ending his 17 seasons in charge of the team he once played for.

Which coach did Texas A&M fire in 2023 despite a record buyout of over $75 million?

Jimbo Fisher. He had arrived in 2017 on a 10-year, $75 million contract, and the buyout for firing him in his sixth season was bigger still.

Which Big Ten coach was fired in September 2023 over harassment allegations by Brenda Tracy?

Mel Tucker had nearly $79 million left on a 10-year, $95 million contract; by firing him for cause, Michigan State set out to pay none of it.

Northwestern's David Braun started 2023 on an interim basis and ended it with which honor?

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Braun had been hired only that January, as defensive coordinator, and took a team that had gone 1–11 the year before to 8–5 and a bowl win.

Which SEC team beat Ohio State 14–3 in the December 2023 Cotton Bowl?

Missouri. The Tigers punted eight times, then put together back-to-back touchdown drives of more than 90 yards to finish 11–2.

Which coach led Ole Miss to its first 11-win season, sealed by a Peach Bowl win in December 2023?

Lane Kiffin. His Rebels scored 38 points in the bowl, the most any team managed all season against a defense that led the nation in fewest yards allowed.

Which league did Liberty join in 2023 before winning its first 13 games?

Conference USA. Liberty won the league at the first attempt under first-year coach Jamey Chadwell, then saw its unbeaten season end 45–6 against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

Why was 11–1 James Madison initially barred from a bowl in 2023?

An NCAA rule for schools transitioning to FBS: newcomers sit out the postseason for two seasons, and two waiver requests failed, but too few teams qualified to fill the bowls, so James Madison played in the Armed Forces Bowl.

What late mistake cost unbeaten, 17th-ranked Miami a home victory over Georgia Tech?

Running a play instead of kneeling: Miami led 20–17 and could have run out the clock, but Don Chaney fumbled, and Georgia Tech went 74 yards in 24 seconds to steal it with two seconds left.

Which quarterback's team started 6–0 in 2023, then lost five of its last six regular-season games?

Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, saw USC slide from 6–0 to 7–5; the Chicago Bears still made him the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The 2023 Army–Navy Game was played at which NFL venue?

Gillette Stadium, the New England Patriots' home in Foxborough, hosted the series for the first time; Army won 17–11 by stopping Navy's quarterback inches from the goal line with three seconds left.

Which 2023 college football rule change shortened games?

The clock keeps running after first downs, as it does in the NFL, except in the final two minutes of each half. The 2023 change undid a stop-the-clock rule that dated from 1968.

After beating Notre Dame in the final second in 2023, Ohio State's Ryan Day called out which former Irish coach?

Lou Holtz had questioned Ohio State's toughness that week; after a one-yard touchdown with one second left, Day told a live TV audience, "I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now."

Michigan's 2023 title was its first since 1997, a championship it shared with which school?

Nebraska. Michigan finished first in the AP poll, but the coaches' poll went to Nebraska after it beat Tennessee 42–17 in the Orange Bowl, Tom Osborne's last game as coach.

Which Alabama quarterback went first overall in the April 2023 NFL Draft?

Bryce Young went to Carolina, which had traded up from ninth with Chicago to get him; a first-round pick the Bears received in that deal turned into the first overall pick of the 2024 draft.

Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma in November 2023 in the last scheduled game of which rivalry?

Bedlam. The series, played since 1904, came off the schedule when Oklahoma left for the SEC; Oklahoma State won the farewell 27–24 and its fans rushed the field.

Which Michigan defender was named defensive MVP of the January 2024 national championship game?

Will Johnson intercepted a pass on the first play of the second half, and Michigan's defense held the Huskies' prolific passing game to a single touchdown.

Whom did Washington hire in January 2024 as its new head coach?

Jedd Fisch had lifted Arizona from 1–11 in his first season to 10–3 in his third, capped by an Alamo Bowl win over Oklahoma weeks before he left.

Which two schools played their first FBS seasons in 2023 after moving up from FCS?

Sam Houston and Jacksonville State had very different first years: Sam Houston went 3–9, while Jacksonville State, coached by former Michigan boss Rich Rodriguez, won nine games and the New Orleans Bowl in overtime.

Which former independent joined the Big 12 in 2023 alongside Cincinnati, Houston and UCF?

BYU had spent 12 seasons as a football independent after leaving the Mountain West; the Big 12 brought it in as the league prepared to lose its two biggest names to the SEC.

Which school announced a self-imposed bowl ban for 2023 over hosting recruits during the COVID dead period?

Arizona State imposed the ban days before its opener for recruiting violations under former coach Herm Edwards, so the punishment fell on first-year coach Kenny Dillingham's 3–9 team.

Which unranked team upset No. 9 Clemson 28-7 on Labor Day night 2023?

Duke trailed 7–6 at halftime, then quarterback Riley Leonard broke a 44-yard touchdown run and the Blue Devils scored the last 22 points of the night.

Which network picked up ACC games formerly on Bally Sports in 2023 after Diamond Sports' bankruptcy?

The CW took 50 ACC football and basketball games a season, sublicensed through Raycom Sports, as the network pushed into live sports; its first game was Pitt against Cincinnati that September.

Which duo joined NBC in 2023 as the lead commentary team for Big Ten Saturday Night?

Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge: NBC lured Blackledge away from ESPN and paired him with Eagle, then 26, the son of veteran play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle.