1 Passing Attempt Was Made in 1944 Game Between Michigan State and Maryland
Published on November 27th, 2023 11:48 am ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
Now, practically everybody knows that the game of football has dramatically changed over the past number of decades. 70-80 years ago, the game of football was much more run-focused - in fact, you had many football games where just a handful of passes were attempted.
Having said that, passing was always attempted, many in an effort to throw off opposing defenses. After all, there had to be at least some threat of a pass.
On October 20th, 1944, however, a record was set for least amount of pass attempts in a single college football game.
The weather was terrible when Michigan State took on the Maryland Terrapins. The rain was pouring down, and a strong wind made it very hard to attempt any passes.
Teams didn't pass much anyways back in the mid 1940s - the weather, however, resulted in Michigan State and Maryland contesting nearly the entirety of the game on the ground.
In fact, just ONE pass was attempted over the course of the game, and it was incomplete.
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Michigan State would win the game by a score of 8-0 without attempting a single pass.
Jack Breslin opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run.
Michigan State followed this up with a safety, and won the game by a score of 8-0.
The field was in terrible shape, and just 500 fans showed up to watch the debacle.
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The two quarterbacks didn't have to do much on that day - they were basically just handing the ball off, with absolutely no threat of a pass.
This resulted in the defenses simply stacking the box, which translated to a very low-scoring game.
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This result would never happen in this day and age, where passing is much more prevalent.
There are some teams that practically refuse to pass the ball, though you would have trouble finding an opponent who would play the same way.
