Wichita State Still Holds Record for Most Fumbles Lost in Single Game

Published on December 7th, 2023 4:56 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


It was September 20th, 1969, and Florida State had travelled to take on Wichita State in their opening game of the season.

Little did the two teams know that they would be combining for a record that still stands to this day.

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Wichita State was not a good team - in fact, they would finish the 1969 season with a record of 2-8.

September 20th, 1969, however, was a particularly embarrassing day for the team, as they would lose 10 fumbles - in a single game.

This wasn't 10 fumbled footballs with some of them recovered - this was 10 LOST fumbles.

Unbelievably, the game only ended with a 24-0 victory for Florida State - the result could have been much, much worse.

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In fact, Wichita State fumbled the ball SEVENTEEN times over the course of the game, with Florida State recovering 10 times.

So - what happened?

According to a report from the Tallahassee Democrat, there was a "frog-strangling" rain that was falling, and this created a "slop" that resulted in a football that had a mind of its own.

Wichita State had all manners of issues holding onto the football, while Florida State seemed prepared.

In fact, Florida State's quarterback, Bill Cappleman, managed to complete a couple of bombs over the course of the game to give his team the victory.

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Florida State lost a number of fumbles over the course of the game - in fact, they had lost 4 fumbles at the half, more than Wichita State.

In the second half, however, Florida State's defenders started to really target the football, causing Wichita State to lose 7 fumbles in the half.

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Florida State ended up scooping ten Wichita State fumbles, breezing to an easy 24-0 victory.