We get it, fans—those three hours and 20 minutes often feel like it went like a jiffy! If you’re one of those who wish the clock would slow down, then you must take a look at the special games. The ones that forget to drop curtains within the stipulated time extend all night and sometimes even into the next morning. Well, by now the fans must have relived the feeling of getting hooked on the game. All thanks to Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs vs. Brent Key’s Georgia Tech showdown on November 29, which took eight overtimes to call it a night! 

It has been 28 years since the NCAA adopted overtime rules. Since then, college football has made the most use of the extra minutes privilege. However, there has been a limit. But if we turn the pages of history, we might see how some games lingered to 9 overtime as well. Now you must be thrilled to find out the longest football game of all time. For that, we don’t have to go too far scouting through the records, as it happened only three years back.

Back in 2021, on October 23, the Illinois Fighting Illini fought against the Penn State Nittany Lions. None one of them was ready to leave their grounds, and the neck-to-neck fight ended with a 10-10 tie. So then started the overtime spree that ended with 9 overtimes as the Illini QB Brandon Peters linked up with WR Casey Washington in the end zone and came up with a game-winning 2-point conversion.

The next one in line is the Eastern Kentucky vs. Bowling Green game on September 10, 2022. Similarly, the programs tied at 38 at the end of quarter 4. And then to decide the winner between the FCS program and the FBS program, it took seven overtimes. So between 9 overtimes and 7 overtimes till November 29, there was no one. But thanks to Smart’s Bulldogs and Key’s Yellow Jackets, the game now holds the second spot in the list of longest college football games in history. 

Kirby Smart’s boys’ Black Friday gift for Georgia fans 

When Georgia stepped on the gridiron, they knew they would be the winner. After all, they hold a six-year-long streak of defeating Key’s boys. But hardly did Smart and Co. know that the toil would be so long. But obviously, it was Black Friday; things were meant to be special. Plus, do you know it was the in-state rivals’ first meeting on a Friday since 1994?

Also, this has been the first time in 29 years that the game was scheduled not on a Saturday. In overtime, Smart’s Dawgs got the pigskin first and struck scoring on a 14-yard touchdown pass with their star QB Carson Beck’s help. But things went out of Georgia’s control when Key’s boys scored a 12-yard touchdown pass that led to a second overtime. 

In the second overtime, while Georgia Tech only needed three plays to score, their plan went awry as the Bulldogs’ Smael Mondon Jr. broke the Yellow Jackets’ pass attempt. And with this time rolled, from one overtime to another, until in the eighth overtime Kirby Smart’s star RB Nate Frazier sealed the 44-42 victory.