Amazing college football records that look unbreakable

Most turnovers by a winning team

AL GOLDIS/AP
Purdue quarterback Danny Etling in 2013.

11, by Purdue in 1943

Often just a few turnovers can lead to defeat, so any team committing 11 is guaranteed to lose, right? Well, Purdue obviously didn’t see it that way in defeating Illinois 40-21, during a home game at Ross-Ade Stadium in 1943. All the turnovers came on fumbles rather than intercepted passes. Ironically, Purdue was equally butterfingered almost exactly 10 years later against top-ranked Notre Dame. But that time, in losing eight of its 11 fumbles, Purdue could not overcome the turnovers and lost 37-7.

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