When the clock ran out on UCLA's 42–37 win over No. 7 Penn State Saturday, observers were quick to anoint it the upset of the year in college football. The Bruins, after all, hadn't led at any point in a game this year; the Nittany Lions, despite their loss to Oregon last Saturday, still had their boosters as national title contenders.
But the victory was more than that. As Josh Dubow of the AP pointed out, it was only the fifth time in history a team with a record of 0-4 or worse had beaten a team ranked in the top 10.
Here is a quick look at the four other instances.
Pitt 13, No. 3 Fordham 0 (1941)
This was a weird time in Pitt's history; the Panthers had bid Hall of Fame coach Jock Sutherland farewell just three years prior and were a bit rudderless. They'd struggled to begin the season against a difficult schedule that included No. 1 Minnesota and No. 4 Duke. However, Pitt put a complete game together and gave a Sugar Bowl-bound Fordham team its only loss.
Purdue 6, No. 2 Michigan State 0 (1953)
Michigan State is the highest-ranked team on this list; the Spartans were new to the Big Ten and finding sledding easy—they opened their conference slate by beating Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana by an average margin of 30–8. Purdue, playing the hardest schedule it has ever played to this day per College Football Reference, surprised the nation by ending Michigan State's 28-game winning streak.
Tulane 14, No. 6 Navy 6 (1958)
Hype surrounded Navy after the Midshipmen won a 20–14 decision over No. 14 Michigan on Oct. 11 of that year, and the service academy jumped up to No. 6. Hosting Tulane—then an SEC team!—Navy struggled to run the football and lost to a Green Wave team that'd hit its stride down the stretch with wins over Texas Tech and Alabama.
UTEP 23, No. 7 BYU 16 (1985)
The closest modern equivalent to what UCLA did Saturday—BYU, like Penn State, was coming off a terrific season (the Cougars won the national title in 1984). UTEP, like the Bruins, was atrocious (the Miners lost 51–24 to Kent State two weeks prior and wouldn't win again in 1985). Any given Saturday, however: UTEP, a 35-point underdog, sold out to stop the pass and walked away with one of the program's most celebrated victories.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as UCLA Joins Short List of 0-4 Teams to Beat Top-10 Foes With Upset of Penn State.
