SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai tossed nine touchdown passes to lead the Mustangs to a 77-63 win against Houston Saturday night, in the highest scoring regulation game in FBS history.
The combined point total of 140 breaks the previous record of 137, which came in 2016 when Pittsburgh defeated Syracuse, 76-61.
SMU and Houston fell six points shy of the single game record (including overtime), which occurred in 2018 when Texas A&M (74) and LSU (72) played seven overtimes.
The record-breaking score came with three minutes, 37 seconds left in the game when Houston’s Stacy Sneed scored on a 52-yard run.
SMU and Houston traded touchdowns for the first seven possessions of the game and the Mustangs led 56-35 at halftime. That first-half total (91 points) was three points off the single-half record set by Navy and North Texas in 2007.
Mordecai’s nine touchdown passes combined with seven from Houston’s Clayton Tune also set a new single-game FBS record for touchdown passes (16). The previous record came in 2014 when Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty (8) and Marshall’s Rakeem Cato combined for 15.