2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season


The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The regular season began on August 30, 2007 and ended on December 1, 2007. The postseason concluded on January 7, 2008 with the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans, where the #2-ranked LSU Tigers defeated the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes to win their second BCS and third overall national title.
For just the second time in the Bowl Championship Series era, no FBS team finished the season undefeated. Kansas was the only team from a BCS automatic-qualifying conference to finish the entire season with just one loss.

Rules changes

After coaches expressed their disapproval of the timing changes made in the 2006 season, the following changes were made:
The attempt to reduce the time of games sought by those rules was successful, reducing the average college football page from 3:21 hours in 2005 to 3:07 hours in 2006. However, the reduced game time also reduced the average number of plays in a game by 13, 66 fewer offensive yards per game and average points per game by 5.
Other rules changes for the 2007 season include:
The only change in conference membership for the 2007 season occurred when Temple left its Independent status to become the 13th member of the Mid-American Conference.
No teams upgraded from Division I FCS, leaving the number of Division I FBS schools fixed at 119.
School2006 Conference2007 Conference
Temple OwlsI-A IndependentMAC

Year of the Upset and "The Curse of No. 2"

Year of the Upset

The 2007 season was highlighted by the remarkable frequency with which ranked teams fell to lower-ranked or unranked opponents, leading the media to dub the season as the "Year of the Upset". An unranked or lower-ranked opponent defeated a higher-ranked team 59 times over the course of the regular season. Teams ranked in the top five of the AP Poll were defeated by unranked opponents 13 times during the regular season, setting a new record in the history of the AP Poll when at least 20 teams were ranked. The only other season to see more such upsets was 1967, which was one of seven seasons when the AP Poll ranked only 10 teams.
The chaos began on the first weekend of the season when FCS program Appalachian State defeated #5 Michigan on the road at Michigan Stadium in what was immediately hailed as one of the greatest upsets in the history of college football. Appalachian State became just the second FCS team to defeat a ranked FBS opponent, and the first to do so against a top-five team.

"Curse of the #2"

The 2007 season became known for the "Curse of the #2", where the team ranked #2 by the AP Poll was defeated seven times in the final nine weeks of the regular season:
The #1 and #2 ranked teams had not lost in the same week of the season since 1996. In 2007 alone, #1 and #2 fell during the same weekend three times, including in both of the final two weeks of the regular season:

Conference champions

Conference championship games

All games were played on December 1, 2007. Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
ConferenceChampionChampionScoreSite
ACC#6 Virginia Tech#12 Boston College30–16Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Jacksonville, Florida
Big 12#9 Oklahoma#1 Missouri38–17Alamodome
San Antonio, Texas
Conference USAUCFTulsa44–25Bright House Networks Stadium
Orlando, Florida
MACCentral MichiganMiami 35–10Ford Field
Detroit
SEC#5 LSU#14 Tennessee21–14Georgia Dome
Atlanta

Other conference champions

Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
ConferenceWinner
Big EastConnecticut, #11 West Virginia*
Big Ten#1 Ohio State
Mountain West#19 BYU
Pac-10#12 Arizona State, #6 USC*
Sun BeltFlorida Atlantic, Troy
WAC#10 Hawaii

* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid

Bowl games

Winners are listed in boldface.

Bowl Championship Series

January bowl games

December bowl games

Postseason All-Star Games

† Winner of the Bowl Challenge Cup
§ NCAA record for bowl victories in a conference in one bowl season.
;Notes

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.
Selections were made by the Associated Press.

Offense

The following teams and players set all-time NCAA Division I FBS records during the season:
RecordPlayer/TeamDate/OpponentPrevious Record HolderSource
Most consecutive pass attempts without an interception, careerAndré Woodson, Kentucky, 325September 22, vs. ArkansasTrent Dilfer, Fresno State, 271
Most career extra pointsArt Carmody, Louisville, 253September 29, vs. NC StateShaun Suisham, Bowling Green, 226
Most consecutive pass attempts with only one interception, careerAndré Woodson, Kentucky, 343October 4, vs. South CarolinaWoodson, 333
Most combined rushing yards by teammates in a single gameFelix Jones and Darren McFadden, Arkansas November 3, vs. South CarolinaTony Sands and Chip Hilleary, Kansas
Most points scored, both teams North Texas and Navy, 136November 10San Jose State vs. Rice, 133 points
Most points scored in one quarter, both teamsNorth Texas and Navy, 63November 10San Jose State vs. Hawaii, 61 points
Most wins by two points or fewer in a season by a teamVirginia, 5November 3 vs. Wake ForestColumbia, 4
Most all-purpose yards by a freshmanJeremy Maclin, Missouri, 2,713November 17, vs. Kansas StateTerrell Willis, Rutgers, 2,026
Most touchdown passes in a careerColt Brennan, Hawaii, 131November 23 vs. Boise StateTy Detmer, BYU, 121
Most touchdowns responsible for in a careerColt Brennan, Hawaii, 146November 23 vs. Boise StateTy Detmer, BYU, 136
Most touchdown passes in a season by a freshman quarterbackSam Bradford, Oklahoma, 34November 24, vs. Oklahoma StateDavid Neill and Colt McCoy, 29
Most career points scored by a kickerArt Carmody, Louisville, 433November 29, vs. RutgersRoman Anderson, Houston, 423
Most rushing attempts in a seasonKevin Smith, UCF, 415December 1, vs. TulsaMarcus Allen, USC, 403
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a seasonTim Tebow, Florida, 23January 1, vs. MichiganChase Harridge, Air Force, 22
Most consecutive games with 300 or more yards passing by a quarterbackPaul Smith, Tulsa, 14January 6 vs. Bowling GreenTy Detmer, BYU, 13
Greatest margin of victory in a bowl gameTulsa, 56 points January 6 vs. Bowling GreenAlabama, 55 points vs. Syracuse, 1953 Orange Bowl

Coaching changes

Pre-season

SchoolFormer CoachNew Coach
IndianaTerry HoeppnerBill Lynch

Post-season