Has a College Football game ever ended 21-16?
It has. 21-16 has been a College Football final 108 times in 84,857 games. The first was TCU beat Southwestern University on November 20, 1920; the latest was Michigan beat Purdue on November 1, 2025.
That makes 21-16 the 200th most common final score out of 2,217 that have ever occurred in College Football. One point away, 22-16 has happened 27 times and 21-17 has happened 232 times.
Every 21-16 in College Football history
| Date | Result | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-01 | Michigan over Purdue | 2025 | |
| 2024-11-09 | New Mexico over San Diego State | 2024 | |
| 2023-10-05 | Liberty over Sam Houston | 2023 | |
| 2021-12-04 | Baylor over Oklahoma State | 2021 | |
| 2021-11-27 | Louisiana over UL Monroe | 2021 | |
| 2021-10-23 | Washington over Arizona | 2021 | |
| 2020-12-12 | UAB over Rice | 2020 | |
| 2019-09-14 | Wyoming over Idaho | 2019 | |
| 2018-11-04 | Boise State over BYU | 2018 | |
| 2018-09-01 | Auburn over Washington | 2018 | |
| 2017-11-11 | Army over Duke | 2017 | |
| 2017-10-07 | Louisiana over Idaho | 2017 | |
| 2014-11-01 | Texas A&M over UL Monroe | 2014 | |
| 2014-10-16 | Pittsburgh over Virginia Tech | 2014 | |
| 2013-09-07 | Miami over Florida | 2013 | |
| 2012-09-29 | Missouri over UCF | 2012 | |
| 2011-10-08 | Georgia Tech over Maryland | 2011 | |
| 2010-11-13 | Boston College over Duke | 2010 | |
| 2010-10-09 | North Carolina over Clemson | 2010 | |
| 2010-10-02 | Maryland over Duke | 2010 | |
| 2010-09-11 | James Madison over Virginia Tech | 2010 | |
| 2009-11-14 | Northwestern over Illinois | 2009 | |
| 2007-11-10 | Iowa over Minnesota | 2007 | |
| 2006-11-26 | East Carolina over NC State | 2006 | |
| 2006-11-18 | Iowa State over Missouri | 2006 | |
| 2006-09-02 | Rutgers over North Carolina | 2006 | |
| 2003-11-29 | South Florida over Memphis | 2003 | |
| 2003-11-22 | Memphis over Cincinnati | 2003 | |
| 2003-11-08 | Colorado over Missouri | 2003 | |
| 2002-12-01 | Alabama over Hawai'i | 2002 | |
| 2001-09-29 | Stanford over USC | 2001 | |
| 2000-11-04 | Texas A&M over Oklahoma State | 2000 | |
| 2000-10-07 | Iowa over Michigan State | 2000 | |
| 1999-09-25 | Michigan over Wisconsin | 1999 | |
| 1998-01-01 | Michigan over Washington State | 1997 | Playoff |
| 1994-11-19 | Syracuse over Maryland | 1994 | |
| 1994-10-08 | Colorado State over Arizona | 1994 | |
| 1994-01-01 | Wisconsin over UCLA | 1993 | Playoff |
| 1993-11-20 | Colorado over Iowa State | 1993 | |
| 1993-10-16 | Northern Illinois over Pacific | 1993 | |
| 1992-09-17 | Rutgers over Pittsburgh | 1992 | |
| 1991-10-26 | UCLA over Arizona State | 1991 | |
| 1991-10-19 | Utah over Colorado State | 1991 | |
| 1991-09-14 | West Virginia over South Carolina | 1991 | |
| 1989-10-28 | Kansas over Kansas State | 1989 | |
| 1988-11-12 | Long Beach State over New Mexico State | 1988 | |
| 1988-09-24 | Rutgers over Penn State | 1988 | |
| 1988-09-10 | Arizona State over Illinois | 1988 | |
| 1987-11-07 | Penn State over Maryland | 1987 | |
| 1986-11-15 | Illinois over Indiana | 1986 | |
| 1986-09-06 | Bowling Green over Ohio | 1986 | |
| 1985-10-26 | Arizona State over Washington State | 1985 | |
| 1984-09-29 | Iowa over Illinois | 1984 | |
| 1983-11-05 | Pittsburgh over Notre Dame | 1983 | |
| 1982-11-13 | NC State over Duke | 1982 | |
| 1982-10-23 | Iowa over Minnesota | 1982 | |
| 1981-11-28 | Air Force over San Diego State | 1981 | |
| 1981-09-26 | Michigan over Navy | 1981 | |
| 1981-09-26 | Kansas over Kentucky | 1981 | |
| 1980-11-22 | East Tennessee State over Marshall | 1980 | |
| 1980-11-15 | Tulane over Memphis | 1980 | |
| 1980-09-27 | Furman over VMI | 1980 | |
| 1979-10-06 | Utah over Colorado State | 1979 | |
| 1978-09-09 | McNeese over Fresno State | 1978 | |
| 1977-10-29 | Bishop over Alcorn State | 1977 | |
| 1977-09-03 | Jacksonville State over Western Carolina | 1977 | |
| 1976-12-04 | Houston over Miami | 1976 | |
| 1976-09-11 | Marshall over Miami (OH) | 1976 | |
| 1976-09-04 | Memphis over Ole Miss | 1976 | |
| 1975-11-22 | Dartmouth over Princeton | 1975 | |
| 1974-11-23 | Harvard over Yale | 1974 | |
| 1974-11-02 | Washington State over Oregon | 1974 | |
| 1974-10-26 | Utah State over West Texas A&M | 1974 | |
| 1974-10-12 | Colgate over Holy Cross | 1974 | |
| 1974-10-05 | Mississippi State over Kansas State | 1974 | |
| 1974-09-14 | Alabama over Maryland | 1974 | |
| 1973-10-06 | Kansas State over Memphis | 1973 | |
| 1973-09-22 | Tulane over Boston College | 1973 | |
| 1972-11-04 | Long Beach State over Fresno State | 1972 | |
| 1972-10-28 | West Texas A&M over Wichita State | 1972 | |
| 1972-09-23 | Georgia Tech over Michigan State | 1972 | |
| 1971-10-16 | Cornell over Harvard | 1971 | |
| 1971-09-25 | Holy Cross over Harvard | 1971 | |
| 1970-11-07 | NC State over Virginia | 1970 | |
| 1969-11-22 | California-Santa Barbara over Hawai'i | 1969 | |
| 1969-11-01 | Marshall over Bowling Green | 1969 | |
| 1969-10-11 | South Carolina over NC State | 1969 | |
| 1968-10-12 | Texas Tech over Texas A&M | 1968 | |
| 1968-10-12 | Richmond over The Citadel | 1968 | |
| 1967-11-25 | Florida State over Florida | 1967 | |
| 1967-10-21 | UCLA over Stanford | 1967 | |
| 1967-10-21 | Colorado over Nebraska | 1967 | |
| 1966-11-26 | Miami over Florida | 1966 | |
| 1966-11-19 | Texas Tech over Arkansas | 1966 | |
| 1965-09-25 | Southern Miss over Memphis | 1965 | |
| 1964-11-28 | Oklahoma over Oklahoma State | 1964 | |
| 1964-11-07 | Washington over California | 1964 | |
| 1961-11-04 | New Mexico over Utah | 1961 | |
| 1961-09-29 | USC over SMU | 1961 | |
| 1958-11-27 | Virginia Tech over VMI | 1958 | |
| 1955-11-26 | New Mexico over BYU | 1955 | |
| 1955-11-05 | Clemson over Virginia Tech | 1955 | |
| 1954-09-25 | Oklahoma over TCU | 1954 | |
| 1952-11-22 | Purdue over Indiana | 1952 | |
| 1952-09-27 | Georgia over Tulane | 1952 | |
| 1950-11-10 | John Carroll University over Syracuse | 1950 | |
| 1940-09-28 | Kansas State over Emporia State University | 1940 | |
| 1920-11-20 | TCU over Southwestern University | 1920 |
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