Indiana college football team loses 51st straight game, breaking Macalester's record

Earlham College of Indiana set a Division III football record for consecutive losses with 51, in a 64-20 loss to Franklin on Saturday.

Earlham, which hasn't won since 2013, broke the 38-year-old record held by Macalester College of Minnesota. Macalester famously lost 50 games in a row before finally breaking that streak in 1980. (The Scots have found more success in recent years; the 2018 team has a record of 5-2 after a loss Saturday.)

Franklin (7-1), the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champions in 10 of the last 11 seasons, quickly put to rest the thought of an upset by outscoring Earlham 27-3 in the first quarter. It was 43-3 at halftime after Franklin had 517 yards of offense.

Earlham (0-8) has a week off before hosting winless Defiance (0-7), losers of 10 straight, on Nov. 3. Earlham is far from the NCAA record held by Prairie View with 80 straight Division I-AA losses from 1989-98.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.