In western Pennsylvania, you will find Slippery Rock University, a Division 2 school in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The school has become a bit of a national fan favorite of sorts base don the name of the school going back decades by having their scores read in stadiums like Michigan Stadium in an era long before being able to load up your phone or watch to check the scores from around the country. It is at Slippery Rock where you will now find the NCAA’s all-time all-division sack record holder, defensive end Marcus Martin.
In a PSAC game this weekend against Clarion, Martin set school single-game records with 4.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for a loss. In the process, Martin also set the new record for most career sacks across all divisions of NCAA football by bringing his career total to 54.5 sacks.
Slippery Rock’s Marcus Martin became the @NCAA all-division record holder in career sacks today with this sack. @SportsCenter #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/ZqurR9b9rC
— Rock Athletics (@Rock_Athletics) October 28, 2017
The previous record of was held by Mike Czerwien of Diviosn III Waynesburg. The official record for most career sacks at the FBS level is still owned by former Arizona State standout Terrell Suggs. Suggs recorded 44 sacks from 2000 through 2002. However, Alabama’s Derrick Thomas and Arizona’s Tedy Bruschi each have 52 career sacks form their college days, but the NCAA did not begin officially tracking sack totals until 2000. Thomas was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 and Bruschi was drafted by the New England Patriots in 1996, both going pro long before the NCAA started adjusting their official record keeping. And don’t count on the NCAA going back through the archives to adjust their record keeping, because inconsistent records are said to make such a task nearly impossible to do accurately.
Even if the numbers of Suggs and Bruschi were accurately reflected in the record books, Martin would still have edged them each.
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