FourteenCollege football, read closely
  • 1,591attempted
  • 1,005completed
  • 12,088passing yards
  • 110td passes

THE BOOK

Records Are Meant To Be Broken

Twelve tables, 121 rows, exactly as this site filed them: six career lists and six single-season lists. Rows carrying the name the site was built for are marked; nothing else has been reordered, rounded or merged.

01

How to read the book

A record book is not a stat sheet. A stat sheet says what one player did in one season; a record book says where that season stands against every other season the programme has on file — and it only answers the questions it was built to ask.

The twelve tables below split in half. Six are career lists: totals accumulated over however many seasons a quarterback played, which is why the Years column matters as much as the figure beside it — four years of starts and two years of starts are not comparable inputs, and the book makes no attempt to adjust for that. Six are single-season lists, where the unit is one year and the comparison is closer to fair.

One list carries a qualifier in its own title: completion percentage is ranked only for quarterbacks with at least 300 attempts. Without that floor a backup who threw twelve passes in garbage time would sit above every starter in programme history, which is the standard way a rate statistic lies. Every other list here is a raw count and needs no floor.

Nothing below has been re-sorted, re-rounded or merged across tables. Rows carrying the name this archive was built around are marked so you can find them, and that is the only change made to any row.

01

Career records

Passes Attempted
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.1,619Chad Pennington1995-99
2.1,615Rakeem Cato2011-present
3.1,442Byron Leftwich1998-02
4.1,108Michael Payton1989-92
5.1,059Carl Fodor1982-85
6.912Todd Donnan1991-94
7.873John Gregory1986-89
8.849Brian Anderson2007-10
9.831Tony Petersen1986-87
10.803Bernard Morris2004-07
Passes Completed
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.1,026Chad Pennington1995-99
2.1,018Rakeem Cato2011-present
3.939Byron Leftwich1998-02
4.689Michael Payton1989-92
5.542Todd Donnan1991-94
6.521Carl Fodor1982-85
7.486John Gregory1986-89
8.483Brian Anderson2007-10
(tie)483Bernard Morris2004-07
10.440Tony Petersen1986-87
Passing Yards
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.13,143Chad Pennington1995-99
2.12,306Rakeem Cato2011-present
3.11,903Byron Leftwich1998-02
4.9,411Michael Payton1989-92
5.7,050Todd Donnan1991-94
6.7,020John Gregory1986-89
7.6,655Carl Fodor1982-85
8.6,501Tony Petersen1986-87
9.5,616Bernard Morris2004-07
10.5,403Brian Anderson2007-10
Touchdown Passes
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.115Chad Pennington1995-99
2.111Rakeem Cato2011-present
3.89Byron Leftwich1998-02
4.69Michael Payton1989-92
5.61Todd Donnan1991-94
6.51John Gregory1986-89
7.43Tony Petersen1986-87
8.39Carl Fodor1982-85
9.38Stan Hill2001-04
10.37Brian Anderson2007-10
Total Offense
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.13,048Chad Pennington1995-99
2.12,918Rakeem Cato2011-present
3.12,084Byron Leftwich1998-02
4.9,704Michael Payton1989-92
5.7,057Todd Donnan1991-94
6.6,720John Gregory1986-89
7.6,705Bernard Morris2004-07
8.6,377Carl Fodor1982-85
9.6,268Tony Petersen1986-87
10.5,924Chris Parker1991-95
Pass Completion Percentage (Min. 300 attempts)
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.65.1Byron Leftwich (1998-02)939-1442
2.63.4Chad Pennington (1995-99)1026-1619
3.63.0Rakeem Cato (2011-present)1018-1615
4.62.2Michael Payton (1989-92)689-1108
5.62.1Stan Hill (2001-04)420-676
6.60.3Eric Kresser (1996)226-375
7.60.1Bernard Morris (2004-07)483-803
8.59.4Todd Donnan (1991-94)542-912
9.56.8Brian Anderson (2007-)483-849
10.55.7John Gregory (1986-89)486-873
02

Single-season records

Passes Attempted
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.622Tony Petersen1987
2.584Rakeem Cato2012
3.499Rakeem Cato2013
4.491Byron Leftwich2002
5.470Byron Leftwich2001
6.457Byron Leftwich2000
7.432Chad Pennington1998
8.428Chad Pennington1997
9.415Michael Payton1992
10.411Carl Fodor1984
Passes Completed
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.408Rakeem Cato2012
2.340Tony Petersen1987
3.331Byron Leftwich2002
4.315Byron Leftwich2001
5.298Rakeem Cato2013
6.279Chad Pennington1998
(tie)279Byron Leftwich2000
8.275Chad Pennington1999
9.268Michael Payton1992
10.253Bernard Morris2007
(tie)253Chad Pennington1997
Passing Yards
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.4,902Tony Petersen1987
2.4,268Byron Leftwich2002
3.4,201Rakeem Cato2012
4.4,132Byron Leftwich2001
5.3,916Rakeem Cato2013
6.3,799Chad Pennington1999
7.3,610Michael Payton1992
8.3,480Chad Pennington1997
9.3,419Chad Pennington1998
10.3,407Eric Kresser1996
Touchdown Passes
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.39Rakeem Cato2013
(tie)39Chad Pennington1997
3.38Byron Leftwich2001
4.37Rakeem Cato2012
(tie)37Chad Pennington1999
6.35Eric Kresser1996
(tie)35Tony Petersen1987
8.33Todd Donnan1994
9.31Michael Payton1992
10.30Byron Leftwich2002
Total Offense
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.4,737Tony Petersen1987
2.4,267Byron Leftwich2002
3.4,232Rakeem Cato2012
4.4,224Byron Leftwich2001
5.4,210Rakeem Cato2013
6.3,902Chad Pennington1999
7.3,744Michael Payton1992
8.3,637Bernard Morris2007
9.3,491Michael Payton1991
10.3,421Chad Pennington1997
Pass Completion Percentage (Min. 100 attempts)
RankFigurePlayerYears
1.69.6Stan Hill (2003)133-191
2.69.5Rakeem Cato (2012)406-584
3.67.9Chad Pennington (1999)275-405
4.67.4Byron Leftwich (2002)331-491
5.67.0Byron Leftwich (2001)315-470
6.66.1Graham Gochneaur (2003)121-183
7.64.6Chad Pennington (1998)279-432
(tie)64.6Michael Payton (1992)268-415
9.64.2Michael Payton (1991)222-346
10.63.7Todd Donnan (1994)239-375
02

Why two books disagree