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A college football quarterback has thrown for at least 4,000 yards in a single season 94 times now, according to sports-reference.com.
Eleven of those instances took place in 2015, including Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly (4,042 yards), former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel (4,026), Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (4,109) and former Hoover (Ala.) High School quarterback Nick Mullens (4,476).
Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty, who threw for just 209 yards in the season opener against Vanderbilt, became the 13th player ever to throw for 5,000 yards in one season.
Kelly became just the third quarterback in SEC history to reach the 4,000-yard milestone. When we realized that the Big Ten never has featured a 4,000-yard passer, that got us curious.
Which of the so-called Power 5 conferences has produced the most 4,000-yard passers all-time?
1. BIG 12 (22)
Texas Tech (10) has produced more 4,000-yard passing seasons than any other conference, including Graham Harrell with three. What’s more, The Red Raiders claim the five best single-season totals by a power-conference quarterback in FBS history.
More than half of these seasons have taken place since 2010, including Patrick Mahomes in 2015 — from Texas Tech.
Oklahoma’s Landry Jones also achieved the feat in back-to-back-to-back seasons (2010-12).
| PLAYER | TEAM | YARDS | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.J. Symons | Texas Tech | 5,833 | 2003 |
| Graham Harrell | Texas Tech | 5,705 | 2007 |
| Graham Harrell | Texas Tech | 5,111 | 2008 |
| Kliff Kingsbury | Texas Tech | 5,017 | 2002 |
| Sonny Cumbie | Texas Tech | 4,742 | 2004 |
| Brandon Weeden | Oklahoma State | 4,727 | 2011 |
| Sam Bradford | Oklahoma | 4,720 | 2008 |
| Landry Jones | Oklahoma | 4,718 | 2010 |
| Patrick Mahomes | Texas Tech | 4,653 | 2015 |
| Graham Harrell | Texas Tech | 4,555 | 2006 |
| Landry Jones | Oklahoma | 4,463 | 2011 |
| Chase Daniel | Missouri | 4,335 | 2008 |
| Nick Florence | Baylor | 4,309 | 2012 |
| Chase Daniel | Missouri | 4,306 | 2007 |
| Robert Griffin III | Baylor | 4,293 | 2011 |
| Brandon Weeden | Oklahoma State | 4,277 | 2010 |
| Landry Jones | Oklahoma | 4,267 | 2012 |
| Seth Doege | Texas Tech | 4,205 | 2012 |
| Geno Smith | West Virginia | 4,205 | 2012 |
| Bryce Petty | Baylor | 4,200 | 2013 |
| Cody Hodges | Texas Tech | 4,197 | 2005 |
| Seth Doege | Texas Tech | 4,004 | 2011 |
2. PAC-12 (9)
Cal (Jared Goff) and Washington State (Luke Falk) each added to this list last season. In fact, the free-wheeling Pac-12 has produced five such seasons in the last three years.
Somewhat surprisingly, USC, UCLA and Stanford have combined to produce not a single 4,000-yard passer, while Marcus Mariota remains the only Oregon player to reach that mark.
| PLAYER | TEAM | YARDS | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jared Goff | Cal | 4,714 | 2015 |
| Sean Mannion | Oregon State | 4,662 | 2013 |
| Connor Halliday | Washington State | 4,597 | 2013 |
| Luke Falk | Washington State | 4,561 | 2015 |
| Cody Pickett | Washington | 4,458 | 2002 |
| Marcus Mariota | Oregon | 4,454 | 2014 |
| Nick Foles | Arizona | 4,334 | 2011 |
| Derek Anderson | Oregon State | 4,058 | 2003 |
| Brock Osweiler | Arizona State | 4,036 | 2011 |
3. ACC (6)
Deshaun Watson joined some great company this season. Of the five other ACC players to reach the mark, three became top-5 NFL draft picks. The other two got taken in the third and fourth round of their respective drafts.
Watson could be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft.
| PLAYER | TEAM | YARDS | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Ryan | Boston College | 4,507 | 2007 |
| Philip Rivers | North Carolina State | 4,491 | 2003 |
| Chris Weinke | Florida State | 4,167 | 2000 |
| Deshaun Watson | Clemson | 4,109 | 2015 |
| Jameis Winston | Florida State | 4,057 | 2013 |
| Mike Glennon | North Carolina State | 4,031 | 2012 |
4. SEC (3)
The SEC standard of running the ball and playing tough defense already has started to crack, though we’re not going to be the ones to tell Nick Saban.
Two of the SEC’s three 4,000-yard passing seasons happened within the last three years.
Also, Kelly has a chance to join Graham Harrell, Landry Jones, Geno Smith, Chase Daniel, Seth Doege and Brandon Weeden as the seventh quarterback in major FBS history with multiple 4,000-yard seasons.
| PLAYER | TEAM | YARDS | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Couch | Kentucky | 4,275 | 1998 |
| Johnny Manziel | Texas A&M | 4,114 | 2013 |
| Chad Kelly | Ole Miss | 4,042 | 2015 |
5. BIG TEN (0)
Purdue quarterbacks Curtis Painter (3,985 yards) and Drew Brees (3,983 yards) came close, but no Big Ten signal-caller ever has crossed the 4,000-yard threshold.
The Boilermakers account for the five best single-season quarterback passing totals in Big Ten history. The conference also claims seven of the 26 all-time 2,000-yard rushing seasons — a feat no SEC player ever had achieved until Alabama’s Derrick Henry this season.
BONUS: BIG EAST (2)
Geno Smith reached 4,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, but West Virginia moved to the Big 12 in 2012.
Louisville’s Chris Redman also reached the milestone when the Cardinals were part of Conference USA.
| PLAYER | TEAM | YARDS | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geno Smith | West Virginia | 4,385 | 2011 |
| Brian Brohm | Louisville | 4,024 | 2007 |
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
