The checklist of quarterbacks who’ve thrown for essentially the most passing yards in an FCS recreation, season or profession is in synch with the wealthy historical past of Walter Payton Award recipients.
From Jamie Martin and Steve McNair within the early Nineteen Nineties to NFL veterans Taylor Heinicke and Jimmy Garoppolo within the 2010s to prolific passers comparable to Devlin Hodges and Eric Barriere in recent times, the Payton, which is offered yearly to the nationwide offensive participant of the yr, options most of the greatest arms in FCS historical past. There are quite a few different finalists on the all-time passing lists as properly.
Transferring each out and in of the pocket, we dive into the document books to spotlight the quarterbacks who’ve thrown for essentially the most passing yards:
Most Passing Yards in an FCS Sport
1. 730 – Taylor Heinicke, Outdated Dominion (vs. New Hampshire), Sept. 22, 2012
ODU outlasted New Hampshire 64-61 in a CAA Soccer recreation as Heinicke accomplished 55 of 79 passes – essentially the most makes an attempt in an FCS recreation with out an interception – and 5 touchdowns. The mesmerizing efficiency catapulted Heinicke towards the 2012 Walter Payton Award. He added 61 dashing yards to complete with 791 yards of whole offense, which is also an FCS single-game document.
2. 662 – Brady Attaway, Stephen F. Austin (Prairie View A&M), Sept. 28, 2013
3. 660 – Braden Hanson, North Dakota (Montana), Oct. 20, 2012
4. 647 – Cole Kelley, Southeastern Louisiana (UIW), Nov. 6, 2021
The 2020 Walter Payton Award recipient and 2021 runner-up accomplished 50 passes in a shootout with UIW’s Cameron Ward (see No. 9) in the one FCS recreation to characteristic two 600+ yard passers.
5. 624 – Jamie Martin, Weber State (Idaho State), Nov. 23, 1991
6. 623 – Drew Hubel, Portland State (Japanese Washington), Oct. 4, 2008
7. 619 – Doug Pederson, Northeast Louisiana (Stephen F. Austin), Nov. 11, 1989
The Tremendous Bowl 52-winning head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles held the FCS single-game document for over two years earlier than Martin surpassed him in 1991. SFA’s Todd Hammel hung 571 passing yards on Northeast Louisiana (now UL Monroe) in a head-to-head matchup in opposition to Pederson.
8. 618 – Bruce Eugene, Grambling State (Prairie View A&M), Oct. 1, 2005
9. 610 – Cameron Ward, UIW (Southeastern Louisiana), Nov. 6, 2021
T10. 600 – Casey Brockman, Murray State (Tennessee State), Sept. 17, 2011
T10. 600 – Eric Barriere, Japanese Washington (Idaho), Oct. 16, 2021
12. 599 – Willie Totten, Mississippi Valley State (Prairie View A&M), Oct. 27, 1984
13. 595 – Robert Kent, Jackson State (Alabama State), Oct. 6, 2001
14. 589 – Vern Harris, Idaho State (Montana), Oct. 12, 1985
15. 588 – Martin Hankins, Southeastern Louisiana (Arkansas-Monticello), Sept. 2, 2004
16. 587 – Steve McNair, Alcorn State (Southern), Oct. 22, 1994
17. 582 – Liam Welch, Samford (ETSU), Sept. 25, 2021
18. 577 – Dustin Lengthy, Sam Houston State (McNeese State), Nov. 6, 2004
19. 576 – Ren Hefley, Presbyterian (St. Andrews), Sept. 4, 2021
Going through an NAIA opponent, Hefley handed for 10 touchdowns, the FCS single-game document.
20. 574 – Michael Herrick, Northern Arizona (Japanese Washington), Nov. 21, 2009
Most Passing Yards in an FCS Season
1. 5,160 – Gage Gubrud, Japanese Washington, 2016 (14 video games, 386 of 570, 67.7%, 48 TDs, 14 INTs)
Gubrud turned the primary FCS quarterback to have 11 video games of 300+ passing yards in a season, together with all six instances Japanese Washington performed on the street.
2. 5,124 – Cole Kelley, Southeastern Louisiana, 2021 (13, 406 of 552, 73.6%, 44, 10)
Kelley joined Gubrud with 11 video games of 300+ passing yards. His 406 completions are an FCS single-season document.
3. 5,076 – Taylor Heinicke, Outdated Dominion, 2012 (13, 398 of 579, 68.7%, 44, 14)
4. 5,055 – Eric Barriere, Japanese Washington, 2021 (13, 360 of 551, 65.3%, 46, 8)
Barriere flip-flopped with Kelley, successful the 2021 Walter Payton Award after being the runner-up within the 2020 season.
5. 5,050 – Jimmy Garoppolo, Japanese Illinois, 2013 (14, 375 of 568, 66.0%, 53, 9)
6. 5,003 – Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State, 2017 (14, 335 of 579, 57.9%, 45, 16)
There are solely two two-time recipients of the Walter Payton Award, Briscoe (2016 and ’17) and Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards (2008 and ’09).
7. 4,994 – Vernon Adams, Japanese Washington, 2013 (15, 319 of 486, 65.6%, 55, 15)
8. 4,891 – Tim DeMorat, Fordham, 2022 (12, 326 of 499, 65.3%, 56, 10)
9. 4,863 – Steve McNair, Alcorn State, 1994 (11, 304 of 530, 57.4%, 44, 17)
“Air” McNair additionally rushed for 936 yards, giving the 1994 Walter Payton Award recipient 5,799 yards of whole offense, which is the FCS single-season document.
10. 4,686 – Lindsey Scott Jr., UIW, 2022 (14, 322 of 454, 70.9%, 60, 8)
In his solely season at UIW, Scott earned the 2022 Walter Payton Award, setting FCS single-season information for landing passes (60) and whole touchdowns (71, together with 11 dashing).
11. 4,648 – Cameron Ward, UIW, 2021 (13, 384 of 590, 65.1%, 47, 10)
12. 4,602 – Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State, 2016 (13, 315 of 503, 62.6%, 57, 10)
13. 4,588 – Dustin Lengthy, Sam Houston State, 2004 (14, 333 of 531, 62.7%, 39, 18)
14. 4,557 – Willie Totten, Mississippi Valley State, 1984 (10, 324 of 518, 62.6%, 56, 22)
Throwing to his favourite receiver Jerry Rice, Totten averaged an FCS single-season-record 455.7 passing yards per recreation.
15. 4,483 – Bruce Eugene, Grambling State, 2002 (13, 269 of 543, 49.5%, 43, 16)
16. 4,460 – Cameron Higgins, Weber State, 2008 (14, 304 of 464, 65.5%, 36, 13)
17. 4,380 – Michael Nebrich, Fordham, 2013 (13, 353 of 480, 73.5%, 35, 7)
18. 4,378 – Chris Lum, Lehigh, 2011 (13, 358 of 543, 65.9%, 32, 17)
19. 4,360 – Bruce Eugene, Grambling State, 2005 (12, 254 of 456, 55.7%, 56, 6)
20. 4,305 – Brett Gordon, Villanova, 2002 (15, 385 of 578, 66.6%, 36, 14)
Most Passing Yards in an FCS Profession
1. 14,584 – Devlin Hodges, Samford, 2015-18 (1,310 of 1,896, 69.1%, 111 TDs, 41 INTs)
In his profession, “Duck,” because the 2018 Walter Payton Award recipient is affectionately identified, had 31 video games with at the least 300 passing yards, together with 12 with 400+ and two with 500+. He holds the FCS profession information for completions (1,310) and move makes an attempt (1,896), and has the very best completion proportion (69.1) among the many prime 25 FCS quarterbacks in profession passing yards.
2. 14,496 – Steve McNair, Alcorn State, 1991-94 (927 of 1,680, 55.2%, 119, 58)
McNair’s profession common of 345.1 passing yards per recreation ranks second all-time to Portland State’s Neil Lomax, who averaged 350 yards from 1978-80 and led a 105-0 win over Delaware State for the FCS’ single-game factors document.
3. 13,809 – Eric Barriere, Japanese Washington, 2017-21 (1,007 of 1,623, 62.0%, 121, 29)
4. 13,513 – Bruce Eugene, Grambling State, 2001-05 (872 of 1,657, 52.6%, 140, 38)
Eugene’s 140 profession landing passes are the FCS all-time document.
5. 13,461 – Tim DeMorat, Fordham, 2018-22 (1,033 of 1,685, 61.3%, 123, 39)
6. 13,455 – Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross, 2006-09 (1,131 of 1,786, 63.3%, 117, 46)
7. 13,401 – Jeremy Moses, Stephen F. Austin, 2007-10 (1,184 of 1,893, 62.5, 121, 55)
8. 13,264 – Scott Riddle, Elon, 2007-10 (1,168 of 1,779, 65.7%, 106, 41)
9. 13,212 – Ricky Santos, New Hampshire, 2004-07 (1,122 of 1,636, 68.6%, 123, 33)
The constant Santos, who obtained the 2006 Walter Payton Award, had 3,000+ passing yards in every of his first three seasons and missed a fourth time as a senior by solely 28 yards.
10. 13,156 – Jimmy Garoppolo, Japanese Illinois, 2010-13 (1,047 of 1,668, 62.8%, 118, 51)
11. 12,751 – Parker McKinney, Japanese Kentucky, 2018-23 (1,081 of 1,719, 62.9%, 94, 44)
12. 12,711 – Willie Totten, Mississippi Valley State, 1982-85 (907 of 1,555, 58.3%, 139, 75)
13. 12,638 – Anthony Lawrence, San Diego, 2015-18 (961 of 1,465, 65.6%, 120, 24)
14. 12,616 – Matt Nichols, Japanese Washington, 2006-09 (996 of 1,608, 61.9%, 96, 46)
15. 12,479 – Marcus Brady, Cal-Northridge, 1998-2001 (1,039 of 1,680, 61.8%, 109, 47)
16. 12,252 – Cameron Higgins, Weber State, 2007-10 (934 of 1,510, 61.9%, 98, 53)
17. 12,207 – Jamie Martin, Weber State, 1989-92 (934 of 1,544, 60.5%, 87, 56)
18. 12,136 – Aqeel Glass, Alabama A&M, 2017-21 (923 of 1,582, 58.3%, 109, 41)
19. 12,092 – Case Cookus, Northern Arizona, 2015-19 (892 of 1,431, 62.3%, 105, 21)
Cookus threw the fewest interceptions (21) amongst FCS quarterbacks who rank within the prime 25 of profession passing yards.
20. 11,918 – Austin Gahafer, Morehead State, 2013-16 (1,096 of 1,844, 59.4%, 85, 45)
Info supplied by Stats Carry out and NCAA Soccer Information.
