If someone were to ask you to rank the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, you probably wouldn’t have that difficult of a time doing so, after putting together a resume of each player’s win-loss totals and passing accomplishments, among other factors.
But what about for college football? Things get a bit murkier there. For one, you’re comparing eras. But more importantly, you’re comparing vastly different offensive schemes, vastly different levels of competition, and even different levels of college football divisions in general. Point being: it’s not nearly as easy.
That’s why we’ve ventured to put together our attempt at ranking the greatest college football quarterbacks of all time, in reverse order – from 25 to 1:
25. Kellen Moore (Boise State)
As the quarterback for those feisty Boise State University teams that all the “big name” college football teams were terrified to play (because of the very probable chance they’d lose), Kellen Moore became the first quarterback in FBS history to win 50 games in his career.
Leading the Boise State Broncos to four-straight Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships and being named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year three years in a row, Moore was also a two-time first-team All-American despite playing in a mostly “overlooked” school.
24. John Elway (Stanford)
John Elway could famously demand that he wouldn’t play for the (then) Baltimore Colts in the days and weeks leading up to the 1983 NFL Draft, and not turn off all the other NFL teams with his demands, because he was that damn good.
Still considered to be among the greatest college football quarterbacks of all time, ESPN ranked Elway #15 in their rankings list of the Top 25 Players In College Football History.
By the time he left Palo Alto, Elways was the owner of almost every Pac-10 record for passing and offense in general. He was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year two separate times, and was a consensus All-American and the runner up in Heisman Trophy voting.
23. Andrew Luck (Stanford)
Another guy who passed on the chance to become the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft as a junior, only to return to school as a senior, quarterback Andrew Luck was hailed by many as the most complete quarterback prospect to enter the NFL Draft since John Elway (who, coincidentally, also went to Stanford University like Luck).
Before Luck had arrived, Stanford had never won more than 10 games in a season; Luck led them to 12 wins in 2010. Stanford’s highest win total in two consecutive years was 18, whereas Luck took them to 23 wins between 2010 and 2011.
22. Steve Spurrier (Florida)
Long before he (famously or infamously) became the “head ball coach” at the University of Florida, Stephen Orr Spurrier was a talented, multi-sport star who turned down basketball scholarships so he could play football for coach Ray Graves and the University of Florida.
By the time he left Gainesville, he was considered by local publications to be one of the two greatest players in the first century of the school’s football program. Before he coached a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback of his own, Spurrier won the award in 1966, the second-straight year he was also named an All-American.
21. Roger Staubach (Navy)
A real-life football version of “Captain America” himself, Roger Staubach was a Vietnam War veteran, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback the at U.S. Naval Academy.
During his three years in Annapolis, Staubach accumulated over 4200 yards of total offense, leading to the school retiring his number 12 after graduation.
To this day, he’s one of a handful of members of a US military academy to win the Heisman Trophy.
20. Jim Plunkett (Stanford)
Before the golden-armed prospects from Stanford University like John Elway and Andrew Luck, there was Jim Plunkett — the winner of the 1970 Heisman Trophy and the guy who set Pac-10 passing records. When Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy, he beat out guys like Joe Theismann of Notre Dame and Archie Manning of Ole Miss to win the award, joining the those two in having accomplished NFL careers.
In 1970, during his senior year, Plunkett led the Cardinal to their first Rose Bowl appearance, and helped his team subsequently upset the heavily-favored Ohio State Buckeyes.
19. Peyton Manning (Tennessee)
It’s amazing to think that someone with the resume of Peyton Manning not only never won a National Championship while at the University of Tennessee, but also didn’t win the Heisman Trophy.
After a stellar junior season in Knoxville, Manning began to ascend to the heights of quarterbacking we’re all familiar with, effectively sweeping all the postseason awards you can think of.
Here’s Manning’s legendary college resume; Davey O’Brien Award winner, the Johnny Unitas Award winner, and the Best College Player ESPY award winner (among others), before finishing as the runner up in the Heisman Trophy voting (behind cornerback Charles Woodson)
18. Ken Dorsey (Miami)
You can easily argue that the 2001 Miami Hurricanes was not only the greatest singular collection of talent on a college football team, but also the greatest college football team of all time outright.
And while Ken Dorsey might not have been the highly touted draft pick that some of his teammates were, you simply can’t overlook the fact that he led the Hurricanes to a 38-2 record as a starter in 2001 and 2002, and was a two-time finalist for the Heisman Trophy (in both those seasons). In three seasons as the team’s starting quarterback, Dorsey threw for 76 touchdown passes.
17. Drew Brees (Purdue)
Before he was conducting air shows with Sean Payton down in the Big Easy, Drew Brees was doing the same with Joe Tiller at Purdue University in the latter part of the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
While Michael Vick was the first draft pick of the 2001 NFL Draft, virtually nobody disagreed with Drew Brees being the nation’s most accomplished passer at the time. During his time at Purdue, Brees set 13 Big Ten Conference records and 19 school records; the former included 90 touchdown passes and 11,792 yards passing.
16. Marcus Mariota (Oregon)
Hawaiian-born quarterback Marcus Mariota can probably be thanked for all the (ultimately doomed) interest that former head coach Chip Kelly drew from NFL teams. Running Kelly’s fast-paced offenses, Mariota threw for a staggering 105 touchdown passes — and ran for 29 more — during his three seasons playing for the University of Oregon.
In the race for the 2014 Heisman Trophy award, Mariota won it in a laughable landslide, receiving 788 out of 891 (88.4%) of the first place votes.
15. Jason White (Oklahoma)
Before Sam Bradford would go on to do the same for the University of Oklahoma Sooners, it was Jason White who would not only win the Heisman Trophy (in 2003), but also win the Davey O’Brien Award in back-to-back seasons (2003 and 2004), throwing for a combined 75 touchdown passes over that span.
While the major blemish on White’s career resume in Norman would be the fact that he took the Sooners to two straight National Championships but lost them both (including a beat-down at the hands of USC), he’s still considered a legend around those parts of the state.
14. Colt McCoy (Texas)
Because he didn’t turn out to be much of a quarterback at the professional level, we overlook just how good Colt McCoy was during his time with the University of Texas. As a senior, McCoy won 13 of the top 15 major awards given to college football players, including quarterback of the year, offensive player of the year and outstanding football player of the year.
The two-time Walter Camp Player of the Year Award winner was also a two-time First-Team All-American, and took the University of Texas to the precipice of its second National Championship win in less than five seasons, but he ended his college career with shoulder injury in their eventual loss to Nick Saban and the University of Alabama in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game.
13. Jim McMahon (BYU)
Many of us think of quarterback Jim McMahon being the starting quarterback of the 1985 Chicago Bears. But while at Brigham Young University, McMahon was a two-time All-American, and winner of the Davey O’Brien and Sammy Baugh awards.
Over the course of his career at the school, McMahon threw for 9,536 passing yards and 84 touchdown passes (not including bowl games), and left for the NFL with 70 NCAA records in hand (while tied for another one). In 1999, he was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.
12. Danny Wuerffel (Florida)
Head coach Steve Spurrier had many quarterback put up some crazy numbers when he coached the University of Florida Gators, but few quarterbacks ran his “Fun ‘n’ Gun” offense as marvelously as Danny Wuerffel.
During his time in Gainesville, Wuerffel completed 708 of 1,170 passes for 10,875 yards and 114 touchdown passes, setting SEC records and piling up the second most passing yards in major college history.
The two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time First-Team All-American won the Heisman Trophy in 1996, when the Gators would go on to win the National Championship.
11. Ty Detmer (BYU)
As the winner of the 1990 Heisman Trophy, quarterback Ty Detmer finished his college career with 59 NCAA records and tied for three others.
Against Penn State in the 1989 Holiday Bowl, Detmer set NCAA records for most passing yards (576) and most yards of total offense (594) in a bowl game, and finished in the top 10 in Heisman voting in just his first season as a starter.
Detmer’s list of statistical accomplishments includes 15,031 passing yards, 121 touchdown passes, 14,665 yards of total offense, and a ridiculous 162.7 passer rating.
10. Andre Ware (Houston)
After he turned down enrolling at this dream college (the University of Texas) after finding out they were going to convert him to defensive back, Andre Ware enrolled in the nearby University of Houston, and began to re-write the college football record book while playing in a run-and-shoot offensive scheme while with the Cougars.
Ware threw for 4,699 yards and 44 touchdowns as a junior, setting 26 NCAA records en route to winning the Heisman Trophy.
9. Eric Crouch (Nebraska)
A true “dual-threat” quarterback if there ever was one in college football, Eric Crouch of the University of Nebraska is one of three quarterbacks in Division 1-A history to rush for 3,000 and pass for 4,000 yards in a college football career.
To this day, Crouch remains the leader in Nebraska history in total offense, with 7,915 yards from scrimmage, and owns the Cornhuskers record for most rushing yards by a quarterback (3,434). In 2001, Crouch was named both the Walter Camp Player of the Year and the winner of the Heisman Trophy.
8. DeShaun Watson (Clemson)
While most of the credit for Clemson’s current rise to prominence will understandably be attributed to head coach Dabo Swinney, you could easily argue that if it wasn’t for Deshaun Watson, Swinney would just be another sweet-talking southern football coach. After all, this is a guy that Swinney once compared to Michael Jordan, in terms of Watson’s work ethic and ability to change the trajectory of a team.
After taking the college football world by storm as a redshirt sophomore and leading Clemson to the National Championship in 2015, Watson and the Tigers returned to college football’s biggest stage the following year and upset the University of Alabama for the title.
7. Case Keenum (Houston)
At the University of Houston, Case Keenum didn’t just re-write the record books; he basically wrote a record book of his own. When he left after the 2011 season, Keenum held the NCAA record in virtually every passing category you can think of, including most completions, career passing yards, career passing touchdowns, games with 300+ yards passing, and seasons with 4,000 and 5,000 yards passing.
In five seasons with the Cougars, Keenum threw for over 155 touchdowns, and had another 23 touchdowns rushing as well.
6. Vince Young (Texas)
From the moment Vince Young was named the team’s starting quarterback midway through his redshirt freshman season, it was very apparent that the University of Texas had a very special player on their hands. After leading the Longhorns to an 11-1 record and Rose Bowl win as a redshirt sophomore, all eyes were on Young and Texas as the team that could potentially end the dynasty reigning over in Southern California.
As we all know, Young led the Longhorns to the 2005 BCS National Championship, putting up one of the most spectacular performances we’ve seen from a college athlete in history. When Young left the University of Texas as a junior, he ranked #1 among all University of Texas quarterbacks, in terms of number of wins.
5. Matt Leinart (USC)
Arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the University of Southern California, Matt Leinart was a two-time All-American who served as the world-class conductor for those world-class Trojans offenses of the mid-2000’s. Leinart led the Trojans to two-straight National Championship wins, earning the Heisman Trophy in 2004 just weeks before the second of those two titles.
Leinart would return to Southern California in 2005 to play his senior year, and was named a Heisman Trophy finalist en route to taking the Trojans to yet another National Championship appearance, which they lost to the University of Texas.
4. Tim Tebow (Florida)
There have been many great college football players in recent years, but perhaps none of them have been as famous — for many reasons — as Tim Tebow. The three-time All-American, two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time BCS national champion won the Heisman Trophy in 2007.
But in addition to everything he accomplished while playing for Urban Meyer and the University of Florida Gators, one of his most signature moments has to be the infamous “promise” speech he delivered after a loss against SEC rival Ole Miss, which helped spur the Gators to a National Championship win over the University of Oklahoma.
3. Tommie Frazier (Nebraska)
Before quarterback Tommie Frazier led his University of Nebraska Cornhuskers teams to back-to-back National Championships in 1994 and 1995, it had been almost a quarter century since any other quarterback had ever done so.
Various publications now mention Tommy Frazier among the greatest college quarterbacks of the 20th century, and maybe even among the top 35 or so college football players of the century (prior to 2000) as well.
Over the course of his career in Nebraska, Frazier had a 45-4 record with 5,476 total yards of offense and 79 touchdowns.
2. Paul Hornung (Notre Dame)
You know you’re good when you’re the progenitor of the nickname “The Golden Boy.” A legend among both the Fighting Irish and Green Bay Packers faithful, Paul Hornung won’t wow you with a whole slew of passing numbers or accomplishments.
In fact, he wasn’t even just a “dual-threat” quarterback. Rather, he was a guy who would run with or throw the ball, block the guy with the ball, or tackle the opponent as well. Simply put, he’s considered by some to be the greatest all-around football player in Notre Dame history.
1. Davey O’Brien (TCU)
Needless to say, if a trophy presented annually to “the best of all National Collegiate Athletic Association quarterbacks,” you were probably an accomplished quarterback yourself. Even though he played in an era before most of our parents were born, Davey O’Brien still holds the NCAA record for most rushing and passing plays in a single season, to this day it still stands.
Back before there was an award named in his honor, though, O’Brien became the first player in college football history to win both the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Trophy.