2012: College football's top quarterbacks

Sports

2012: College football's top quarterbacks

How does Heisman winner Johnny Manziel compare against college football's other top passers?

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. Manziel led the Aggies to a 10-2 in their first season in the SEC and orchestrated an upset at then-No. 1 Alabama. But how did his record SEC season of 3,419 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, plus 1,181 yards rushing and 19 more scores stack up against college football's other top signal callers? | Year in review | More AJC Sports

Only Baylor's Nick Florence was responsible for more total offense than Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel. The Bears' senior passer threw for 4,121 yards (31 TDs) while rushing for 531 (9 TDs). That's 578 yards per game). To contrast, 2011 Heisman winner Robert Griffin III had 4,293 passing yards with 37 TDs and 699 yards rushing and 10 scores. The Bears went 10-3 in 2011; 7-5 in 2012. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

College football's second-most efficient passer became the first passer in SEC history to have a third-straight 3,000-yard season. He threw for 3,466 yards and 31 touchdowns and led the Bulldogs to an SEC East title. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

No one had more pass attempts (584), completions (409), or passing yards (4,201) than Marshall's Rakeem Cato. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron went 286 -of-191 (66.78 percent) with 2,669 yards and only 3 interceptions, making him college football's most efficient passer. He also had 26 touchdowns and a showdown with Notre Dame in the BCS title game. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

Teddy Bridgewater, who stands at 6 feet, 3 inches, led the Cardinals to 10 wins and the Big East title. He completes nearly 69 percent of his 382 passes for 3,452 and 25 touchdowns. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley has long been considered a top NFL Draft pick. He became the Pac-12's all-time leader in touchdown passes (116 TDs along with 12,327 yards) in 2012. His 224 total points are only surpassed by Geno Smith, Johnny Manziel and Clemson's Tajh Boyd. Barkley was 387-for-246 (63.57 percent) for 3,273 yards and 36 touchdowns. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones completed 332 of his 507 pass attempts for 3,989 yards and 29 touchdowns. The senior led the Sooner to a 10-win season and share of the Big XII conference title. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith's 40 passing touchdowns led college football. The senior threw for 4,004 yards on 490 attempts with just 6 interceptions. He ran for an additional 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

Clemson's Tajh Boyd accounted for 21.83 points a game - more than any other quarterback. Boyd was 377-for-251 (66.58 percent) for 3,550 yards and 34 touchdowns in addition to 13 interceptions. | Year in review | More AJC Sports

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Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. Manziel led the Aggies to a 10-2 in their first season in the SEC and orchestrated an upset at then-No. 1 Alabama. But how did his record SEC season of 3,419 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, plus 1,181 yards rushing and 19 more scores stack up against college football's other top signal callers? | Year in review | More AJC Sports

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