The 25th college football season of the 21st century ended on Monday night when Ohio State defeated Notre Dame 34-23 in the CFP national championship game. SEC Football by the Numbers is reviewing the best of the conference’s past quarter-century, starting with the league’s leaders in passing yards:
The SEC might have gotten a new leader in career passing yards during the 2024 season, but Will Rogers transferred to Washington after four seasons at Mississippi State.
Rogers left the league 851 yards short of the career mark set by Aaron Murray with Georgia from 2010 through 2013. Rogers threw for 2,458 yards with the Huskies in 2024.
Murray and Rogers are at the top of the cadre of quarterbacks that has ridden the changes in college football to dominant the SEC’s all-time passing chart. Of the top 16 in career passing yards in conference history, 13 played their entire careers in the 21st century, and among the league’s top 41 in career passing yards, only one – LSU’s Tommy Hodson – played before 1990.
Among the SEC’s top 25 in career passing yards over the past 25 seasons, there are four quarterbacks apiece from Georgia and Ole Miss, three from Florida, two each from Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt and one apiece from LSU and Texas A&M. Of the programs that were SEC members when the century began, Auburn, Arkansas and South Carolina are not represented. Neither are Oklahoma and Texas, which have played one season of SEC football apiece.
Before the 2002 season, the NCAA did not include statistics from bowls in its official records. The following chart counts the bowl stats from the 2000 and 2001 seasons, which affected David Greene, Eli Manning, Casey Clausen and Rex Grossman. For Greene, Manning and Clausen, the bowl numbers didn’t change their ranking, although the extra stats boosted Clausen past 10,000 passing yards, an achievement reached by only eight other SEC players. But the 560 passing yards for Grossman from the Sugar Bowl for the 2000 season and the Orange Bowl for the 2001 season boosted the Florida QB from 16th on the SEC’s official list of passing-yardage leaders to 10th in the actual rankings.
The top 25 SEC players for career passing yards in the 21st century include:
1. Aaron Murray, Georgia, 2010-2013: 921-of-1,478 for 13,166 yards with 121 touchdowns and 41 interceptions
2. Will Rogers, Mississippi State, 2020-2023: 1,301-of-1,876 for 12,315 yards with 94 touchdowns and 28 interceptions
3. Drew Lock, Missouri, 2015-2018: 883-of-1,553 for 12,193 yards with 99 touchdowns and 39 interceptions
4. David Greene, Georgia, 2001-2004: 871-of-1,478 for 11,816 yards with 73 touchdowns and 34 interceptions
5. Chris Leak, Florida, 2003-2006: 895-of-1,458 for 11,213 yards with 88 touchdowns and 42 interceptions
6. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss, 2022-2024: 735-of-1,118 for 10,617 yards with 72 touchdowns and 22 interceptions
7. Jared Lorenzen, Kentucky, 2000-2003: 862-of-1,514 for 10,354 yards with 78 touchdowns and 41 interceptions
8. Eli Manning, Ole Miss, 2000-2003: 841-of-1,383 for 10,286 yards with 84 touchdowns and 36 interceptions
9. Casey Clausen, Tennessee, 2000-2003: 808-of-1,329 for 10,220 yards with 79 touchdowns and 34 interceptions
10. Rex Grossman, Florida, 2000-2002: 715-of-1,179 for 9,724 yards with 82 touchdowns and 39 interceptions
11. Kellen Mond, Texas A&M, 2017-2020: 801-of-1,358 for 9,661 yards with 71 touchdowns and 27 interceptions
12. Bo Wallace, Ole Miss, 2012-2014: 747-of-1,186 for 9,534 yards with 62 touchdowns and 41 interceptions
13. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State, 2012-2015: 734-of-1,169 for 9,376 yards with 70 touchdowns and 23 interceptions
14. Andre Woodson, Kentucky, 2004-2007: 791-of-1,278 for 9,360 yards with 79 touchdowns and 25 interceptions
15. Tim Tebow, Florida, 2006-2009: 661-of-995 for 9,285 yards with 88 touchdowns and 16 interceptions
16. Brady Cook, Missouri, 2020-2024: 773-of-1,173 for 9,251 yards with 50 touchdowns and 15 interceptions
17. AJ McCarron, Alabama, 2010-2013: 686-of-1,026 for 9,019 yards with 77 touchdowns and 15 interceptions
18. Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt, 2015-2018: 722-of-1,264 for 8,865 with 64 touchdowns and 29 interceptions
19. Erik Ainge, Tennessee, 2004-2007: 733-of-1,210 for 8,700 yards with 72 touchdowns and 35 interceptions
20. Jay Cutler, Vanderbilt, 2002-2005: 710-of-1,242 for 8,697 yards with 59 touchdowns and 36 interceptions
21. Joe Burrow, LSU, 2018-2019: 621-of-906 for 8,565 yards with 76 touchdowns and 11 interceptions
22. Stetson Bennett, Georgia, 2019-2022: 601-of-923 for 8,429 yards with 66 touchdowns and 21 interceptions
23. Bryce Young, Alabama, 2020-2022: 624-of-949 for 8,356 yards with 80 touchdowns and 12 interceptions
24. Matt Corral, Ole Miss, 2018-2021: 614-of-912 for 8,287 yards with 57 touchdowns and 23 interceptions
25. Jake Fromm, Georgia, 2017-2019: 621-of-982 for 8,224 yards with 78 touchdowns and 18 interceptions
