The Michigan State Spartans football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Michigan State Spartans football program in various categories,[ 1] [ 2] including passing , rushing , total offense , receiving , defensive stats, kicking , and scoring. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, Single season and career leaders. The Spartans represent Michigan State University in the NCAA 's Big Ten Conference .
Although Michigan State began competing in intercollegiate football in 1896,[ 1] the school's official record book considers the "modern era" to have begun in 1945. Records from before this year are often incomplete and inconsistent, and they are generally not included in these lists.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
Since 1945, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length. The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers. Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[ 3] The Spartans have played in 10 bowl games since then. Similarly, the Spartans have played in the Big Ten Championship Game three times since it began in 2011, so players in those seasons had 14 games to accumulate statistics. Due to COVID-19 disruptions, the NCAA ruled that the 2020 season would not be counted against any football player's athletic eligibility, giving players active in that season five years of eligibility instead of the standard four. These lists are updated through Michigan State's game against Ohio State on November 20, 2021 .
Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Connor Cook 9,194 2012 2013 2014 2015 2 Kirk Cousins 9,131 2008 2009 2010 2011 3 Jeff Smoker 8,932 2000 2001 2002 2003 4 Brian Lewerke 8,293 2016 2017 2018 2019 5 Drew Stanton 6,524 2003 2004 2005 2006 6 Payton Thorne 6,501[ 4] 2020 2021 2022 7 Brian Hoyer 6,159 2005 2006 2007 2008 8 Dave Yarema 5,809 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 9 Ed Smith 5,706 1976 1977 1978 10 Bill Burke 5,463 1996 1997 1998 1999
Single-Season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Jeff Smoker 3,395 2003 2 Kirk Cousins 3,316 2011 3 Payton Thorne 3,240[ 4] 2021 4 Connor Cook 3,214 2014 5 Connor Cook 3,131 2015 6 Brian Lewerke 3,079 2019 7 Drew Stanton 3,077 2005 8 Kirk Cousins 2,825 2010 9 Brian Lewerke 2,793 2017 10 Connor Cook 2,755 2013
Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Lorenzo White 4,887 1984 1985 1986 1987 2 Javon Ringer 4,398 2005 2006 2007 2008 3 Tico Duckett 4,212 1989 1990 1991 1992 4 Blake Ezor 3,749 1986 1987 1988 1989 5 Sedrick Irvin 3,504 1996 1997 1998 6 T. J. Duckett 3,379 1999 2000 2001 7 Le'Veon Bell 3,346 2010 2011 2012 8 Jeremy Langford 2,967 2012 2013 2014 9 Duane Goulbourne 2,848 1992 1993 1994 1996 10 LJ Scott 2,771 2015 2016 2017 2018
Single-Season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Lorenzo White 2,066 1985 2 Le'Veon Bell 1,793 2012 3 Javon Ringer 1,673 2008 4 Kenneth Walker III 1,636[ 10] 2021 5 Lorenzo White 1,572 1987 6 Jeremy Langford 1,522 2014 7 Blake Ezor 1,496 1988 8 Eric Allen 1,494 1971 9 Javon Ringer 1,447 2007 10 Jeremy Langford 1,422 2013
Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 B.J. Cunningham 3,086 2008 2009 2010 2011 2 Andre Rison 2,992 1985 1986 1987 1988 3 Charles Rogers 2,821 2001 2002 4 Kirk Gibson 2,347 1975 1976 1977 1978 5 Tony Lippett 2,247 2011 2012 2013 2014 6 Courtney Hawkins 2,210 1988 1989 1990 1991 7 Aaron Burbridge 2,174 2012 2013 2014 2015 8 Plaxico Burress 2,155 1998 1999 9 Mark Dell 2,136 2007 2008 2009 2010 10 Gari Scott 2,095 1996 1997 1998 1999
Single-Season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Charles Rogers 1,470 2001 2 Charles Rogers 1,351 2002 3 B.J. Cunningham 1,306 2011 4 Devin Thomas 1,260 2007 5 Aaron Burbridge 1,258 2015 6 Tony Lippett 1,198 2014 7 Plaxico Burress 1,142 1999 8 Courtney Hawkins 1,080 1989 9 Jayden Reed 1,026[ 13] 2021 10 Plaxico Burress 1,013 1998
Receiving touchdowns [ edit ] Total offense is the sum of passing and rushing statistics. It does not include receiving or returns.[ 15]
Total offense yards [ edit ] Career Rank Player Yards Years 1 Connor Cook 9,403 2012 2013 2014 2015 2 Kirk Cousins 9,004 2008 2009 2010 2011 3 Jeff Smoker 8,714 2000 2001 2002 2003 4 Drew Stanton 8,036 2003 2004 2005 2006 5 Payton Thorne 6,771 [ 4] 2020 2021 2022 6 Brian Hoyer 5,930 2005 2006 2007 2008 7 Ed Smith 5,556 1976 1977 1978 8 Brian Lewerke 5,284 2016 2017 2018 9 Dave Yarema 5,269 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 10 Bill Burke 4,934 1996 1997 1998 1999
Single season Rank Player Yards Year 1 Payton Thorne 3,421 [ 4] 2021 2 Drew Stanton 3,415 2005 3 Brian Lewerke 3,352 2017 4 Connor Cook 3,294 2014 5 Jeff Smoker 3,279 2003 6 Kirk Cousins 3,277 2011 7 Connor Cook 3,187 2015 8 Connor Cook 2,831 2013 9 Kirk Cousins 2,740 2009 10 Payton Thorne 2,721 [ 4] 2022
Touchdowns responsible for [ edit ] "Touchdowns responsible for" is the official NCAA term for combined passing and rushing touchdowns.
Michigan State's record book does not list single-game leaders in this category.
Single Game Rank Player Ints Year Opponent 1 John Miller 4 1987 Michigan
Single Game Rank Player Tackles Year Opponent 1 Dan Bass 32 1979 Ohio State 2 Don Law 28 1969 Ohio State 3 Dan Bass 24 1979 Notre Dame 4 Percy Snow 23 1989 Illinois 5 Ty Hallock 21 1992 Minnesota Shane Bullough 21 1985 Indiana Brad Van Pelt 21 1971 Notre Dame Doug Barr 21 1969 Ohio State Don Law 21 1967 Indiana
Field goal percentage [ edit ] Michigan State's most recent record book (2021) does not break down leaders over any time frame (career, single-season, game) by type of score. Some leaders' breakdowns can be extrapolated from information included in the record book, or from other sources.
These lists include touchdowns scored by each individual player, thus including rushing, receiving, and return touchdowns but not passing touchdowns. Michigan State does not break down its lists of total touchdown leaders by type of play.
^ a b "2015 Michigan State Football Media Guide" . MSUSpartans.com . Retrieved September 6, 2014 . ^ "2021 Michigan State Football Media Guide" (PDF) . Michigan State Spartans. Retrieved October 30, 2021 . ^ "NCAA changes policy on football stats" . ESPN.com . AP. August 28, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2014 . ^ a b c d e f g h i "Payton Thorne" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 22, 2021 . ^ a b c "Michigan State vs. Maryland Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024 . ^ "Youngstown State vs. Michigan State Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021 . ^ "Michigan State vs. Miami Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021 . ^ "Maryland vs. Michigan State Box Score" . ESPN.com . November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021 . ^ "Western Michigan vs. Michigan State Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022 . ^ a b c d "Kenneth Walker III" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 22, 2021 . ^ "Michigan State vs. Northwestern Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 3, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021 . ^ a b c "Box Score: Michigan vs. Michigan State" . ESPN.com . October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021 . ^ a b c d "Jayden Reed" . ESPN.com . ^ "Michigan State vs. Rutgers Box Score" . ESPN.com . October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021 . ^ "Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Record Book" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2008 . ^ "Jacub Panasiuk" . ESPN.com . ^ a b c d "Matt Coghlin" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
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