Michigan State Football: Top 10 quarterbacks in school history
8. Brian Hoyer (2005-08)
Brian Hoyer is a lucky man. Had the former Michigan State star quarterback played under John L. Smith, he might not have a spot as a starter on an NFL team right now. Currently, he starts at quarterback for the Houston Texans and has over 6,700 career passing yards and 37 touchdowns.
Learning under Dantonio’s regime, Hoyer found out how to be an accurate and effective quarterback without doing too much. Drew Stanton had the luxury of being able to tuck and run with the ball right before Dantonio took over in 2007, but Hoyer didn’t have the speed or athleticism to play the same type of quarterback as his predecessor.
In two seasons as the starter for Michigan State, Hoyer finished with a 16-10 overall record and led Michigan State to its first consecutive bowl games since Dan Enos did so back in 1989-90.
Hoyer’s best season was in 2007 when he led the Spartans to a 7-6 record by passing for 2,725 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, completing 59.3 percent of his passes along the way. The bulk of the offensive production in 2008 was on running back Javon Ringer who finished with over 1,800 yards on the ground; Hoyer threw for 2,404 yards, nine touchdowns and nine picks for the 9-4 Spartans.
Brian Hoyer really got the ‘QBU’ started in Mark Dantonio’s first year and he might be the school’s most successful NFL quarterback right now.
Next: 7. Bill Burke (1996-99)