Michigan State Football: Top 10 quarterbacks in school history

Oct 3, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of Michigan State Spartans helmet during the 1st quarter of a game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

3. Dave Yarema (1982-86)

This one was a tough choice since Dave Yarema never won a Big Ten title as the starting quarterback for the Spartans. He played for Michigan State over a span of five years, appearing in 42 career games and starting all of them in his final three seasons.

As a three-year full-time starter, Yarema went just 19-16, but he did lead Michigan State to two bowl games in 1984 (Cherry Bowl) and 1985 (Hall of Fame Classic), losing to Army 10-6 and Georgia Tech 17-14, respectively.

Although there are a lot of guys on this list who have won consistently and are on here mostly because of the combination of winning and passing prowess, Yarema is here because he is near the top of basically every statistical category, in terms of passing.

Playing in the early years of George Perles, he didn’t get to see the success of the 1987 Rose Bowl victory or the three bowl wins in four years directly following his time as the starter, but he did pass for 5,809 yards (5th), 44 touchdowns (5th), 464 completions (7th) and a 60.5 percent completion rate (6th) during his time.

Being in the top 10 in basically every major statistical category deserves recognition as one of the greatest Spartan quarterbacks of all time.

Next: 2. Kirk Cousins (2008-11)