Dec 5, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) warms up before the Big Ten Conference football championship game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
We take a look at who the top quarterbacks in Michigan State football history are from No. 10 to No. 1.
Over the years, the Michigan State football program has become known as somewhat of a ‘QBU’. What this means is that the Spartans have developed so much talent at the quarterback position and sent it through to the NFL that not many other schools in college football can match that.
Just look at the success the Spartans have had at that position in recent years. Drew Stanton, Brian Hoyer, Kirk Cousins and soon-to-be Connor Cook have all made the seamless jump from college to the league.
Mark Dantonio and his staff have produced so much NFL talent since 2007 that the previous head coaching regimes don’t really match up.
So with that, we take a look at the top 10 quarterbacks in Michigan State history. Disagree with the rankings? Let us know in the comment section below.
Just missed the cut: Jimmy Raye (led MSU to 1966 national title), Earl Morrall (1955-56; All-American at MSU and even better professional QB)
10. Tony Banks (1994-95)
Dec 5, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; A helmet is raised in celebration after the Michigan State Spartans defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
As a JUCO All-American transfer, there were high hopes for Tony Banks in the green and white. Coming into the program in 1994, the Spartans were hoping for a Rose Bowl, but a couple of early losses dampened those aspirations drastically.
Banks didn’t have the most successful Michigan State career, especially based on the expectations, but the mobile quarterback proved to be more effective at the next level, passing for 15,315 yards and 77 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons in which he started 78 career games.
In his two seasons at Michigan State, though, he did put together some decent stats, passing for 4,129 yards and 20 touchdowns, both good for 11th all-time, but his 21 interceptions overshadowed his success through the air.
Banks has had one of the more successful pro careers of any former Michigan State quarterback, and that’s a big reason as to why he cracked the top 10. Jimmy Raye was almost named to the top 10 for his efforts as a national champion QB for the Spartans in the 1960s, but he just didn’t have the stats.
Next: 9. Dan Enos (1987-90)
Sep 20, 2014; Lawrence, KS, USA; Central Michigan Chippewas head coach Dan Enos on the sidelines against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Kansas won the game 24-10. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
9. Dan Enos (1987-90)
Dan Enos started the 1989 and 1990 seasons at quarterback for Michigan State after learning as the backup in 1987 and 1988. All that preparation helped him become one of the most successful quarterbacks in school history as he put together a 16-7-1 all-time record overall and 12-4 record in Big Ten play over two seasons.
Not only did he win consistently in Big Ten play, but he led the Spartans to two straight top-16 finishes in the polls and Aloha and Sun Bowl victories — Michigan State’s first-ever back-to-back bowl victories.
Before Enos became the starter in 1989, Michigan State had won just three bowl games ever — one while he was a backup as a freshman — and the program won two with him under center. That’s an impressive stat and shows that he knew how to win.
Enos didn’t have the most impressive stats during his time, but it was enough. He finished with 297 completions (13th) for 3,837 yards (13) and 13 touchdown passes. If it weren’t for his 25 interceptions, he might be a little higher on this list. He also happened to be one of the most accurate quarterbacks in school history, completing 62.1 percent of his passes (4th).
The two-year starter then became a graduate assistant for Michigan State from 1991-93 before bouncing around a bit, making it back to East Lansing as the quarterbacks coach in 2006 under John L. Smith, then the running backs coach under Mark Dantonio from 2007-09 before finally becoming a head coach at Central Michigan from 2010-14. He then took the job as Arkansas‘ offensive coordinator/QB coach in 2015.
Next: 8. Brian Hoyer (2005-08)
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)
7. Bill Burke (1996-99)
Nick Saban isn’t necessarily known as a coach who churns out solid quarterback talent as his teams are usually based around the run, but Bill Burke put together a couple of solid seasons as the starter in 1998 and 1999, even earning the team’s most improved offensive player award in his first year as the first-stringer.
In 1998, Burke passed for 2,595 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while leading the Spartans to a 6-6 overall record and finishing in sixth place in the Big Ten. His most impressive career win came in that season, too, as he led the Spartans to a 28-24 victory over the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, providing them with their only loss of the year.
Every top starting quarterback has an iconic victory, and that happened to be Burke’s. Michigan State, however, missed out on a bowl game that season.
The 1999 season was his best, however, as Michigan State finished 10-2 after a Citrus Bowl win over Florida and the Spartans finished No. 7 in the final AP and Coaches Poll. That season proved to be the last double-digit win campaign until 2010 under Mark Dantonio.
Burke finished his career with 5,463 yards (8th), 46 touchdowns (4th), 416 completions (9th) and 766 attempts (8th) all while going 16-8 as a starter.
Next: 6. Ed Smith (1976-78)
Nov 28, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of Spartan Stadium during the 1st half game of a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Penn State Nittany Lions at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
6. Ed Smith (1976-78)
Ed Smith was a little before his time as a solid gunslinging quarterback in the mid-to-late 1970s for Michigan State. He started three seasons for the Spartans and passed for 5,706 yards, which is seventh all-time, and 43 touchdowns — which is good for sixth all-time.
Not only was he solid when it came to on-paper success, but he also was a proven winner. In fact, in 1978, he led the Spartans to a share of the Big Ten title, their first since 1966.
Smith led the Big Ten in passing in 1978 with 2,226 yards and 2o touchdowns with just eight interceptions. His passing attack was so impressive during that time that he even helped lead the most prolific offense in the Big Ten as it averaged 523 yards per game — a record that stood for about 24 years.
After a solid sophomore season, passing for 1,749 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 picks, he took a step back in his junior year, passing for just 1,731 yards, 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
It wasn’t until his final season that people really started to recognize how great of a quarterback he really could be and that Big Ten title in 1978 was huge for the program that struggled to keep up with the conference’s big boys in the 1970s.
Smith ranks fifth all-time in pass attempts (789), eighth in completions (416), sixth in touchdown passes (43) and seventh in yards (5,706).
Next: 5. Jeff Smoker (2000-03)
5. Jeff Smoker (2000-03)
If you were anything like me, Jeff Smoker was the quarterback who you watched growing up in the green and white. When I used to attend football games as a kid, Smoker was throwing touchdown passes to Charles Rogers on a regular basis, and making it look easy.
However, these years of passing prowess came with little-to-no on-field success. Smoker had a huge arm, but it was overshadowed by the team’s failure on the field under Bobby Williams. It was obvious that the loss of Nick Saban was going to hurt the program for a while and Williams was just in over his head as the man in charge.
In Smoker’s four years at Michigan State, the Spartans finished an even 24-24 with a win in the Silicon Valley Classic in 2001 over Fresno State and a loss in the 2003 Alamo Bowl to Nebraska. He saw three head coaches during that time (Williams, Morris Watts and John L. Smith) but that didn’t slow down his production.
The Pennsylvania-native’s best season actually came during his senior year when he passed for 3,395 yards and 21 touchdowns. That is the best single-season passing yardage mark in MSU history and the touchdowns are good for sixth-best — he actually reached that mark twice.
Although he finished with just one career bowl win and two winning seasons, Smoker had a solid career with Michigan State. He is first all-time in pass attempts (1,150), second in completions (685), third in passing yards (8,932), third in touchdowns (61) and eighth in completion percentage (59.6%).
Next: 4. Drew Stanton (2003-06)
4. Drew Stanton (2003-06)
Unfortunately for Drew Stanton, he became the starting quarterback for Michigan State during a very dark time in the program’s history. While he was one of the most exciting dual-threats in school history, if not the most exciting, Stanton never played in a bowl game as the starter and never led Michigan State to more than five wins.
A lot of the struggle had to do with John L. Smith being the head coach and Stanton graduated in 2006 while Mark Dantonio came in 2007. Could you imagine how much success Stanton could have seen with Coach D leading the way?
Stanton was a dual-threat quarterback before dual-threats were even cool and he happened to be one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in school history. Not many other gunslingers can play on special teams as a freshman before taking the reigns under center as a sophomore.
In his first year as the starting quarterback in 2004, Stanton finished with 1,601 passing yards and eight touchdowns with six interceptions while running for another 687 yards and five scores — oh yeah, and he caught a touchdown pass on a trick play.
The 2005 season was his best, though, as he finished with 3,077 yards, 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions through the air while rushing for another 338 yards and four scores.
Stanton led MSU to its second and third-most prolific offensive seasons in terms of total yards in 2004 and 2005, respectively. He finished with 6,524 passing yards (4th), 42 touchdown passes (7th), 543 completions (4th) and a 64.2 percent completion rate which is good for best all-time at MSU.
Also, as a dual-threat, Stanton finished with the most combined passing and rushing yards and a single season at Michigan State in 2005.
Next: 3. Dave Yarema (1982-86)
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)
2. Kirk Cousins (2008-11)
It it weren’t for the past couple of seasons under Connor Cook, Kirk Cousins would likely still be the No. 1 quarterback in school history. It’s hard to believe that Cousins wasn’t even the clear-cut starter for the Spartans when he took over in 2009 since he was battling it out with Keith Nichol for the No. 1 QB duties.
Nicole eventually moved to receiver, where he did very well for himself, while Cousins became one of the most prolific passers in Michigan State history.
In 2009, the uncertainty was running rampant as the Spartans had just lost to Central Michigan early in the season and it looked like Dantonio’s third year as head coach was going to lead to his demise. I distinctly remember having friends text me and ask how much longer Coach D had before he would be fired, and I remember responding with ‘just trust him’.
Cousins was named the full-time starter and led the Spartans to a 6-7 record after an Alamo Bowl loss to Texas Tech — that proved to be Dantonio’s only season in which he finished under .500 at Michigan State.
How would Cousins respond to a poor record in his first year? Well, he came out slinging it as a junior, passing for 2,825 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions — a 200-yard improvement from the year before. It may not have seemed like a breakout year, but MSU went from 6-7 in 2009 to 11-2 in 2010 with a 49-7 Capital One Bowl loss to Alabama.
Already proving himself, Cousins had an even better senior year, passing for 3,316 yards and 25 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, leading Michigan State to its second straight 11-win season and an overtime Outback Bowl win over Georgia — Dantonio’s first bowl win in five tries.
Cousins finished his career with a 28-12 overall record. He’s also first in passing yards for now (9,131), first in completions (723), second in touchdown passes (66), first in passer efficiency rating (146.1) and second in career completion percentage (64.1%).
Next: 1. Connor Cook (2012-15)
Dec 5, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) looks to pass during the first quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
1. Connor Cook (2012-15)
Who would have though that Connor Cook, a former 2nd/3rd string quarterback, would be the best all-time quarterback in Michigan State history? Not me. Heck, three years ago when Andrew Maxwell started the 2013 season as the No. 1 guy, it seemed like quarterback play for the Spartans would go through a dark period.
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However, Cook rose to the occasion and is now 34-4 all-time as a starter for Michigan State. Besides being the winningest quarterback of all-time, he also leads the Spartans with 71 career touchdown passes and he is 148 yards away from being No. 1 in school history in terms of passing yards — he has 8,984 yards and Kirk Cousins finished with 9,131 yards.
Cook might be the most clutch quarterback in Michigan State history and the fact that he can protect the ball better than anyone in the Big Ten is also a plus. In fact, during his three years as a starter, Cook has thrown just 20 interceptions in 1,130 attempts. He doesn’t even touch the top-10 interception totals in school history despite having the second-most attempts.
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How much of a winner is he? Well, he’s had more success than any quarterback in school history, winning two Big Ten title games, a Rose Bowl, a Cotton Bowl and he now has a chance to lead Michigan State to a national title after the 2015 season as the Spartans are currently in the second-annual College Football Playoff.
Yeah, he’s deserving of this No. 1 ranking.