most passing yards in a season by an northwestern player

C.J. Bacher has the most passing yards by a Northwestern player in a season, with 3,656 yards in 2007.

	NAME	YDS	SEASON	TM	GP	CMP	ATT	PCT	AVG	YDS/G	TD	INT	RTG	TD%	INT%	SCK	SCKY
1	C.J. Bacher	3,656	2007	NW	12	318	521	61.0	7.0	304.7	19	19	124.7	3.6	3.6
2	Brett Basanez B. Basanez	3,622	2005	NW	12	314	497	63.2	7.3	301.8	21	8	135.1	4.2	1.6
3	Mike Kafka M. Kafka	3,430	2009	NW	13	319	492	64.8	7.0	263.8	16	12	129.3	3.3	2.4
4	Clayton Thorson C. Thorson	3,183	2018	NW	14	299	489	61.1	6.5	227.4	17	15	121.2	3.5	3.1	35	258
5	Clayton Thorson C. Thorson	3,182	2016	NW	13	280	478	58.6	6.7	244.8	22	9	125.9	4.6	1.9	38	207
6	Clayton Thorson C. Thorson	2,844	2017	NW	13	262	434	60.4	6.6	218.8	15	12	121.3	3.5	2.8	30	209
7	Brett Basanez B. Basanez	2,838	2004	NW	12	247	460	53.7	6.2	236.5	12	9	110.2	2.6	2.0
8	Sandy Schwab S. Schwab	2,735	1982	NW	11	234	416	56.3	6.6	248.6	14	20	113.0	3.4	4.8
9	Zak Kustok Z. Kustok	2,692	2001	NW	11	231	404	57.2	6.7	244.7	20	10	124.5	5.0	2.5
10	Dan Persa D. Persa	2,581	2010	NW	10	222	302	73.5	8.5	258.1	15	4	159.0	5.0	1.3
11	C.J. Bacher	2,432	2008	NW	11	245	408	60.0	6.0	221.1	17	15	116.5	4.2	3.7
12	Steve Schnur S. Schnur	2,404	1996	NW	11	196	323	60.7	7.4	218.5	15	11	131.7	4.6	3.4
13	Preston Stone P. Stone	2,400	2025	NW	13	222	370	60.0	6.5	184.6	17	12	123.2	4.6	3.2	17	132
14	Dan Persa D. Persa	2,376	2011	NW	10	218	297	73.4	8.0	237.6	17	7	154.8	5.7	2.4
15	Zak Kustok Z. Kustok	2,251	2000	NW	11	191	328	58.2	6.9	204.6	18	7	129.7	5.5	2.1
16	Tim O'Brien T. O'Brien	2,218	1989	NW	11	207	334	62.0	6.6	201.6	14	15	122.6	4.2	4.5
17	Trevor Siemian T. Siemian	2,214	2014	NW	11	228	392	58.2	5.6	201.3	7	11	105.9	1.8	2.8	31	261
18	Brett Basanez B. Basanez	2,204	2002	NW	10	190	325	58.5	6.8	220.4	7	7	118.2	2.2	2.2
19	Gavin Hoffman G. Hoffman	2,199	1998	NW	12	176	323	54.5	6.8	183.3	13	14	116.3	4.0	4.3
20	Mike Greenfield M. Greenfield	2,152	1985	NW	11	199	335	59.4	6.4	195.6	5	12	111.1	1.5	3.6
21	Trevor Siemian T. Siemian	2,149	2013	NW	12	178	298	59.7	7.2	179.1	11	9	126.4	3.7	3.0	19	111
22	Len Williams L. Williams	2,110	1992	NW	11	181	286	63.3	7.4	191.8	11	9	131.7	3.8	3.1
23	Len Williams L. Williams	2,047	1993	NW	10	182	316	57.6	6.5	204.7	11	13	115.3	3.5	4.1
24	Brett Basanez B. Basanez	1,916	2003	NW	13	162	302	53.6	6.3	147.4	4	12	103.4	1.3	4.0
25	Tim Hughes T. Hughes	1,862	1997	NW	12	142	270	52.6	6.9	155.2	11	6	119.5	4.1	2.2

Unlock 2x data

StatMuse has season-level data for passing yards going back to the 1956 season.

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More Northwestern Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

2,400

Stone

RUSH

941

Komolafe

REC

880

Wilde

Team Rankings

PPG

22.5

114th

OPP PPG

20.9

36th

RUSH YDS/G

167.1

66th

PASS YDS/G

181.8

138th

2025 Big 10 Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
9	Washington	5-4	9-4
10	Nebraska	4-5	7-6
11	Northwestern	4-5	7-6
12	Penn State	3-6	7-6
13	UCLA	3-6	3-9

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Sat 9/5	SDST	@	NW	8:00 PM
Sat 9/19	COLO	@	NW	7:30 PM
Fri 9/25	NW	@	IND	8:00 PM
Fri 10/2	PSU	@	NW	8:00 PM
Sat 10/10	BALL	@	NW	1:00 PM

Last Game

Central Michigan

0 - 1

Final

Northwestern

1 - 0

Fri 26 Dec 2025

CFB 2025 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

4,379

Mestemaker

3,973

Mensah

3,937

Chambliss

Rush Yards Leaders

1,659

Cook

1,649

Hardy

1,567

Lacy

Rec Yards Leaders

1,291

Scudero

1,278

Bell

1,264

Young

Pass TD Leaders

41

Mendoza

34

Mensah

34

Mestemaker

Rush TD Leaders

25

Hawkins

24

Lacy

18

Hellums

Rec TD Leaders

15

Sarratt

14

Brown

13

Cooper

QB Rating Leaders

182.9

Mendoza

177.5

Sayin

170.4

Pavia

Sack Leaders

14.5

Bailey

14.5

Tucker

12.5

Smith

CFB 2025 Rankings

PPG Rankings

45.1

42.0

41.6

41.3

40.5

39.8

Opp PPG Rankings

9.3

11.7

11.8

13.3

14.8

15.4

Total Yards Rankings

512.4

489.7

488.7

482.9

472.8

472.1

Rush Yards Rankings

285.6

266.3

261.4

254.9

246.8

241.5

Pass Yards Rankings

340.2

318.0

313.3

309.6

296.0

292.8

Sack Leaders

50.0

46.0

45.0

43.0

41.0

CFB 2025 Standings

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Duke	9	5	.643
2	Virginia	11	3	.786
3	Miami	13	2	.867
4	Pittsburgh	8	5	.615
5	SMU	9	4	.692
6	Georgia Tech	9	4	.692
7	California	7	6	.538
8	Clemson	7	6	.538
9	NC State	8	5	.615
10	Louisville	9	4	.692
11	Wake Forest	9	4	.692
12	Stanford	4	8	.333
13	Florida State	5	7	.417
14	North Carolina	4	8	.333
15	Virginia Tech	3	9	.250
16	Boston College	2	10	.167
17	Syracuse	3	9	.250

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	12	2	.857
2	Alabama	11	4	.733
3	Ole Miss	13	2	.867
4	Texas A&M	11	2	.846
5	Texas	10	3	.769
6	Oklahoma	10	3	.769
7	Vanderbilt	10	3	.769
8	Missouri	8	5	.615
9	Tennessee	8	5	.615
10	LSU	7	6	.538
11	Kentucky	5	7	.417
12	Florida	4	8	.333
13	Auburn	5	7	.417
14	Mississippi State	5	8	.385
15	South Carolina	4	8	.333
16	Arkansas	2	10	.167

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	Indiana	15	0	1.000
2	Ohio State	12	2	.857
3	Oregon	13	2	.867
4	Michigan	9	4	.692
5	USC	9	4	.692
6	Iowa	9	4	.692
7	Illinois	9	4	.692
8	Minnesota	8	5	.615
9	Washington	9	4	.692
10	Nebraska	7	6	.538
11	Northwestern	7	6	.538
12	Penn State	7	6	.538
13	UCLA	3	9	.250
14	Rutgers	5	7	.417
15	Wisconsin	4	8	.333
16	Maryland	4	8	.333
17	Michigan State	4	8	.333
18	Purdue	2	10	.167

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	UNLV	10	4	.714
2	New Mexico	9	4	.692
3	San Diego State	9	4	.692
4	Boise State	9	5	.643
5	Fresno State	9	4	.692
6	Hawaii	9	4	.692
7	Utah State	6	7	.462
8	Air Force	4	8	.333
9	Wyoming	4	8	.333
10	Nevada	3	9	.250
11	San José State	3	9	.250
12	Colorado State	2	10	.167

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	North Texas	12	2	.857
2	Tulane	11	3	.786
3	Navy	11	2	.846
4	South Florida	9	4	.692
5	East Carolina	9	4	.692
6	Memphis	8	5	.615
7	Army	7	6	.538
8	UTSA	7	6	.538
9	Temple	5	7	.417
10	Florida Atlantic	4	8	.333
11	Rice	5	8	.385
12	UAB	4	8	.333
13	Tulsa	4	8	.333
14	Charlotte	1	11	.083

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	10	2	.833
2	UConn	9	4	.692

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Texas Tech	12	2	.857
2	BYU	12	2	.857
3	Utah	11	2	.846
4	Houston	10	3	.769
5	Arizona	9	4	.692
6	Arizona State	8	5	.615
7	Iowa State	8	4	.667
8	Kansas State	6	6	.500
9	TCU	9	4	.692
10	Cincinnati	7	6	.538
11	Baylor	5	7	.417
12	Kansas	5	7	.417
13	UCF	5	7	.417
14	West Virginia	4	8	.333
15	Colorado	3	9	.250
16	Oklahoma State	1	11	.083

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Washington State	7	6	.538
2	Oregon State	2	10	.167

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Western Michigan	10	4	.714
2	Miami (OH)	7	7	.500
3	Ohio	9	4	.692
4	Toledo	8	5	.615
5	Central Michigan	7	6	.538
6	Akron	5	7	.417
7	Buffalo	5	7	.417
8	Kent State	5	7	.417
9	Eastern Michigan	4	8	.333
10	Ball State	4	8	.333
11	Bowling Green	4	8	.333
12	Northern Illinois	3	9	.250
13	UMass	0	12	.000

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	JMU	12	2	.857
2	Troy	8	6	.571
3	Old Dominion	10	3	.769
4	Southern Miss	7	6	.538
5	Coastal Carolina	6	7	.462
6	Louisiana	6	7	.462
7	Georgia Southern	7	6	.538
8	Arkansas State	7	6	.538
9	Marshall	5	7	.417
10	Texas State	7	6	.538
11	Appalachian State	5	8	.385
12	South Alabama	4	8	.333
13	Georgia State	1	11	.083
14	Louisiana-Monroe	3	9	.250

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Kennesaw State	10	4	.714
2	Jacksonville State	9	5	.643
3	Western Kentucky	9	4	.692
4	Louisiana Tech	8	5	.615
5	Missouri State	7	6	.538
6	FIU	7	6	.538
7	Delaware	7	6	.538
8	Liberty	4	8	.333
9	Middle Tennessee	3	9	.250
10	New Mexico State	4	8	.333
11	UTEP	2	10	.167
12	Sam Houston	2	10	.167