most passing yards in a season by an northwestern player

C.J. Bacher has the most passing yards for Northwestern 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.

More CFB News

No. 7 Miami gains school-record 856 yards, rolls past Florida A&M 77-7

Sep 11, 2026

Polasek's rise through the ranks to Mountain West rookie North Dakota St. was launched by hard labor

Sep 11, 2026

SEC presidents and chancellors meet without voting on LSU's membership

Sep 10, 2026

Michigan has more problems than a clock controversy with No. 11 Oklahoma coming to the Big House

Sep 10, 2026

Minnesota has a rare SEC team on the schedule, putting rising star QB Drake Lindsey in the spotlight

Sep 10, 2026

Big 12 this week: Iowa State visits No. 21 Iowa, Arizona heads to BYU

Sep 10, 2026

More Northwestern Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

273

Chiles

RUSH

87

Himon

REC

104

Wilde

Team Rankings

PPG

34.0

64th

OPP PPG

18.0

79th

RUSH YDS/G

224.0

47th

PASS YDS/G

273.0

52nd

2026 Big 10 Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
8	Minnesota	0-0	1-0
9	Nebraska	0-0	1-0
10	Northwestern	0-0	1-0
11	Ohio State	0-0	1-0
12	Oregon	0-0	1-0

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
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
Sat 10/17	NW	@	MSU	1:00 PM

Last Game

South Dakota State

0 - 1

Final

Northwestern

1 - 0

Sat 5 Sep 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

653

Mensah

635

Maiava

550

Weaver

Rush Yards Leaders

280

Carter

231

Kromah

227

Sheppard

Rec Yards Leaders

330

Toney

222

Mosley

196

Duff

Pass TD Leaders

8

Mensah

7

Heintschel

6

Boley

Rush TD Leaders

5

Carter

3

Robinson

3

Anderson

Rec TD Leaders

4

Williams

4

Toney

3

Mosley

QB Rating Leaders

285.0

Hoover

281.3

Baker

272.0

Becht

Sack Leaders

3.5

Kinsler

3.0

Gilliam

3.0

Lester

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

80.0

73.0

71.0

70.0

66.0

Opp PPG Rankings

0.0

Total Yards Rankings

762.0

702.5

681.0

671.0

660.0

Rush Yards Rankings

569.0

506.0

458.0

431.0

365.0

364.0

Pass Yards Rankings

480.0

435.0

434.0

432.0

430.0

427.0

Sack Leaders

9.0

6.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Southeastern	W	PCT
1	Alabama	1	1.000
2	Arkansas	1	1.000
3	Auburn	1	1.000
4	Florida	1	1.000
5	Georgia	1	1.000
6	Kentucky	1	1.000
7	LSU	1	1.000
8	Mississippi State	1	1.000
9	Missouri	1	1.000
10	Oklahoma	1	1.000
11	Ole Miss	1	1.000
12	South Carolina	1	1.000
13	Tennessee	1	1.000
14	Texas	1	1.000
15	Texas A&M	1	1.000
16	Vanderbilt	1	1.000

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	Appalachian State	1	0	1.000
2	Louisiana	1	0	1.000
3	Georgia Southern	1	0	1.000
4	Louisiana Tech	1	0	1.000
5	Georgia State	1	0	1.000
6	South Alabama	1	0	1.000
7	James Madison	1	0	1.000
8	Southern Miss	1	0	1.000
9	Old Dominion	1	0	1.000
10	Troy	1	0	1.000
11	Coastal Carolina	0	1	.000
12	Arkansas State	0	1	.000
13	Marshall	0	1	.000
14	Louisiana-Monroe	0	1	.000

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Arizona	1	0	1.000
2	Arizona State	1	0	1.000
3	BYU	1	0	1.000
4	Cincinnati	1	0	1.000
5	Colorado	1	0	1.000
6	Houston	1	0	1.000
7	Iowa State	1	0	1.000
8	Kansas	1	0	1.000
9	Kansas State	1	0	1.000
10	Texas Tech	1	0	1.000
11	UCF	1	0	1.000
12	Utah	1	0	1.000
13	West Virginia	1	0	1.000
14	Baylor	0	1	.000
15	Oklahoma State	0	1	.000
16	TCU	0	1	.000

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Colorado State	1	0	1.000
2	San Diego State	1	0	1.000
3	Boise State	0	1	.000
4	Fresno State	0	1	.000
5	Oregon State	0	1	.000
6	Texas State	0	1	.000
7	Utah State	0	1	.000
8	Washington State	0	1	.000

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Eastern Michigan	1	1	.500
2	Buffalo	1	0	1.000
3	UMass	1	0	1.000
4	Akron	0	1	.000
5	Ball State	0	1	.000
6	Bowling Green	0	1	.000
7	Central Michigan	0	1	.000
8	Kent State	0	1	.000
9	Miami (OH)	0	1	.000
10	Ohio	0	1	.000
11	Toledo	0	1	.000
12	Western Michigan	0	1	.000
13	Sacramento State	1	1	.500

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	Memphis	2	0	1.000
2	Army	1	0	1.000
3	Navy	1	0	1.000
4	Rice	1	0	1.000
5	South Florida	1	0	1.000
6	Temple	1	0	1.000
7	Tulane	0	1	.000
8	UTSA	1	0	1.000
9	Charlotte	0	1	.000
10	East Carolina	0	1	.000
11	Florida Atlantic	0	1	.000
12	North Texas	0	1	.000
13	Tulsa	1	0	1.000
14	UAB	0	1	.000

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	2	0	1.000
2	SMU	1	0	1.000
3	Virginia	1	0	1.000
4	Duke	1	0	1.000
5	North Carolina	1	0	1.000
6	Pittsburgh	1	0	1.000
7	Syracuse	1	0	1.000
8	Virginia Tech	1	0	1.000
9	Wake Forest	1	0	1.000
10	Boston College	0	1	.000
11	California	0	1	.000
12	Clemson	0	1	.000
13	Georgia Tech	0	1	.000
14	Louisville	0	1	.000
15	Florida State	1	1	.500
16	Stanford	1	1	.500
17	NC State	0	1	.000

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	UNLV	1	1	.500
2	North Dakota State	2	0	1.000
3	Air Force	1	0	1.000
4	Nevada	1	0	1.000
5	San Jose State	1	1	.500
6	Northern Illinois	0	1	.000
7	New Mexico	1	0	1.000
8	UTEP	0	1	.000
9	Wyoming	0	1	.000
10	Hawai'i	0	2	.000

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	1	0	1.000
2	UConn	1	0	1.000

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	USC	2	0	1.000
2	Illinois	1	0	1.000
3	Indiana	1	0	1.000
4	Iowa	1	0	1.000
5	Maryland	1	0	1.000
6	Michigan	1	0	1.000
7	Michigan State	1	0	1.000
8	Minnesota	1	0	1.000
9	Nebraska	1	0	1.000
10	Northwestern	1	0	1.000
11	Ohio State	1	0	1.000
12	Oregon	1	0	1.000
13	Penn State	1	0	1.000
14	Purdue	1	0	1.000
15	UCLA	1	0	1.000
16	Washington	1	0	1.000
17	Rutgers	0	1	.000
18	Wisconsin	0	1	.000

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Delaware	1	0	1.000
2	Kennesaw State	1	0	1.000
3	Middle Tennessee	1	0	1.000
4	Jacksonville State	1	1	.500
5	New Mexico State	1	1	.500
6	Florida International	0	1	.000
7	Liberty	0	1	.000
8	Missouri State	0	1	.000
9	Sam Houston	0	1	.000
10	Western Kentucky	0	1	.000