Jim McMahon had the most passing yards in 1980, with 4,571 yards.

	NAME	YDS	SEASON	TM	GP	CMP	ATT	PCT	AVG	YDS/G	TD	INT	RTG	TD%	INT%
1	Jim McMahon J. McMahon	4,571	1980	BYU	12	284	445	63.8	10.3	380.9	47	18	176.9	10.6	4.0
2	Dave Wilson D. Wilson	3,154	1980	ILL	11	245	463	52.9	6.8	286.7	19	15	117.2	4.1	3.2
3	Mark Herrmann M. Herrmann	2,923	1980	PUR	11	220	340	64.7	8.6	265.7	19	17	145.4	5.6	5.0
4	John Elway J. Elway	2,889	1980	STAN	11	248	379	65.4	7.6	262.6	27	11	147.2	7.1	2.9
5	Jay Venuto J. Venuto	2,624	1980	WAKE	11	214	413	51.8	6.4	238.5	21	15	114.7	5.1	3.6
6	Steve Fairchild S. Fairchild	2,578	1980	CSU	11	200	392	51.0	6.6	234.4	15	17	110.2	3.8	4.3
7	Steve Brown S. Brown	2,537	1980	APP	11	175	352	49.7	7.2	230.6	13	15	113.9	3.7	4.3
8	Ricky Hardin R. Hardin	2,458	1980	UTAH	11	179	290	61.7	8.5	223.5	15	19	136.9	5.2	6.6
9	John Holman J. Holman	2,444	1980	ULM	11	187	350	53.4	7.0	222.2	15	20	114.8	4.3	5.7
10	Bob Gagliano B. Gagliano	2,365	1980	USU	11	184	345	53.3	6.9	215.0	20	15	121.4	5.8	4.3
11	Tom Flick T. Flick	2,178	1980	WASH	11	168	280	60.0	7.8	198.0	15	11	135.2	5.4	3.9
12	Rick Casko R. Casko	2,154	1980	DRKE	11	147	275	53.5	7.8	195.8	16	13	129.0	5.8	4.7
13	Ben Bennett B. Bennett	2,050	1980	DUKE	11	174	330	52.7	6.2	186.4	11	25	100.8	3.3	7.6
14	Nickie Hall N. Hall	2,039	1980	TULN	11	159	322	49.4	6.3	185.4	21	17	113.5	6.5	5.3
15	Rich Campbell R. Campbell	2,026	1980	CAL	11	193	273	70.7	7.4	184.2	6	11	132.2	2.2	4.0
16	Mike Pagel M. Pagel	2,025	1980	ASU	11	184	334	55.1	6.1	184.1	17	9	117.4	5.1	2.7
17	Kevin Starkey K. Starkey	1,955	1980	LBS	11	138	248	55.6	7.9	177.7	19	16	134.2	7.7	6.5
18	Matt Dunigan M. Dunigan	1,939	1980	LT	11	149	313	47.6	6.2	176.3	9	13	100.8	2.9	4.2
19	Mark O'Connell M. O'Connell	1,921	1980	BALL	11	175	295	59.3	6.5	174.6	13	10	121.8	4.4	3.4
20	John Fourcade J. Fourcade	1,897	1980	MISS	11	157	286	54.9	6.6	172.5	13	20	111.6	4.5	7.0
21	Grayson Rogers G. Rogers	1,881	1980		12	153	301	50.8	6.2	156.8	9	13	104.6	3.0	4.3
22	Oliver Luck O. Luck	1,874	1980	WVU	12	135	254	53.1	7.4	156.2	19	12	130.4	7.5	4.7
23	Steve Stamp S. Stamp	1,830	1980	TCU	11	127	247	51.4	7.4	166.4	14	17	118.6	5.7	6.9
24	Steve Woods S. Woods	1,827	1980	CHAT	11	100	194	51.5	9.4	166.1	17	13	146.2	8.8	6.7
25	Mike Kerrigan M. Kerrigan	1,816	1980	NW	11	173	337	51.3	5.4	165.1	12	17	98.3	3.6	5.0