The Michigan State Spartans football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Michigan State Spartans football program in various categories,[ 1] [ 2] including passing , rushing , total offense , receiving , defensive stats, kicking , and scoring. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, Single season and career leaders. The Spartans represent Michigan State University in the NCAA 's Big Ten Conference .
Although Michigan State began competing in intercollegiate football in 1896,[ 1] the school's official record book considers the "modern era" to have begun in 1945. Records from before this year are often incomplete and inconsistent, and they are generally not included in these lists.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
Since 1945, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[ 3] The Spartans have played in 10 bowl games since then.
Similarly, the Spartans have played in the Big Ten Championship Game three times since it began in 2011, so players in those seasons had 14 games to accumulate statistics.
Due to COVID-19 disruptions, the NCAA ruled that the 2020 season would not be counted against any football player's athletic eligibility, giving players active in that season five years of eligibility instead of the standard four.
These lists are updated through Michigan State's game against Ohio State on November 20, 2021 .
Career
Rank
Player
Yards
Years
1
Connor Cook
9,194
2012 2013 2014 2015
2
Kirk Cousins
9,131
2008 2009 2010 2011
3
Jeff Smoker
8,932
2000 2001 2002 2003
4
Brian Lewerke
8,293
2016 2017 2018 2019
5
Drew Stanton
6,524
2003 2004 2005 2006
6
Payton Thorne
6,501[ 4]
2020 2021 2022
7
Brian Hoyer
6,159
2005 2006 2007 2008
8
Dave Yarema
5,809
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
9
Ed Smith
5,706
1976 1977 1978
10
Bill Burke
5,463
1996 1997 1998 1999
Single-Season
Rank
Player
Yards
Year
1
Jeff Smoker
3,395
2003
2
Kirk Cousins
3,316
2011
3
Payton Thorne
3,240[ 4]
2021
4
Connor Cook
3,214
2014
5
Connor Cook
3,131
2015
6
Brian Lewerke
3,079
2019
7
Drew Stanton
3,077
2005
8
Kirk Cousins
2,825
2010
9
Brian Lewerke
2,793
2017
10
Connor Cook
2,755
2013
Career
Rank
Player
Yards
Years
1
Lorenzo White
4,887
1984 1985 1986 1987
2
Javon Ringer
4,398
2005 2006 2007 2008
3
Tico Duckett
4,212
1989 1990 1991 1992
4
Blake Ezor
3,749
1986 1987 1988 1989
5
Sedrick Irvin
3,504
1996 1997 1998
6
T. J. Duckett
3,379
1999 2000 2001
7
Le'Veon Bell
3,346
2010 2011 2012
8
Jeremy Langford
2,967
2012 2013 2014
9
Duane Goulbourne
2,848
1992 1993 1994 1996
10
LJ Scott
2,771
2015 2016 2017 2018
Single-Season
Rank
Player
Yards
Year
1
Lorenzo White
2,066
1985
2
Le'Veon Bell
1,793
2012
3
Javon Ringer
1,673
2008
4
Kenneth Walker III
1,636[ 10]
2021
5
Lorenzo White
1,572
1987
6
Jeremy Langford
1,522
2014
7
Blake Ezor
1,496
1988
8
Eric Allen
1,494
1971
9
Javon Ringer
1,447
2007
10
Jeremy Langford
1,422
2013
Career
Rank
Player
Yards
Years
1
B.J. Cunningham
3,086
2008 2009 2010 2011
2
Andre Rison
2,992
1985 1986 1987 1988
3
Charles Rogers
2,821
2001 2002
4
Kirk Gibson
2,347
1975 1976 1977 1978
5
Tony Lippett
2,247
2011 2012 2013 2014
6
Courtney Hawkins
2,210
1988 1989 1990 1991
7
Aaron Burbridge
2,174
2012 2013 2014 2015
8
Plaxico Burress
2,155
1998 1999
9
Mark Dell
2,136
2007 2008 2009 2010
10
Gari Scott
2,095
1996 1997 1998 1999
Single-Season
Rank
Player
Yards
Year
1
Charles Rogers
1,470
2001
2
Charles Rogers
1,351
2002
3
B.J. Cunningham
1,306
2011
4
Devin Thomas
1,260
2007
5
Aaron Burbridge
1,258
2015
6
Tony Lippett
1,198
2014
7
Plaxico Burress
1,142
1999
8
Courtney Hawkins
1,080
1989
9
Jayden Reed
1,026[ 13]
2021
10
Plaxico Burress
1,013
1998
Receiving touchdowns [ edit ]
Total offense is the sum of passing and rushing statistics. It does not include receiving or returns.[ 15]
Total offense yards [ edit ]
Career
Rank
Player
Yards
Years
1
Connor Cook
9,403
2012 2013 2014 2015
2
Kirk Cousins
9,004
2008 2009 2010 2011
3
Jeff Smoker
8,714
2000 2001 2002 2003
4
Drew Stanton
8,036
2003 2004 2005 2006
5
Payton Thorne
6,771 [ 4]
2020 2021 2022
6
Brian Hoyer
5,930
2005 2006 2007 2008
7
Ed Smith
5,556
1976 1977 1978
8
Brian Lewerke
5,284
2016 2017 2018
9
Dave Yarema
5,269
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
10
Bill Burke
4,934
1996 1997 1998 1999
Single season
Rank
Player
Yards
Year
1
Payton Thorne
3,421 [ 4]
2021
2
Drew Stanton
3,415
2005
3
Brian Lewerke
3,352
2017
4
Connor Cook
3,294
2014
5
Jeff Smoker
3,279
2003
6
Kirk Cousins
3,277
2011
7
Connor Cook
3,187
2015
8
Connor Cook
2,831
2013
9
Kirk Cousins
2,740
2009
10
Payton Thorne
2,721 [ 4]
2022
Touchdowns responsible for [ edit ]
"Touchdowns responsible for" is the official NCAA term for combined passing and rushing touchdowns.
Michigan State's record book does not list single-game leaders in this category.
Single Game
Rank
Player
Ints
Year
Opponent
1
John Miller
4
1987
Michigan
Single Game
Rank
Player
Tackles
Year
Opponent
1
Dan Bass
32
1979
Ohio State
2
Don Law
28
1969
Ohio State
3
Dan Bass
24
1979
Notre Dame
4
Percy Snow
23
1989
Illinois
5
Ty Hallock
21
1992
Minnesota
Shane Bullough
21
1985
Indiana
Brad Van Pelt
21
1971
Notre Dame
Doug Barr
21
1969
Ohio State
Don Law
21
1967
Indiana
Field goal percentage [ edit ]
Michigan State's most recent record book (2021) does not break down leaders over any time frame (career, single-season, game) by type of score. Some leaders' breakdowns can be extrapolated from information included in the record book, or from other sources.
These lists include touchdowns scored by each individual player, thus including rushing, receiving, and return touchdowns but not passing touchdowns. Michigan State does not break down its lists of total touchdown leaders by type of play.
^ a b "2015 Michigan State Football Media Guide" . MSUSpartans.com . Retrieved September 6, 2014 .
^ "2021 Michigan State Football Media Guide" (PDF) . Michigan State Spartans. Retrieved October 30, 2021 .
^ "NCAA changes policy on football stats" . ESPN.com . AP. August 28, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2014 .
^ a b c d e f g h i "Payton Thorne" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
^ a b c "Michigan State vs. Maryland Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024 .
^ "Youngstown State vs. Michigan State Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021 .
^ "Michigan State vs. Miami Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021 .
^ "Maryland vs. Michigan State Box Score" . ESPN.com . November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021 .
^ "Western Michigan vs. Michigan State Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022 .
^ a b c d "Kenneth Walker III" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
^ "Michigan State vs. Northwestern Box Score" . ESPN.com . September 3, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021 .
^ a b c "Box Score: Michigan vs. Michigan State" . ESPN.com . October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021 .
^ a b c d "Jayden Reed" . ESPN.com .
^ "Michigan State vs. Rutgers Box Score" . ESPN.com . October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021 .
^ "Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Record Book" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2008 .
^ "Jacub Panasiuk" . ESPN.com .
^ a b c d "Matt Coghlin" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
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