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15 Greatest QB/WR Duos of All Time

By Nicholas Valdez

Aug 8, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; Fred Biletnikoff during the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 8, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; Fred Biletnikoff during the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Quarterbacks and wide receivers are key to a team’s success, so here are the 15 most impressive QB/WR duos that we’ve ever seen in college football.

According to Bob Boyles and Paul Guido, the first overhand, spiraled, completed and legal forward pass happened on September 5, 1906 in a game between St. Louis University and Carroll College.

After several players had lost their lives during the 1905 season, the rule-makers of what would become the NCAA instituted the forward pass to open up the game and make it safer.

Following an incompletion on his first attempt, St. Louis University’s Brad Robinson threw to Jack Schneider for a touchdown in the second half, and the game of football was transformed forever. St. Louis University went on to win the game, 22-0, and then went 11-0 on the season, outscoring opponents 407-11.

Many rules, however, restricted the value of the forward pass in the early days. For example, if a pass hit the ground without being touched, it would be an automatic turnover, and if a pass was dropped by the receiver, it was a loose ball. Also, a defender was allowed to hit the receiver before he caught the ball. For more on this, if you’re interested, you should check out Tom Perrin’s Football: A College History.

Because passing under such conditions was so difficult, the run dominated college football for decades.

Then came figures like Dixie Howell and Don Hutson at Alabama, and Sammy Baugh and Davey O’Brien at Texas Christian in the 1930s. In an era that continued to be dominated by the running attack, Howell, a halfback, and Hutson, an end, invented newly-designed passing routes and began building systems into the passing game. Soon after, Baugh and O’Brien arranged the coordinates of the quarterback position, both throwing for over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns in their respective single seasons.

Thus the era of passing grew into its adolescence.

My list begins in the 1960s when the passing game and quarterback/wide receiver combos advance in college football. While there are multiple great duos from several of the teams represented in this list, I gave myself two parameters: 1. choose only one duo per school, and 2. highlight that duo’s best season.

What follows is a chronological list of the 15 greatest QB/WR duos of all time.

Let the arguments, disputations and disagreements commence.

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