15 Greatest QB/WR Duos of All Time

1981: Pittsburgh

Dan Marino and Julius Dawkins

1981 was Dan Marino’s third season at Pittsburgh, and it was without a doubt his best. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting, shredding cornerbacks and safeties like old documents. Marino’s co-conspirator in the shredding was Julius Dawkins.

In Pitt’s ninth game of the season, facing Army, Marino completed 19 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns, all of them to Dawkins.

In the game, not only did Pitt put up 48 points but Dawkins also broke the record for most touchdown receptions by a Panther receiver in the school’s history, a mark that stood until one Larry Fitzgerald vaulted over it in 2003.

The Panthers went 11-1 in 1981, losing only to a Todd Blackledge/Curt Warner-led Penn State team in the final game before the Sugar Bowl.

Marino, Dawkins, and the rest of the Panthers took their frustrations out on the poor #2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs, upending the Bulldogs and holding phenom Herschel Walker to fewer than 100 yards rushing, even though Walker did score two touchdowns.

Marino completed 26 passes for 261 yards and three touchdown, and Dawkins caught six passes for 77 yards and one touchdown. Pitt won the thriller 24-20.

With all due respect to Rod Rutherford and Larry Fitzgerald, and their incredible numbers in ’03, no Pittsburgh quarterback-receiver tandem was better than Marino and Dawkins were in 1981.