College football: 30 best college quarterbacks of all-time

30 best college football quarterbacks of all-time: 27. Philip Rivers, North Carolina State football

Career stats:

• 13,484 passing yards
• 95 TDS
• 34 INTs
• 63.6 completion percentage

Under normal circumstances, rookies have a hard time in their first year playing on the college level. Yet, for quarterback Philip Rivers, he had little to no trouble taking care of business from the very beginning.

His 3,054 passing yards and 25 touchdowns were something to remember in his rookie year. Rivers and his funky delivery lit the college football world on fire. His team would go on to finish 8-4 that year, not the most impressive of marks but he did lead North Carolina State to a win in the MicronPC Bowl.

Rivers numbers would dip in his sophomore year, throwing for only 2,586 yards and 16 touchdowns but just when defensive coordinators thought they had him figured out, Rivers flipped the script on them in year three. His 3,353 yards were his best yet. Ironically enough, as he won the first nine games of that season, it also represented the best start in team history. Any lingering doubts of whether or not Rivers was a stud was quickly put to bed with a senior year for the ages.

Rivers carved up defenses for 4,491 yards and 34 touchdowns. Interceptions for him that season was a rarity as he only had seven. It felt as though every pass Rivers threw was on the money. Considering he completed 72% of those throws, it’s easy to see why.

With over 13,000 passing yards for Rivers, he had a stellar career but the lack of team success at the highest level pushed him out of the Heisman Trophy discussion and further down this list.