Bailey Zappe sets single-season passing records, including Joe Burrow’s

Western Kentucky senior quarterback Bailey Zappe broke the single-season passing yards and touchdowns records at the Boca Raton Bowl Saturday.

All year Western Kentucky QB Bailey Zappe lit up defenses, and today, he made sure his name will be etched in the history books, setting the single-season records for passing yards and touchdowns at the Boca Raton Bowl against Appalachian State.

The fifth-year senior signal-caller broke Texas Tech QB B.J. Symons’ record (5,833) in the second quarter. A record that had stood since 2003. Then, he tied Joe Burrow’s 2019, TD pass record before half as well, before snapping it in the third quarter. The most impressive part for Zappe, he’s accomplished that feat in just 14 games compared to Burrow’s 15.

Zappe entered the bowl game with 5,545 yards and 56 touchdowns, both leading all FBS passers. He’s still racking up numbers, as the game is in the third quarter with the Hilltoppers up, 45-24. Zappe could become the first 6,000-yard passer in NCAA history as well. With the way WKU threw the ball this year, it was clear he’d have an opportunity to break the records.

WKU averages 50.1 pass attempts per game compared to just 24.7 rush attempts per game and runs a hurry-up, all-shotgun attack that’d make air raid architect Mike Leach proud.

WKU head coach Tyson Helton and offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, who has coached Zappe for four of his seasons, showed an even further concerted effort to air it out in the first quarter. Bailey Zappe and the Hilltoppers ran 16 called pass plays to zero run plays.

That trend continued through the rest of the contest, and Zappe hit short, intermediate and deep passes with surgical accuracy, en route to a couple, massive statistical milestones.

It’s an unreal season by any standpoint, especially considering it’s his first and only season in the FBS. He put up gaudy numbers at the FCS level in his four years at Houston Baptist, before transferring this offseason.

A chance at the NFL awaits the longtime collegiate passer at the conclusion of the bowl game. Bailey Zappe boasts pinpoint accuracy, a strong arm and decent mobility to not just extend plays by stepping up in the pocket but also picking up some yards at time as well.