Having produced the last two national champions, the Big Ten is becoming the frontrunner for college football excellence. While traditionally at the forefront of running back production, the quarterback position is coming into its own, with some of the top passers in recent seasons coming from the conference.
To celebrate, we’ve compiled the best quarterback performances for every Big Ten team since our data began in 2019. To eliminate any out-of-conference anomalies, we’ve only included games between Big Ten teams and have selected the performances based on the highest grades produced by our College QB+ metric.
What Does the College QB+ Metric Measure?
College QB+ assigns a letter grade to a quarterback’s performance. We arrive at the grade by considering a quarterback’s passing and rushing performance. Certain more stable factors, like clean pocket performance and designed rushing success, are weighted more than less stable ones, like pressure performance and scrambling.
We also add a “clutch” component that gives extra weight to how quarterbacks perform in high-leverage situations. To qualify for the season leaderboard, a QB must average at least 15 plays per game (dropbacks or designed runs) while playing in at least half his team’s games that season.
To qualify for the single-game leaderboard, a quarterback must have participated in at least 15 plays that game.
Illinois: Luke Altmyer vs. Purdue (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 83.6 (B)
The Illinois Fighting Illini recorded their first double-digit win season since 2001 last fall, with the performances of quarterback Luke Altmyer one of the key reasons for their success. With no disrespect intended to Tommy DeVito or Brandon Peters, it’s no surprise that the program’s current starter is the pace-setter for the single-game grades.
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Altmyer ranks second among returning Big Ten quarterbacks for offensive dropback EPA (67.9), offensive throw EPA (107.41), and rushing EPA (11.9). Meanwhile, no other Big Ten quarterback with over 150 passing attempts had a better touchdown-to-interception ratio (3.7), and only one other returning Big Ten quarterback outperformed his 9.6 air yards per attempt in 2024.
Altmyer’s passing stat line of 2,717 yards and 22 touchdowns with 60.8% pass completion isn’t overly flashy, and he doesn’t receive the respect he deserves due to a lack of gaudy numbers. Subsequently, he doesn’t have any eye-popping single-game grades from last fall.
An 83.6 (B) grade against Purdue was his season (and career best), which didn’t even trouble the top 100 performances. Yet, his star power lies with consistency, with four 80+ graded games last fall. Seven of his career outings have been a top-30 mark in their game week. The progression from a 68.2 grade against Purdue in 2023 to a career-high against the Boilermakers in 2024 was remarkable
Indiana: Payton Ramsey vs. Penn State (2019)
College QB+ Grade: 89.4 (B+)
The Indiana Hoosiers head into the 2025 college football season off the back of the most successful campaign in the program’s history, one powered by a quarterback who finished ninth in Heisman Trophy voting after throwing for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdowns. Yet, it’s not Kurtis Rourke’s heroics that earned the team’s highest-graded single-game by our College QB+ metric.
Rourke’s performance against the UCLA Bruins in 2024 (89.0, B+) was pipped by former Hoosier Payton Ramsey, whose swashbuckling, scrambling, sensational play against the top-10 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in 2019 sets the tone.
Ramsey, who transferred to the Big Ten rival Northwestern Wildcats the season after guiding Indiana to eight wins, threw for 371 yards and completed 75.6% of his attempts in a narrow 34-27 loss in University Park. His first-quarter rushing touchdown gave the Hoosiers a narrow lead, threatening an upset, while he dragged the game close early in the fourth.
While the passing stats grab the headlines, it was Ramsey’s ground game prowess that shaped the game (and his grade), earning a 0.02 scramble EPA per attempt and a 1.07 rush EPA per attempt on three carries. He did it all against a Penn State defense that ranks as one of the top-graded units faced by a Big Ten team since 2019, according to our College DEF+ metric.
Iowa: Nate Stanley vs. Penn State (2019)
College QB+ Grade: 84.0 (B)
Playing his last season of college football in 2019, Nate Stanley just sneaks into our College QB+ database, and Iowa Hawkeyes fans will be glad he did.
It feels like there’s an annual, recurring joke about finding the former Iowa quarterback some extra eligibility. The joke is part humor but also part sheer desperation from a fan base that has been deprived of decent quarterback play since his departure.
Stanley is responsible for the highest-graded game by an Iowa quarterback regardless of opponent (84.8 vs. USC), holds three of the top five single-game grades since 2019, and six of the top 10 grades by a Hawkeye quarterback. His 84.0 (B) grade from a closely contested loss to the 10th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions set the benchmark against other Big Ten teams.
A weapon on the move, Stanley earned a 1.33 rush EPA per attempt on four designed carries against Penn State, a significant contributing factor to his grade in a game where he threw his second-most passing yards (286) of the 2019 season. He outgunned his opposite number, Sean Clifford, but couldn’t conjure up enough against a talented defense to get a win.
Maryland: Taulia Tagovailoa vs. Rutgers (2021)
College QB+ Grade: 84.7 (B)
It’s not an overstatement to say that Taulia Tagovailoa is a Maryland Terrapins football legend. The younger brother of former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has his name etched in every corner of the program’s record book while leading the Big Ten in career passing yards.
He left at the end of the 2023 season, searching for a new challenge in the transfer portal, but ultimately was denied his bid for an extra year of eligibility. He had set the program records for career passing yards (11,256), career completion percentage (67.1%), career total offense (11,473 yards), career completions (955), and career passing touchdowns (76).
In addition to those accolades, he set several single-season records for the Terrapins and owns the highest single-game grade by any Maryland quarterback since 2019 with an 84.7 (B) marker set against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in 2021.
Tagovailoa struck early and often to establish Maryland’s dominance in their Big Ten regular-season finale. After throwing two touchdowns in the opening eight minutes of action, he ended the night with 312 passing yards and four total touchdowns. He was strong in the face of pressure (0.4 pressured EPA per dropback) and earned a 1.34 clutch sum from the win.
Michigan: J.J. McCarthy vs. Michigan State (2023)
College QB+ Grade: 89.3 (B+)
While this article examines the greatest single-game performance by quarterbacks from the conference against other Big Ten teams, it’s worth examining J.J. McCarthy’s greatness for the Michigan Wolverines as he guided the program to a national championship victory at the end of an epic 2023 campaign.
Blake Corum gets much credit for the Wolverines’ success, but it’s time to give McCarthy his flowers. The five highest-graded games for a Michigan quarterback since 2019 belong to the now-Minnesota Vikings signal-caller. There have been seven different eligible passers under center in that time span, and none could penetrate McCarthy’s stranglehold on the program’s top grades.
Top 5 highest-graded games by a Michigan QB since 2019, per @PFN365 College QB+
1) J.J. McCarthy vs. ECU: 93.1 (A)
2) J.J. McCarthy vs. Michigan State: 89.3 (B+)
3) J.J. McCarthy vs. UNLV: 89.3 (B+)
4) J.J. McCarthy vs. Rutgers: 85.8 (B)
5) J.J. McCarthy vs. Penn State: 85.0 (B) pic.twitter.com/PHDYXAXD5bOliver Hodgkinson (@hodgkinsonsport) June 18, 2025
Having established that no quarterback has matched McCarthy’s dominance for the Wolverines before or since, let’s dive into his highest-graded game. He tore up East Carolina in 2023 for a 93.1 (A) grade, but his best performance against Big Ten teams came in the shutout victory over Michigan State in East Lansing. McCarthy threw for 287 yards and four scores in a 49-0 win.
The Spartans failed to get pressure on McCarthy on 73.7% of his dropbacks, and the Michigan quarterback punished them with a clean EPA per dropback of 1.24. On the few occasions he was pressured, that didn’t matter, posting a 0.98 pressured EPA per dropback, the sixth-best by a Michigan passer since 2019. A menace on “money downs,” he converted 80% of his third and fourth-down attempts.
Michigan State: Payton Thorne vs. Penn State (2021)
College QB+ Grade: 88.4 (B+)
While he has often been maligned for his play during his stints with the Auburn Tigers and Michigan State Spartans, Payton Thorne left the Big Ten team before the 2023 season, having etched his name in the program records book. He still sits fourth for passing touchdowns (49) and sixth for passing yards (6,494), pass attempts (860), and pass completions (524).
He also helped lead the program to success in the middle of a spell of mediocrity. While Kenneth Walker III takes the plaudits for the 11-2 campaign in 2021, it’s worth remembering that Thorne threw for 3,232 yards and 27 touchdowns that year while forming a formidable duo with former high school teammate and now-NFL wide receiver, Jayden Reed.
Thorne also boasts six of the top-10 single-game grades for Michigan State quarterbacks since 2019. Of those, his outing against Penn State in the regular season finale stands above the rest. Throwing for 268 yards and two scores while adding a rushing touchdown that nosed the Spartans into a lead they’d never relinquish, he led them to a first win over Penn State in three years.
Thorne’s ability to keep the chains moving under pressure against Penn State resulted in a 0.56 pressured EPA per dropback. His grade was also boosted by a 1.22 close game EPA per dropback (33rd out of all eligible games involving Big Ten teams) and a 2.19 clutch sum.
Minnesota: Tanner Morgan vs. Michigan State (2022)
College QB+ Grade: 92.2 (A-)
A ground-and-pound behemoth in the Big Ten, you’re more likely to find a 1,000-yard rusher every season than you are to find a 3,000+ yard passer for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. In fact, only one quarterback this millennium has passed the magical marker through the air. Tanner Morgan was a game-changer for the program, and his 2019 campaign broke new ground.
However, it isn’t the campaign where he threw for 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns that Morgan set his highest-graded game against Big Ten teams. In Week 4 of the 2022 season, his final year with the program, Morgan embarrassed the Michigan State defense with a consummate display, completing 88.5% of his passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns.
Morgan earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for the outing, a clinic of passing precision that resulted in the fourth-best College QB+ grade in games between Big Ten teams since 2019. He registered positive clean EPA (1.06 per dropback), end-of-half EPA (0.56 per dropback), clutch sum (1.36), and offensive rush EPA (0.15 per attempt) numbers.
Meanwhile, his overall grade was boosted by two scramble plays that earned a 2.07 EPA per attempt. Morgan was never the most spry athlete, but could create out of structure when required. His 92.2 grade was the second-best in Week 4, the 10th highest-graded game in the 2022 season, and a top-50 marker amongst all games since 2019. Pure gold from the Golden Gopher.
Nebraska: Adrian Martinez vs. Wisconsin (2021)
College QB+ Grade: 85.1 (B)
The 2021 season was already over for the Nebraska Cornhuskers when they traveled to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers for the right to host the Freedom Trophy. The first 10 games of the year had yielded just three wins, and head coach Scott Frost was on the hot seat (one that finally burned from under him early in the 2022 season).
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For most of the year, offense had been a significant issue, scoring over 30 points in just two games of the season. The defense had been sufficiently more solid, but against the Badgers’ run game, they capitulated, and even the special teams coverage was farcical, allowing Stephen Bracey to set the tone with a 91-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff.
Adrian Martinez did his best to keep up with the Wisconsin offense, throwing for the second-most single-game passing yards of his career (his most also came against the Badgers, in 2018) while adding yardage and a touchdown on the ground. He twice dragged the Cornhuskers level, but couldn’t find an answer to Braelon Allen’s game-winning score late in the fourth.
His 85.1 (B) grade ranked 12th in Week 12, and it is the only game in our database by a Nebraska quarterback that featured inside the top 100 games of the season.
Northwestern: Andrew Marty vs. Minnesota (2019)
College QB+ Grade: 88.6 (B+)
Andrew Marty came to Northwestern as a three-star quarterback out of Wyoming High School with All-State honors and a Cincinnati Hills League Offensive MVP on his resume. A talented multi-sport athlete who mixed football with baseball and a season of basketball, he was viewed as the No. 3 quarterback in Ohio and led his high school team to a 25-3 record as a captain.
Five years later, and two years without seeing the field, Marty left the Wildcats having made 132 pass attempts (completing 60.6% of them) for 857 yards and eight touchdowns, with another 317 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Fun fact: the Northwestern quarterback also caught one reception for 12 yards against Michigan State in 2020. However, he also holds the highest College QB+ grade for a Northwestern quarterback against Big Ten teams.
In a 38-22 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2019, he completed 80% of his 10 pass attempts for 95 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 52 yards and two scores. Marty converted 85.7% of his third and fourth-down conversions in the game, something no other eligible Northwestern quarterback has achieved since 2019. He is now a leasing director.
Ohio State: C.J. Stroud vs. Michigan State (2022)
College QB+ Grade: 95.1 (A+)
The Ohio State Buckeyes have had a string of exceptional college football quarterbacks, but none have had the same impact as C.J. Stroud. Across two seasons, the outstanding passer dominated Big Ten teams, twice leading the conference in passing yards, yards per attempt, and passing touchdowns while also leading the conference in completion percentage in 2021.
Subsequently, his name is plastered all over our College QB+ single-game grades. Stroud owns the top three games by a quarterback from the conference, and two of those came against other Big Ten teams. While his performance against the Toledo Rockets in 2022 is the highest-graded game in our database, his outing against Michigan State that season isn’t far behind.
Although the Spartans tried to hang around with the Buckeyes early on, Stroud put the foot on the gas in the second quarter. His 28-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. with 1:20 on the clock in the second quarter put the game well out of reach, as the Ohio State quarterback racked up 361 passing yards with six touchdowns and an 80.8% completion rate.
His contributions at the end of the first half resulted in an end-of-half EPA (3.83 per dropback) that ranks fifth among all Big Ten quarterbacks since 2019. Meanwhile, his 5.07 clutch sum ranks sixth out of over 400 qualifying games, and his 1.12 pressured EPA per dropback was a top-25 mark in the conference since 2019 (despite not being his best of the year).
Oregon: Dillon Gabriel vs. Ohio State (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 87.8 (B+)
Dillon Gabriel’s storied career, which took him across the country from the UCF Knights through the Oklahoma Sooners to Eugene and the Oregon Ducks, ultimately ended in the college football records book as the quarterback with the most passing touchdowns in the sport’s history. Along the way, he also set the highest grade for an Oregon quarterback against Big Ten teams.
As you’d expect from a quarterback of Gabriel’s talent and experience, he saved his best for the most significant moment. The October 12 matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon was billed as one of the best matchups on the 2024 schedule. It lived up to the pre-game hype and delivered more besides.
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Gabriel and Will Howard went toe-to-toe in Autzen Stadium, with two stellar defenses providing the ultimate test for both quarterbacks. Yet, at critical junctures in the contest, it was Gabriel who came forth like gold, absorbing the pressure and channeling it into touchdowns and chain-moving passes.
A touchdown late in the second quarter earned Gabriel a 1.0 end-of-half EPA, while two designed runs drew a 1.9 per attempt rush EPA. A clutch sum of 1.56 helped push the Oregon quarterback’s grade up, which was also positively impacted by Ohio State’s 94.3 College DEF+ grade. You have to be at your best to beat the best, and in the regular season, he was.
Penn State: Drew Allar vs. Washington (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 92.2 (A-)
Drew Allar enters the 2025 college football season as one of the top 25 returning quarterbacks according to our College QB+ metric, and the Penn State Nittany Lions have every chance of establishing themselves as a frontrunner among Big Ten teams with their now-veteran signal-caller leading the way. At his best, he’s an unstoppable force of accuracy and big-play ability.
Games like the 2024 beatdown of the Washington Huskies. While not a vintage season from the former Pac-12 outfit, Allar helped the Nittany Lions to demolish the Big Ten newcomer. If you’re looking at basic stats, you’re not going to find anything conference-leading or approaching a personal best. Furthermore, nothing he did against Washington puts him in the record books.
Nonetheless, showcased his ability to carve open a defense and move the chains in the biggest spots. After converting every “money down” attempt against the Huskies, Allar joined an exclusive club of just eight quarterbacks who had a 100% third or fourth-down conversion rate in a Big Ten game since 2019.
Drew Allar vs. Washington ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Rb3WujMXYx
Dylan Burd (@Dylan_Burd) November 11, 2024
One of those conversions came on a touchdown toss to Julian Fleming late in the second quarter that essentially put the game to bed, with Allar registering a 0.6 end-of-half EPA that helped fuel his 92.2 (A-) grade. The Penn State quarterback also logged a positive clean EPA (0.78 per dropback) and clutch sum (0.92), ending with the third-ranked game in the 2024 season.
Purdue: Aidan O’Connell vs. Michigan State (2021)
College QB+ Grade: 89.0 (B+)
Since Aidan O’Connell left West Lafayette as a fourth-round NFL Draft selection following the 2022 college football season, the Purdue Boilermakers haven’t had a winning season. In the two seasons since the highly-regarded quarterback said goodbye to Ross-Ade Stadium, the program has won just five total games and only beaten three Big Ten teams.
That’s how you know that a quarterback is good. Football is the ultimate team sport, but it’s no coincidence that the program’s downfall began with the inability to replace a passer who tallied over 3,000 yards and more than 20 passing touchdowns in consecutive seasons. O’Connell also dominates the Purdue single-game grades from our College QB+ metric.
O’Connell is responsible for six of the top-10 graded games by a Purdue quarterback. Furthermore, he didn’t put up gaudy numbers against out-of-conference opponents, with all but one coming against Big Ten teams and all of them from outings against Power Five opposition. His 89.0 grade against Michigan State was a top-20 (19th) performance in the 2021 season.
It was a showing made more remarkable by the fact that the Spartans were undefeated and ranked fifth in the country at the time of the game. O’Connell completed 74.1% of his passes for 536 yards and three touchdowns. He laughed in the face of pressure, with a 0.98 pressured EPA on 13 dropbacks where he was under fire. Cool. Calm. Collected. Clinical.
Rutgers: Athan Kaliakmanis vs. Maryland (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 87.1 (B+)
Athan Kaliakmanis is the most unique of things for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights; a quarterback who is the only player to make a pass attempt for the program in a single season. You have to go back to Eric Hochberg in 1984 to find the last player to be solely responsible for the program’s passing output.
It’s not quite as far, but you have to go back to 2014 and Gary Nova to find a quarterback with more passing production than Kaliakmanis achieved during the 2024 season. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that the latest Scarlet Knight quarterback has the highest-graded single-game performance since 2019.
While Rutgers ran out 31-17 winners on the road at Maryland, the fact that the game was close into the fourth quarter plays into Kaliakmanis’ favor and helped boost his grade. The Scarlet Knights held a slender four-point lead midway through the third quarter, but a 32-yard touchdown pass to Dymere Miller at the start of the fourth gave them a solid lead cushion.
Kaliakmanis had a close game EPA per dropback of 3.0, the sixth-highest by any Big Ten quarterback since 2019. He also boasted a clutch sum of 3.89, and was as impressive passing under pressure as he was in a clean pocket. He ended the year with six of the top-10 single-game grades for the Scarlet Knights, with the Maryland outing ranking in the top-50 for 2024.
UCLA: Ethan Garbers vs. Rutgers (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 88.3 (B+)
With the UCLA Bruins only joining the Big Ten from the 2024 season, and with no games scheduled against opposition from the conference from 2019-2023, there is just one season of action from which to find the highest-graded game.
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Aside from 35 attempts across three games from Justyn Martin, Ethan Garbers guided the team through its debut year in the Big Ten and first season under Deshaun Foster. He threw for 2,727 yards, completing 64.7% of his passes, with 16 touchdowns. He also led the conference in interceptions after throwing more picks than touchdowns in four of the first five games.
A midseason trip to Piscataway seemed to breathe some life into the UCLA quarterback, however. Garbers earned his highest single-game grade in a dominant performance against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights after throwing for 383 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 48 yards and another score.
He even nailed a 41-yard punt, which doesn’t count toward his grade. However, his ground-game prowess does, with a 1.57 rush EPA per attempt and 1.7 scramble EPA per attempt, contributing alongside positive EPA for both clean and pressured dropbacks. A clutch sum of 1.58 also helped push Garbers to the 25th-ranked game of the 2024 season.
USC: Miller Moss vs. Wisconsin (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 84.3 (B)
An offseason that promised much optimism over Miller Moss stepping into the breach left by Caleb Williams’ departure to the NFL turned into a quarterback controversy and some unsavoury social media shenanigans by the end of the year, amid a difficult introduction to life as one of the 18 Big Ten teams for the USC Trojans.
It concluded with Jayden Maiava winning the starting job and Moss entering the transfer portal. Still, it’s the latter who set the program’s highest-graded game in the 2024 college football season against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Although Moss gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead within the opening minutes of the game, Wisconsin rattled off two second-quarter scores to carry a 21-10 lead into the half. It was the Moss show in the second half, however, with the USC quarterback scoring the only touchdowns of the third quarter before putting the game to bed with a rushing score in the fourth.
Moss received an 84.3 (B) grade for his showing, which ranked as the seventh-best of Week 5 and finished just outside the top 100 for the 2024 season. His pressured EPA of 0.15 was one of just four positive results in that metric from a USC quarterback last fall, all of which came from the now-Louisville passer.
Bonus: Kedon Slovis vs. Iowa (2019): 90.2 (A-)
Washington: Will Rogers vs. Michigan (2024)
College QB+ Grade: 80.1 (B-)
2024 wasn’t the college football swan song that Will Rogers would have wanted in much the same way that the Washington Huskies’ introduction to the Big Ten likely wasn’t the one they expected after reaching the national championship the previous season.
The team slumped to six wins from 14 in 2023. Meanwhile, Rogers, who threw for 4,739 and 3,974 yards in successive seasons, recorded his lowest passing yardage total (2,458) of any season where he completed double-digit games. He also recorded his highest interception percentage of his career (2.3%) and lowest touchdown percentage (4.5%) since 2020.
If there’s any solace to be sought, it’s that Rogers set the highest single-game grade against Big Ten teams of any Huskies quarterback to see the field during their inaugural season in the conference. Demond Williams Jr. set the out-of-conference pace with an 83.4 graded outing against the Louisville Cardinals.
Rogers raced the team out to a 14-point cushion by midway through the second quarter. Although Michigan took the lead in the third, Washington didn’t capitulate. They regrouped, were the only team to score in the fourth quarter, and secured a much-needed 27-17 win.
Bonus: Michael Penix Jr. vs. Michigan State (2022): 82.8 (B-)
Wisconsin: Jack Coan vs. Michigan State (2019)
College QB+ Grade: 88.4 (B+)
Even with Luke Fickell’s arrival and the Tanner Mordecai experiment in 2023, the Wisconsin Badgers have historically been a run-first offense that doesn’t require the quarterback to impact the game to the same level that other Big Ten teams do.
As a result, the highest-graded game from a Wisconsin quarterback didn’t feature gaudy passing yard or touchdown totals, but rather clinical efficiency when required. In 2019, the Badgers’ offense flowed to the Rose Bowl through Jonathan Taylor, but with Jack Coan giving the offense a guiding hand.
He threw for over 300 yards with three scores against the Central Michigan Chippewas early in the year, but his highest College QB+ grade came during a 38-0 shutout win over Michigan State, where he threw for just 180 yards and a touchdown. It was also one of just three regular-season games where Taylor rushed for less than 100 yards.
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Coan achieved a career-high 85.7% completion against the Spartans. Meanwhile, he picked apart the Michigan State defense when he wasn’t under pressure, recording a 1.22 clean EPA per dropback (although he struggled against pressure). The Wisconsin quarterback’s grade received a boost due to a high College DEF+ grade for the 2019 Michigan State defense.
