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Penn State Football: Updated top five all-time quarterbacks

By Collin Wieder

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - JANUARY 3: Quarterback Michael Robinson #12 of the Penn State Nittany Lions looks to pass during the 72nd Fed Ex Orange Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles at Dolphins Stadium on January 3, 2005 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Penn State defeated Florida State 26-23 in triple overtime. (Photo by: Doug Benc/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - JANUARY 3: Quarterback Michael Robinson #12 of the Penn State Nittany Lions looks to pass during the 72nd Fed Ex Orange Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles at Dolphins Stadium on January 3, 2005 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Penn State defeated Florida State 26-23 in triple overtime. (Photo by: Doug Benc/Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – NOVEMBER 19: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions holds his team back as they prepare to take the field against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium on November 19, 2016 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ – NOVEMBER 19: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions holds his team back as they prepare to take the field against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium on November 19, 2016 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

2. Todd Blackledge

Most Penn State football fans hear Todd Blackledge and think national champion. It’s a good thing to be synonymous with, but it’s also not his entire career story. Quarterbacks during his era didn’t typically put up big numbers or throw for more touchdowns than interceptions. Blackledge did.

During the 1982 season he managed to provide fairly impressive numbers throwing for 2,218 yards, 22 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. When it mattered most, Blackledge shined his brightest.

In the 1983 Sugar Bowl against the Herschel Walker-led Georgia Bulldogs, he threw for 223 yards and one touchdown putting a clean zero in the interception column. His strong performance held off the previously undefeated, No. 1 Bulldogs for an 11-1 season and the school’s first unanimous national championship.

Another measurable for the Penn State football great that gets undervalued is his year-to-year improvement. He improved his TD-to-INT ratio dramatically every year and increased his completion percentage by seven percent from his sophomore year to his senior season. He deserves more credit for year-to-year jump, because the Nittany Lions wouldn’t have brought the trophy home otherwise.

Blackledge would take the top spot on this list, but there’s one quarterback that produced at a top-tier level ahead of him.

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