Before the season, I projected the league's biggest playmakers at each position, and for passers, that means 3,000 yards through the air. How'd those projections pan out? Here are the guys I said would top 3,000 yards.
College football had 38 3,000-yard passers this past season, but just four came from the Big 12.
1. Geno Smith, West Virginia: Smith racked up 4,198 passing yards and made clearing 3,000 yards look easy. He was a Heisman front-runner early in the season with the Big 12's best duo of wideouts, Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin.
2. Landry Jones, Oklahoma: Jones' senior season was solid, and he was second in the Big 12 with 4,272 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Clearing 3,000 yards was going to be easy for him, and he made it look like it.
3. Seth Doege, Texas Tech: Doege also had a strong senior season, finishing second in the Big 12 with 39 touchdowns and 4,205 yards. His 16 interceptions were pretty high, but he definitely produced as expected this season.
4. Nick Florence, Baylor: Florence came out of nowhere to lead the Big 12 in total offense and in passing yards with 4,309 yards. He also threw 33 touchdowns and 13 picks, helping Baylor win eight games. Huge year from Florence. Really impressive.
5. Wes Lunt, Oklahoma State: A knee injury and a concussion kept Lunt off the field during his freshman season, and he finished with just 1,108 passing yards and really only played all of two games. He played briefly against Savannah State and was injured early against Louisiana-Lafayette and Kansas State. OSU's three quarterbacks combined for more than 4,300 passing yards, though. That counts for something, no?
6. Casey Pachall, TCU: Pachall had 948 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception in the first four games, but left the team after a DWI arrest. His replacement, Trevone Boykin, helped TCU threw for 3,075 yards this season. That counts, too, right?
No other players threw for 3,000 yards that I didn't project. Texas' David Ash came closest, with 2,699 yards. How would you grade my projections?