The best single-game performances by a college football QB

Layne's Cotton Bowl effort is one of the best for any player, let alone a quarterback. Layne rushed for three touchdowns, passed for two and even caught a touchdown pass. To complete his effort, he kicked four successful extra points. He was part of all 40 of the Longhorn's points that day against Mizzou. 

Understand that in 1963, football really didn't embrace the passing game like it does today. So when Vander Kelen threw for 419 yards, it was an unbelievable feat. The Badgers trailed 42-14 in the fourth quarter when Vander Kelen's passing explosion led a furious comeback that came up just short. What made this even more significant was this was the first No. 1 vs No. 2 game in any bowl.

Montana didn't have a great statistical game by any measure, but the 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic is known as the "Chicken Soup Game" because of how he played despite having the flu during an unusually cold day in Dallas. The Irish trailed 34-12 heading into the fourth quarter when Montana (who stayed in the locker room after halftime eating chicken soup) came in to lead a furious 23-point comeback. With six seconds remaining, Montana threw an 8-yard TD pass as time expired to win the game.

Most people remember Jim McMahon as the eccentric quarterback of the 1985 Chicago Bears, but his legend truly began with the 1980 Holiday Bowl. With BYU trailing 45-25 with three minutes left in the game, McMahon led the Cougars to three TD drives, capped by a Hail Mary to Clay Brown as time expired. The ensuing extra point game gave BYU a 46-45 win. McMahon ended up with 446 yards and four TD passes.

We've all seen the play. Flutie rolls out and throws the ball as far as he can with Gerard Phelan catching it as he fell in the end zone to beat Miami as time expired. The "Hail Flutie" game was more than just that play. The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback completed 34 of 46 passes for 472 yards and four touchdowns...including one of college football's iconic plays.

Long and the Hawkeyes destroyed Texas in the Freedom Bowl, 55-14. Long threw for 461 yards and six touchdowns in the wind and rain. In the third quarter alone, he completed 12 of 14 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns to break the game open.

Ware had a lot of great moments during his Heisman season, but his effort against SMU may stick out the most. Ware threw for 517 yards and six touchdowns in the Cougars 95-21 win over the death-penalty-ravaged Mustangs. The kicker to Ware's game? He played only the first half! One half, and he put up those kind of numbers. 

Ty Detmer had one of the greatest bowl performances ever, but it came in a loss. Detmer went 42-of-59 for 576 yards, but only two of those passes went for touchdowns. He would run for two scores, but it wasn't enough to topple Blair Thomas and the Nittany Lions in the Holiday Bowl. 

David Klingler put up video game numbers during his time at Houston, including this 11-touchdown effort against Eastern Washington. Klinger threw for 572 yards and a record 11 touchdowns in the 84-21 win over the Eagles. Later that same season, Klingler would throw for 716 yards against Arizona State in Tokyo. 

Frazier completed a perfect season and back-to-back national championships with his amazing performance in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. His passing stats weren't much (just 105 yards a one touchdown), but his running was magnificent. He ran the ball 19 times for 199 yards and two touchdowns...including an amazing 75-yard jaunt in the 62-24 blowout win. 

This is one of the few performances that you can only truly appreciate by watching the game. Vick's stats weren't particularly amazing against the powerful Seminoles (225 passing yards, 97 rushing yards, two TDs), but how he galloped around the field avoiding Florida State defenders to make plays was. Down 28-7, Vick's athleticism led to a 22-0 run to actually take the lead in the Sugar Bowl. He would run out of gas, but the effort launched him into super-stardom. 

In the 2001 GMAC Bowl, both Leftwich and David Garrard played well in a good ol' fashioned shootout. Leftwich ended up tossing 70 passes in that game, completing 41 of them for 576 yards and four touchdowns — he would also rush for another score. Marshall won the game 64-61 with Leftwich's buzz launching him into a first-round pick. 

In the 2006 Insight Bowl, Minnesota shot out to a 38-7 lead midway in the third quarter. That's when Harrell and the Red Raiders got to work. Tech would score 37 of the next 40 points with Harrell tossing two touchdowns and running in another. The Red Raiders would win 44-41 in overtime, completing the biggest comeback in FBS history. Harrell threw for 445 yards and was named the game's MVP.

One of the best performances in any sport at any time was from Vince Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl, which doubled as the BCS national championship game. Young was 30-of-40 for 267 yards passing, but it was his running that captivated the country. He rushed 19 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns — including a 9-yard TD scramble on fourth down — to end USC's 34-game win streak and win Texas' first national title in over 30 years.

Before there was the butt-fumble or the failure with the Jets, Mark Sanchez was finishing up a stellar college career in the 2009 Rose Bowl. Sanchez threw for 413 yards and four TDs to topple Penn State, 38-24. Sanchez added a rushing score to boot to win the Trojans' third consecutive Rose Bowl.

Newton's lone season at Auburn netted him the Heisman Trophy and the Tigers a national championship. One of the biggest games he had that year was a 37-34 win over Kentucky. He threw for "only" 210 yards (which was actually his fifth best passing yardage game of the season), but he added 198 yards rushing and four touchdowns. He also led a 19-play drive from his own 7-yard line to set up a game-winning, 24-yard field goal as time expired.

Tim Tebow accomplished a lot in his four seasons at Florida: a Heisman Trophy, two national championships and a reputation as a fierce leader. But it was his final game that may be his finest moment. Against Cincinnati in the 2010 Sugar Bowl, Tebow completed 31 of 35 passes for 482 yards and three touchdowns. (He rushed for another TD.) He was the only person to have over 500 total yards in a BCS bowl.

West Virginia's first-ever Big 12 game was one for the record books. Geno Smith passed for 656 yards and completed 45 of his 51 passes. His six incompletions were less than the eight touchdown passes he threw in the 70-63 win over the Bears.  Five of those touchdowns went for 39 yards or more.  

At the end of Manziel's Heisman Trophy-winning freshman season, Johnny Football had one of the most unique bowl games for a quarterback. He rushed for 229 yards and two TDs to go along with his 287 passing yards and two passing TDs in the 41-13 blowout win over Oklahoma.  

Lynch set an NCAA record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback in Northern Illinois' 33-14 win over Western Michigan in 2013. Lynch ran for 321 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Lynch would set the single-season quarterback rushing record and would eventually finish third in the Heisman voting that year.

Jackson began his 2016 Heisman season with an unreal first half against Charlotte. Jackson threw for 286 yards and six passing touchdowns — to go with his 119 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns — to give the Cardinals a 56-0 halftime lead. Yes, he did all that work in one half. (He didn't play in the second half.) Jackson's feat is even more impressive since the six touchdown passes went to six different receivers. 

Mahomes put up one of the craziest statistical games in college football history in a loss to Oklahoma. Mahomes threw 88 passes (one short of the record) for 734 yards (tying the record) and five touchdowns. He did all of that and found time to rush for 85 yards and another two touchdowns. Despite his unbelievable effort, Texas Tech just couldn't get past the Sooners (especially Joe Mixon) in the 66-59 loss. Still, it's one of the greatest games a player could have.

In one of the best back-and-forth games ever, Sam Darnold put up epic numbers in the Trojans' Rose Bowl victory over Penn State. Darnold threw 453 yards and five TDs in the 52-49 win. Trailing 49-35 in the fourth quarter, he led two touchdown drives and the final drive, setting up the game-winning field goal.

It isn't just that Deshaun Watson set a championship game record 420 yards passing that makes this a memorable performance. It isn't that his final yards and the third of his touchdowns came with one second left in the game to give the Tigers the lead and ultimately the title. It was that he did all those things against an Alabama defense that started six first-round picks. (Ten of the starters would go in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft.)

Murray's defining moment in his Heisman season was one of the more efficient games you'll ever see. He completed 17 of 21 pass attempts...for 432 yards and six touchdowns! That averages out to 25.4 yards per completion and a touchdown thrown in nearly every third completion. He also rushed for a touchdown in the 66-33 blowout win over the Bears.