The TV Show Episode 1: Examining Trevor Vittatoe's Place in the Recordbooks

UTEP's four year starting QB Trevor Vittatoe is on the verge of smashing just about every Miner passing and total offense record and etching his name onto some very distinguished lists nationally and conference wide.  Trevor's is about to do some very special things historically, so I'm doing a two part series on his legacy.  

First, we'll examine just exactly how ridiculous Trevor's numbers are and identify what records he has broken and can break in the coming weeks.  Then, in Part 2, we'll take a look at the things he's still missing from his resume.  Let's start with some context behind his numbers.

What I find to be the most remarkable about Trevor's statistical place in UTEP, C-USA, and NCAA history is the fact that he doesn't run a gimmicky offense at UTEP.  People may see him in shotgun, at times, and assume UTEP runs a spread offense.  The Miners run the 1 back, which is the same offense Alabama runs.  When you think of Alabama with Mark Ingram and Greg McElroy, do you think spread?  That's because UTEP runs a lot of double tight end sets with TV under center.  Also, UTEP doesn't run a pass first offense. The Miners want to run the ball as much as possible and take advantage of their offensive line and weapons in the backfield (Donald Buckram, Joseph Banyard).

The Records & Ranks

Trevor could break three all-time records this Saturday alone:  Total Offense. Passing Yards, and Passing Touchdowns.  Trevor needs 260 yards of offense, 152 passing yards, and 3 touchdowns to pass Jordan Palmer in each of those categories.  Remarkable, because TV could break the first two in the first half and still have 6 (or 7) more games to put these records out of reach for years.  If his 2010 season continues at its current pace, he will destroy these records.

TV isn't running Graham Harrell's or Case Keenum's throw it 65 times a game offense. He's not breaking these records with quantity.  He's breaking them with quality.

Conference Records

Trevor is the 7th player in C-USA history to pass for over 10,000 yards Here's how Trevor ranks among C-USA's All-Time greats.

C-USA Career Passing Leaders 
Player (School) Years Yards 
1. Case Keenum (Houston) 2007-           13,586 
2. Kevin Kolb (Houston) 2003-06              12,964 
3. Chris Redman (Louisville) 1996-99     12,541 
4. Gino Guidugli (Cincinnati) 2001-04      11,453 
5. Trevor Vittatoe (UTEP) 2007-               10,933

C-USA Career TD Pass Leaders 
Player (School) Years TDs 
1. Case Keenum (Houston) 2007-        107 
2. Chase Clement (Rice) 2005-08          86

3. Trevor Vittatoe (UTEP) 2007-                  86

C-USA Career Total Offense Leaders 
Player (School) Years Yards 
1. Case Keenum (Houston) 2007-         14,448 
2. Kevin Kolb (Houston) 2003-06            13,715 
3. Chris Redman (Louisville) 1996-99   12,129 
4. Gino Guidugli (Cincinnati) 2001-04    11,661 
5. Chase Clement (Rice) 2005-08          11,526 
6. Paul Smith (Tulsa) 2005-07                 11,304 
7. Trevor Vittatoe (UTEP) 2007-             10,782

National Records

Trevor just needs 2 TD passes to tie Florida's Chris Leak, Jordan Palmer, Florida's Tim Tebow, and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford at 23rd on the All-Time NCAA list.  More, he needs only 317 passing yards to pass Oregon State's Derek Anderson for 25th on the NCAA's All-Time passing yards list.

Trevor has 86 passing touchdowns.  If he can get 14 more in UTEP's last six (or seven!) games, he will become the 12th player in NCAA history to toss for 100 touchdowns.  Here are the others:  

Graham Harrell Texas Tech 2005-08 134 
Colt Brennan Hawaii 2005-07 131 
Ty Detmer BYU 1988-91 121 
Timmy Chang Hawaii 2000-04 117 
Tim Rattay Louisiana Tech 1997-99 115 
Danny Wuerffel Florida 1993-96 114 
Colt McCoy Texas 2006-09 112 
Case Keenum Houston 2007- 107 
Dan LeFevour Central Michigan 2006-09 102 
Chase Daniel Missouri 2005-08 101 
Chad Pennington Marshall 1997-99 100

Look at those names.  How many of those teams ran the 1 back offense?  None.  These are all spread offense quarterbacks.  So, that's where Trevor stands records-wise right now.  Check back later for Part 2 which will examine what Trevor can still accomplish as Miner quarterback, numbers aside.

Thanks to UTEP Athletics For the Research.