Record: 160-149-4, .518 W-L% (6th of 14) (Schedule and Results)
SRS: 2.81 (7th of 14) ▪ SOS: 2.15 (7th of 14)
Ranked in Preseason AP Poll: 4 (Florida State, Notre Dame, Penn State and Pittsburgh)
Ranked in Final AP Poll: 4 (Miami (FL), Penn State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia)
| Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | School | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 1 | Sam King | Nevada-Las Vegas | 255 | 433 | 58.9 | 3778 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 18 | 19 | 137.1 | 74 | -216 | -2.9 | 3 |
| 2 | Doug Flutie | Boston College | 105 | 192 | 54.7 | 1652 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 10 | 8 | 135.8 | 67 | 79 | 1.2 | 2 |
| 3 | Jim Kelly | Miami (FL) | 168 | 285 | 58.9 | 2403 | 8.4 | 7.2 | 14 | 14 | 136.2 | 72 | 5 | 0.1 | 3 |
| 4 | Dan Marino* | Pittsburgh | 226 | 380 | 59.5 | 2876 | 7.6 | 6.8 | 37 | 23 | 143.1 | 24 | -95 | -4.0 | 2 |
| 5 | Todd Blackledge | Penn State | 104 | 207 | 50.2 | 1557 | 7.5 | 5.6 | 12 | 14 | 119.0 | 45 | 19 | 0.4 | 5 |
| 6 | Steve Calabria | Colgate | 121 | 230 | 52.6 | 1620 | 7.0 | 5.3 | 11 | 14 | 115.4 | 55 | 99 | 1.8 | 1 |
| 7 | Steve Krainock | Richmond | 98 | 199 | 49.2 | 1369 | 6.9 | 6.5 | 12 | 7 | 119.9 | 53 | -39 | -0.7 | 3 |
| 8 | Gordon Beckham | South Carolina | 92 | 180 | 51.1 | 1221 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 9 | 16 | 106.8 | 83 | -159 | -1.9 | 1 |
| 9 | Danny Barrett | Cincinnati | 92 | 177 | 52.0 | 1186 | 6.7 | 5.0 | 5 | 9 | 107.4 | 89 | -4 | 0.0 | 2 |
| 10 | Steve Casey | Virginia Tech | 79 | 163 | 48.5 | 1083 | 6.6 | 4.7 | 4 | 9 | 101.3 | 71 | 76 | 1.1 | 6 |
| 11 | Tink Murphy | Temple | 128 | 245 | 52.2 | 1589 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 6 | 10 | 106.6 | 34 | -40 | -1.2 | 2 |
| 12 | Dave Warner | Syracuse | 120 | 223 | 53.8 | 1445 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 7 | 10 | 109.6 | 151 | 418 | 2.8 | 7 |
| 13 | John Holman | Louisiana-Monroe | 146 | 296 | 49.3 | 1908 | 6.4 | 5.6 | 15 | 12 | 112.1 | 26 | -14 | -0.5 | 0 |
| 14 | Bob Lane | Louisiana-Monroe | 93 | 198 | 47.0 | 1272 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 11 | 4 | 115.2 | 26 | -12 | -0.5 | 0 |
| 15 | Oliver Luck* | West Virginia | 216 | 394 | 54.8 | 2448 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 16 | 16 | 112.3 | 40 | 49 | 1.2 | 3 |
| 16 | Chris Garrity | William & Mary | 186 | 315 | 59.0 | 1966 | 6.2 | 4.4 | 13 | 19 | 113.0 | 54 | -92 | -1.7 | 2 |
| 17 | Dave Boisture | Holy Cross | 92 | 178 | 51.7 | 1101 | 6.2 | 4.1 | 2 | 9 | 97.2 | 104 | 153 | 1.5 | 6 |
| 18 | Rick Stockstill | Florida State | 122 | 238 | 51.3 | 1356 | 5.7 | 4.0 | 11 | 14 | 102.6 | 53 | -123 | -2.3 | 0 |
| 19 | Ralph Leek | Rutgers | 80 | 167 | 47.9 | 926 | 5.5 | 1.8 | 5 | 16 | 85.2 | 66 | 38 | 0.6 | 1 |