College Football Stat Leaders

2021 American College Football Passing Yards Per Game Leaders

Average net passing yards gained per game.

Seasons Covered

2012-2025

Current Leader

SMU (304.5)

Best Season

East Carolina 2014 (371.9)

Scope

American • 2021

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per GamePassing Yards Per GameRushing Yards Per GamePoints Per GameOffensive PPADefensive PPATurnover MarginHavoc Rate

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Passing Yards Per Game Reads

Passing yards per game highlights how aggressively a team can move the ball through the air after sacks and negative plays are accounted for, which separates explosive passing attacks from volume-only offenses. On this 2021 leaderboard, the visible range runs 304.5 to 255.5, with SMU setting the pace.

American Context

American teams have claimed 100% of the yearly titles in this filtered dataset, and Florida Atlantic is the latest winner at 340.5.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 SMU to No. 5 UTSA is 49.0, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from 328.2 in 2024 to 340.5 in 2025, a swing of 12.3. SMU's current mark of 304.5 sits below the all-time average leader benchmark of 316.8 held by North Texas.

Leaderboard

Top 12 rows for the current route scope.

1SMUAmerican Athletic Conference2021304.5
2MemphisAmerican Athletic Conference2021298.8
3HoustonAmerican Athletic Conference2021271.6
4East CarolinaAmerican Athletic Conference2021270.8
5UTSAAmerican Athletic2021255.5
6TulsaAmerican Athletic Conference2021250.3
7CincinnatiAmerican Athletic Conference2021241.2
8TulaneAmerican Athletic Conference2021221.8
9UCFAmerican Athletic Conference2021206.2
10South FloridaAmerican Athletic Conference2021192.4
11TempleAmerican Athletic Conference2021177.2
12NavyAmerican Athletic Conference202156.8

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Yearly Winners

SeasonTeamConferenceValue
2025Florida AtlanticAmerican Athletic Conference340.5
2024North TexasAmerican Athletic Conference328.2
2023MemphisAmerican Athletic Conference306.5
2022SMUAmerican Athletic Conference316.7
2021SMUAmerican Athletic Conference304.5
2020UCFAmerican Athletic Conference352.1
2019UCFAmerican Athletic Conference316.7
2018HoustonAmerican Athletic Conference295.5
2017MemphisAmerican Athletic Conference335.0
2016East CarolinaAmerican Athletic Conference334.7
2015CincinnatiAmerican Athletic Conference359.9
2014East CarolinaAmerican Athletic Conference371.9
2013SMUAmerican Athletic Conference341.4
2012UTSAAmerican Athletic231.0

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

RankTeamSeasonsAverageBest Season
1North Texas2025, 2024, 2023316.82024 (328.2)
2Louisville2013314.02013 (314.0)
3East Carolina2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014280.92014 (371.9)
4SMU2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013280.32013 (341.4)
5Memphis2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013276.12017 (335.0)
6UAB2025, 2024, 2023272.02023 (288.9)
7Houston2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013266.72022 (314.0)
8UCF2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013261.92020 (352.1)
9Cincinnati2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013256.22015 (359.9)
10Florida Atlantic2025, 2024, 2023254.92025 (340.5)
11Tulsa2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014244.72015 (333.2)
12Rutgers2013235.62013 (235.6)
13Temple2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013231.42023 (276.7)
14UTSA2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012224.02022 (300.4)
15South Florida2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013217.02025 (275.6)
16UConn2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013207.82017 (269.2)
17Charlotte2025, 2024, 2023198.62024 (224.1)
18Tulane2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014197.52025 (245.1)
19Rice2025, 2024, 2023196.42023 (252.5)
20Navy2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 201597.42025 (130.0)
21Army2025, 202480.72025 (80.8)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads the American passing yards per game leaderboard in 2021?

SMU ranks first at 304.5 in 2021.

Which American program has the best long-term passing yards per game profile?

North Texas owns the strongest all-time average at 316.8 across 3 tracked seasons in this conference scope.

How does the American race compare with the recent trend?

Florida Atlantic is the most recent yearly winner in this conference scope, so the route combines the current leaderboard with a recent trend line instead of showing only one season snapshot.