Somebody Finally Found a Way to Break Flutie’s College Passing Yardage Record

With very little fanfare, Vernie Koverde surpassed Doug Flutie’s major college career passing yardage record.

Part of the reason for the lack of attention is Koverde’s identity problem. He also goes by the name Binny Testavar.

In reality, he’s a figment of a statistics freak’s vivid imagination--a four-year combination of the passing figures of Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testaverde as starters at quarterback for the University of Miami.

Kosar passed for 5,971 yards in the 1983 and 1984 seasons at Miami before leaving with two years of eligibility remaining for the National Football League draft. Testaverde followed, and he has racked up 4,611 passing yards as a starter in 1985 and the first six games of 1986. Put them together and you get 10,582 yards, three yards better than Flutie’s Division I-A record of 10,579 set at Boston College from 1981 through 1984.

What gives this statistical creature some significance is the fact that Kosar and Testaverde arrived at Miami at the same time, in the fall of 1982. Had things worked out differently, either one could have started four seasons and made a strong run at Flutie’s record on his own.

“It just shows the type of program that we have here,” Testaverde said of the passing success of the past four seasons. “A quarterback can’t get the yards without a pro-style offense. And, of course, you need a great defense to get you the ball.”

The consummate team player, Testaverde won’t take a lot of credit for his success. But Coach Jimmy Johnson gave credit where it is due when it came to the Testaverde-Kosar success.

“First, it shows that both of them are very talented individuals,” said Johnson, who is in his third year at Miami. “Second, it shows what a great program and a great supporting cast they’ve had.”

In order to be a fair comparison to the record Flutie established in his four seasons, the 10,582-yard figure includes only statistics Testaverde and Kosar have amassed as starters. That doesn’t include 184 yards Testaverde racked up as a backup to Kosar in 1984 or the 79 yards he passed for as an emergency fill-in for the injured Jim Kelly in 1982.

Kosar was red-shirted in 1982. Testaverde was supposed to be. But when Kelly went down with an injury, Coach Howard Schnellenberger, who recruited both of them, had to play one of his two young quarterbacks.

“I chose Vinny because he was a year older and he’d had a year in prep school,” Schnellenberger, now the coach at Louisville, recalled.

The following year, he had to choose between the two again, this time in the battle for the starting spot. It was a close competition, but Schnellenberger decided to go with Kosar because he appeared to be more mentally ready to face the hostile crowd at Florida in the opener.

“They both had greatness written all over them,” Schnellenberger said. “I’m sure if either one had started for four years, they would have been as good as they have been every time out.”

Kosar, now the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, was well on his way to re-writing the college record books when he decided to turn pro. He had enough credits to graduate after three years in school.

Nobody was happier than Testaverde. He had been considering transferring to another school until Kosar tipped him of his plan.

The Hurricanes’ passing attack had no letdown under Testaverde. His 1985 passing yardage of 3,238 is second in the school record book only to Kosar’s 3,642 in a 12-game regular season in 1984.

Testaverde could pass most of Kosar’s school passing records this year, but he’s more interested in tying one mark set in Kosar’s reign--the national title after the 1983 season.

“And this team has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy,” Testaverde said of what is actually an individual award given to the top college player each season. “That’s something Bernie never accomplished.”