College Football Players That Pass and Rush with Purpose

No player type in college football is more exciting than quarterbacks who can can hurt a team through the air and on the ground.

Dual threats are part of what makes college football great, and different from the NFL game. On Saturdays, signal callers are encouraged to run and in many cases, their ability to tuck it and go can lead them to team success and Heisman glory.

Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch are two that come to mind immediately as examples. Yet, on the next level, experts frown, or are made nervous by the prospects of a QB who is just as likely to fly around as he is to let it fly.

These gifted players often have to hear talk of position changes to find a spot in the NFL. The Robert Griffin III's of the world are changing things, but the Tim Tebow's still fight to get under center.

In the 2012 college season, 10 young men pass and rush with purpose for their teams. Check them out in the following slides.

Trent Steelman - Senior - Army Black Knights

The title says players that run and throw with a purpose; Steelman's purpose as a passer in Army's offense is to manage the game. He isn't asked to put up 300 yards every Saturday. That said, he is the first Army player to have run for over 2,000 yards and passed for 2,000 yards in his career.

He has only 85 pass attempts this season, but he's been fairly efficient as a passer. He's thrown for 619 yards and he has a QB rating of 106.22.

It's clear he does the majority of his damage with his legs, though.

Steelman has galloped for 1152 yards this season and 16 touchdowns. He's averaging 101.3 yards per game, and that's why the New Jersey Star-Ledger calls him the team's version of Superman.

Don't let the modest passing numbers fool you. Steelman is a perfect fit for the Black Knights' offense.

Rutgers coach Kyle Flood and other opponents know it. Flood said:

"He's a guy who is an operator and in that offense that's what you need. He's the right person in the right system. He's a tremendous leader and he's a playmaker."

Taylor McHargue - Junior - Rice Owls

The junior from Cedar Park, Texas is the Owls' offense. His 2,582 combined passing and rushing yards is over half of the team's offense. McHargue's 611 rushing yards is second on the team, and he's accounted for 19 touchdowns.

Rice coach David Bailiff knows what he has in McHargue, per Nola.com. He said:

"He's confident in running the offense. When we do call a pass he has his ability to make plays with his feet so he can extend the play or pick up a 3rd-and-6 with a scramble."

That's for sure as McHargue has broken off 35 runs this season of 10 or more yards. He is one of college football's best dual threats.

Kain Colter - Junior - Northwestern Wildcats

I don't like the dual quarterback approach, but coach Pat Fitzgerald is trying to find a way to get Colter on the field. He is one of the team's best playmakers, and were he not sharing time with sophomore Trevor Siemian, his passing and rushing numbers would be higher.

As it is, Colter has 732 yards rushing, 694 yards passing and 16 total touchdowns. It's easy to forget that Colter is in fact a slot receiver by trade, but to put it plain, he's a football player.

Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times referred to him as "a ball of fun" and a "quarterback/tailback/wide receiver/whatever".

He has caught 16 passes this season to go with his exploits as a runner and passer.

The Wildcats will have a sticky situation on their hands next season when Colter is a senior, but for now his versatility makes him the team's most valuable weapon.

Taylor Martinez - Junior - Nebraska Cornhuskers

I'll admit, I've never been a huge fan of Martinez. He has an arm like a wet noodle, and his mechanics are horrendous. Yet, you can't ignore how much he's meant to the Cornhuskers this season.

Playing without Rex Burkhead for four of the team's nine games, Martinez has been huge. His stats haven't been great in those games, but the team is 3-1 in them.

With Martinez, that's the bottom line. David Jones of the Patriot News described the Cornhuskers' QB this way:

"Martinez is neither a grinder nor an analytical. He's straight SoCal, a stream-of-consciousness QB who plays the game as it comes, reacting to it like some gamer holding an Xbox controller, unbridled by consequence."

If that is the case, a few others need to plug into Xbox Live.

He has rushed for 792 yards and thrown for a surprising 2420 yards.

T-Mart has 21 touchdown passes and another eight on the ground. I will ease up on Martinez going forward, his methods may not be pretty, but he has earned some serious respect.

Denard Robinson - Senior - Michigan Wolverines

At the beginning of the season Robinson's name would have topped the list of dual threat quarterbacks, but this season has been a rough one for him.

He's thrown as many interceptions (9) as he has touchdowns, and overall he hasn't made the strides as a passer that many hoped he would. To top it all off, Robinson is currently injured and per Mlive.com, coach Brady Hoke hasn't said if Robinson will play on Saturday against the Cornhuskers.

Despite the lofty expectations and injury, there's no doubting his amazing ability as a playmaker. He's accounted for 2,387 yards and 15 touchdowns this season.

He may not be a Heisman candidate, but he's still a dangerous weapon.

Cody Fajardo - Sophomore - Nevada Wolf Pack

If the Wolf Pack's sophomore quarterback can stay healthy, he could be a dark horse for the Heisman trophy in 2013.

Yes, he's that good.

California Golden Bears defensive back, Marc Anthony told the Daily Californian:

"He's just as good, maybe even a little better than Kaepernick,"

That's high praise considering Colin Kaepernick threw for 3,022 yards and rushed for 1,203 yards in his senior season.

Make no mistake, Fajardo has the ability to be just as deadly. He's already thrown for 2,327 yards and run for 900 yards in eight games. He has accounted for 27 touchdowns and only thrown four interceptions.

He battled injuries as a freshman, but he's been durable this season. Keep an eye on him in the 2013 season, it could be the year he garners a good amount of national attention.

Braxton Miller - Sophomore - Ohio State Buckeyes

How good is Miller going to be as a junior? His sophomore season is already amazing and he has two games remaining.

The Buckeyes aren't eligible for postseason play, but no one can accuse Miller of slacking off. He has already accounted for 27 touchdowns this season. He reminds me a lot of Donovan McNabb minus about 10 to 15 yards of arm strength.

Bleacher Report's own Brian Leigh says:

"For lifting a school to heights it never would have seen without him, and for leading it to an undefeated record, Braxton Miller should be in serious contention for the Heisman trophy."

I must agree with him.

To put up 1,850 yards passing and 1,214 yards rushing for a team with no hopes of playing in the postseason is remarkable. It's even more notable considering he's just a sophomore that isn't even eligible for the NFL draft this spring.

Miller is an absolute beast.

Collin Klein - Senior - Kansas State Wildcats

As much as I love what Miller has done this season, Klein is my choice for the Heisman trophy right now. If the Wildcats lose in the regular season and the Buckeyes win out, then my thoughts could change.

For now it's all about Klein.

His 3,103 combined yards is comparable to Miller's totals—and superior to almost every player in the nation—but it goes deeper than that for me.

Klein's lack of errors and the competition his team has faced makes his stellar year all the more special.

As discussed by Tim Rohan of the New York Times, the Wildcats' legendary coach Bill Snyder is famous for his 16 goals for success. The ninth rule in this numerical mantra is to eliminate mistakes.

I'd say Klein has that one down pretty well.

Despite all the pressure and touches he's had, Klein has thrown only two interceptions all season. He's completed 66.7 percent of his passes and accounted for 34 touchdowns.

The Big 12 is a tougher conference than the Big 10 this season, and Klein has shined brightest of all the nation's stars.

Johnny Manziel - Freshman - Texas A&M Aggies

Manziel may be the most amazing inclusion on this list because he's only a freshman. This kid isn't just scraping by, his 4,161 total yards is second in the nation.

He's thrown for 3,047 yards and rushed for 1114 more. Becoming a 3,000/1,000 guy in his first year at College Station is an amazing accomplishment.

If that doesn't scream sophomore Heisman campaign, I don't know what does.

With two regular-season games and a postseason appearance remaining, he's only 359 yards away from breaking Cam Newton's SEC single season rushing record by a quarterback. That would mean he'd have to average 179.5 yards on the ground per game.

It's a bit higher than the 101.2 he's averaged thus far, but it isn't impossible. He plays perhaps the most exciting brand of organized football in the United States.

He has mega-star written all over him.

Johnny Football is having a historic season and the fact that he's doing it in the SEC only makes it more impressive.

Jordan Lynch - Junior - Northern Illinois

Why is Lynch here?

Because his 4,086 yards is the most total offense from any player in the nation. He has 38 total touchdowns this season. To put that in the proper perspective, Notre Dame has 29 touchdowns as a team.

Lynch isn't just running well for a quarterback. His 1,504 yards leads the nation in rushing regardless of position. Yes, that's 44 yards more than David Fluellen of Toledo and 68 more yards than Stefphon Jefferson of Nevada.

How do you even recreate what this guy is doing on a video game? I don't know, but I'm going to pop in NCAA Football 13 and try.

Lynch's teammate Jason Schepler told the Chicago Tribune:

"In the five years I have been here, I've never seen a quarterback finish like he does. He almost does a better job than some running backs I see in college. You always have to keep playing whenever you see him with the ball because you never know when he is going to go down. You just have to keep blocking."

I'd say that's a solid strategy. Something tells me Lynch is destined to be a deadly wildcat formation player in the NFL.

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