Get To Know Michigan’s Passing Touchdown Record-Holders

From career-long achievers to one-game wonders, the University of Michigan's football program has had dozens of quarterbacks file through its ranks. Let's take a look at some of the careers and performances that have risen to the top of the passing touchdown record books.

At the head of Michigan football's offensive attack from 2004 to 2007, Chad Henne ('04-'07) easily takes home this category with 87 career passing touchdowns.

Entering his freshman campaign, Henne wasn't named the starter for the season opener. Yet, due to an injury to then-starter Matt Gutierrez, Henne took the field anyway and never looked back. He remained the starting QB for the remainder of the 2004 season, eventually tying the program's single-season passing touchdown record at 25.

Entering his senior season, Henne was just two touchdowns shy of the program record, which Henne's direct predecessor, John Navarre, held at 72. Thus, Henne's 17 passing touchdowns — albeit a career low — were plenty to capture the record, which still stands today at 87. 

And it appears as though this record is safe for now, especially considering the ground-and-pound approach that the program has adopted in the 2020s. No player has even come close in the nearly two decades since Henne left Ann Arbor, with Denard Robinson and J.J. McCarthy being the closest, both tallying 49 in their careers.

Two former Michigan greats share the single-season record for passing touchdowns. Here's a closer look at each of their historic campaigns.

For Wolverine football fanatics, the year 1991 immediately brings wide receiver Desmond Howard to mind. And it's for good reason, Howard won the Heisman Trophy that year, but his signal caller and former high school teammate also had quite the season.

Coming off a 35-3 rout of Ole Miss in the Gator Bowl in his sophomore year, Elvis Grbac threw a program-record 25 touchdowns in his junior campaign, including the Rose Bowl. Of Grbac's 25 touchdown passes, 19 of them were to his right-hand man, Howard. This record-breaking season didn't end with a bow on it, however, as Michigan fell to Washington in the Rose Bowl, 34-14.

Grbac was the sole owner of this record for 13 years before Henne's aforementioned freshman season in 2004, which matched Grbac with 25 passing touchdowns. Similar to Grbac's season, Henne's came to an end in Pasadena, Calif., at the Rose Bowl. And just like 1991, it ended in a loss, this time in a heartbreaking 38-37 defeat at the hands of Texas. Grbac and Henne's record has been threatened several times, with Shea Patterson tossing 23 in 2019 and J.J. McCarthy throwing 22 in both 2022 and 2023.

In his only season with the Wolverines after transferring in from Iowa, Jake Rudock left his imprint on the record books. On Nov. 14, 2015, No. 14 Michigan took on a reeling Indiana team in Bloomington. What many predicted would be a cakewalk for the Wolverines wound up turning into a double-overtime thriller, with the Wolverines barely escaping unscathed, 48-41.

Michigan scored six touchdowns, all of them through the air, the first four of which were a result of Rudock connecting with wide receiver Jehu Chesson. In the second overtime, Rudock found receiver Amara Darboh in the end zone, ultimately resulting in the nail-biting win.

Patterson tossed five touchdowns in 2019, coincidentally also in a game against the Hoosiers, but no one else has eclipsed the four-touchdown mark.

Some records, like Henne's career passing touchdown record, seem almost untouchable, while others sit precariously on the brink of being overthrown each year. So, as the seasons begin to fly by, be on the lookout for any threats to overtake some of these records.