BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — College football’s leading passer in 2020 is coming to The Hill.
WKU Football has announced the signing of quarterback Bailey Zappe (pronounced ZAP-ee), a transfer from Houston Baptist. Zappe joins three other recent Huskies-turned-Hilltoppers in offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zach Kittley, as well as star wide receivers Jerreth Sterns and Josh Sterns.
In an abridged 2020 season, the success of HBU’s Air Raid passing offense made headlines throughout the country. In only four games, the Victoria, Texas, native completed 141-of-215 passes (65.6%) for 1,833 yards, with 15 touchdowns and one interception. At 458.3 yards per game, Zappe’s average ranks 83.3 yards above the leading FBS passer (Kyle Trask of Florida – 375 yards per game) in 2020.
Zappe and the Huskies put up 480 pass yards and three scores at North Texas, 406 and five scores at LA Tech, and 380 and three scores at Eastern Kentucky, but the most notable performance was against Big 12 opponent Texas Tech.
In Lubbock, Texas, against the Red Raiders, Zappe completed 30-of-49 passes for 567 yards with four touchdowns, as HBU dropped a 35-33 heartbreaker even though they entered the game as 40-point underdogs. The 567 pass yards were the most ever for an FCS player against an FBS defense.
Zappe eclipsed the 10,000-yard mark for his career with a 12-yard pass to ice a season-ending win for the Huskies at Eastern Kentucky. With 10,004 yards, he leads all active FCS quarterbacks and ranks behind only three FBS quarterbacks: Shane Buechele of SMU [11,660], Sam Ehlinger of Texas [11,276] and Brady White of Memphis [10,949].
For his career at HBU, Zappe completed 900-of-1,477 passes (60.9%) for 10,004 yards, with 78 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. With Kittley as offensive coordinator over the past three seasons, the quarterback has a 61.9% completion rate and averaged 313.2 yards per game, with 73 touchdowns and 29 interceptions.
In 2019, Zappe started all 12 games, completing 357-of-560 passes (63.8%) for 3,811, with an FCS-best 35 touchdowns compared to 15 interceptions. He was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which recognizes the most outstanding offensive player in FCS.
Zappe started all 11 games for HBU in 2018 and 9-of-11 contests as a true freshman in 2017. He earned Southland Conference Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll each of his first three years while studying sports medicine at HBU. The 21-year old was born on April 26, 1999, and graduated from Victoria East High School in 2017.
He joins seven others so far in WKU’s 2021 signing class, including the previously-mentioned Sterns brothers, running back Adam Cofield, cornerback Miguel Edwards, linebacker Matthew Flint, tight end River Helms and quarterback Chance McDonald.
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