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Top 2000 games by a college football QB, 2009-12

Justin K. Aller

Using College Football Reference's play index, I analyzed the top 2000 games by quarterbacks from 2009 to 2012* in terms of passing yards. The minimum number of passing yards required to appear on this list turned out to be 250. With this massive list, I thought it would be fun to look at a few extreme performances and then take a look at some bests for each team.

*The play index, which is incredible, does not yet include 2013 stats.

First, let's look at the top 25 games in a few categories:

Passing Yards
(2000 game average: 321.7)

Rk QB Team Opponent Date Yds
1 Geno Smith West Virginia Baylor (W) 9/29/12 656
2 Nick Florence Baylor West Virginia (L) 9/29/12 581
3 David Piland Houston Louisiana Tech (L) 9/8/12 580
4 Stephen Morris Miami (FL) North Carolina State (W) 9/29/12 566
5 Bryant Moniz Hawaii San Jose State (W) 11/20/10 560
6 Case Keenum Houston Southern Mississippi (W) 10/31/09 559
7 Landry Jones Oklahoma West Virginia (W) 11/17/12 554
8 Alex Carder Western Michigan Toledo (L) 11/8/11 548
9 Case Keenum Houston Texas-El Paso (L) 10/3/09 536
9 Derek Carr Fresno State San Diego State (W) 9/29/12 536
11 Case Keenum Houston Rice (W) 10/27/11 534
12 Bryant Moniz Hawaii Louisiana Tech (W) 10/2/10 532
12 Mike Kafka Northwestern Auburn (L) 1/1/10 532
12 Case Keenum Houston Penn State (W) 1/2/12 532
15 Tyler Bray Tennessee Troy (W) 11/3/12 530
16 Ryan Lindley San Diego State Utah (L) 11/20/10 528
17 Case Keenum Houston East Carolina (L) 12/5/09 527
18 Case Keenum Houston Tulsa (W) 11/7/09 524
19 Trevor Vittatoe Texas-El Paso Marshall (W) 11/28/09 517
20 Zac Dysert Miami (OH) Akron (W) 9/29/12 516
21 Tyler Wilson Arkansas Texas A&M (W) 10/1/11 510
22 Kellen Moore Boise State Hawaii (W) 11/6/10 507
23 Tyler Sheehan Bowling Green State Kent State (W) 10/10/09 505
23 Landry Jones Oklahoma Kansas State (W) 10/29/11 505
25 Brandon Weeden Oklahoma State Kansas State (W) 11/5/11 502

QB Rating
2000 game average: 158.4
Worst: Jared Funk (Vandy) in a loss to Wake Forest on 11/27/10: 81.3

Rk QB Team Opponent Date QB Rtg
1 Matt Barkley Southern California Colorado (W) 10/20/12 319.2
2 G.J. Kinne Tulsa Sam Houston State (W) 9/26/09 315.8
3 Tevin Washington Georgia Tech Western Carolina (W) 9/1/11 312.8
4 Jimmy Clausen Notre Dame Nevada (W) 9/5/09 303.7
5 Darron Thomas Oregon Nevada (W) 9/10/11 303.1
6 Tyler Russell Mississippi State Memphis (W) 9/4/10 298.2
7 Russell Wilson Wisconsin Nevada-Las Vegas (W) 9/1/11 292.5
8 James Vandenberg Iowa Indiana (W) 10/22/11 290.3
9 Chris Todd Auburn Furman (W) 11/7/09 287.2
10 Tyler Bray Tennessee Georgia State (W) 9/8/12 286.2
11 Tyler Vantubbergen Western Michigan Akron (W) 11/25/11 285.6
12 Alex Carder Western Michigan Eastern Michigan (W) 11/13/10 283.4
13 Taylor Kelly Arizona State Navy (W) 12/29/12 277.0
14 Andy Dalton Texas Christian Wyoming (W) 10/9/10 274.0
15 Tyrod Taylor Virginia Tech Duke (W) 10/23/10 273.1
16 B.J. Daniels South Florida Cincinnati (W) 10/22/10 272.7
17 Joe Webb Alabama-Birmingham Florida Atlantic (W) 11/7/09 272.3
18 Zach Collaros Cincinnati Louisville (W) 10/24/09 271.5
19 Geno Smith West Virginia Kansas (W) 12/1/12 271.2
20 Max Hall Brigham Young Wyoming (W) 11/7/09 270.0
21 Denard Robinson Michigan Indiana (W) 10/2/10 269.8
22 Alex Carder Western Michigan Akron (W) 10/23/10 269.8
23 Case Keenum Houston Marshall (W) 10/22/11 269.2
24 Collin Klein Kansas State West Virginia (W) 10/20/12 266.8
25 Mike Glennon North Carolina State South Alabama (W) 9/17/11 266.1

Fantasy Points
2000 game average: 23.82000 game average: 23.8
Worst: Matt Barkley (USC) in a 9/15/12 loss to Stanford. 20/41 for 254 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, -34 yds rushing (2.8 FP).

Standard scoring for QBs; includes rushing yards. To see the details on these performances, see the big table below.

Rk QB Team Opponent Date FP
1 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M Louisiana Tech (W) 10/13/12 61.9
2 Tajh Boyd Clemson North Carolina State (W) 11/17/12 61.3
3 Geno Smith West Virginia Baylor (W) 9/29/12 61.3
4 Alex Carder Western Michigan Toledo (L) 11/8/11 57.5
5 Denard Robinson Michigan Indiana (W) 10/2/10 56.8
6 Zac Dysert Miami (OH) Akron (W) 9/29/12 55.4
7 Keith Price Washington Baylor (L) 12/29/11 55.4
8 Austin Davis Southern Mississippi Houston (W) 11/20/10 54.8
9 Case Keenum Houston Rice (W) 10/27/11 53.9
10 Collin Klein Kansas State Texas A&M (W) 11/12/11 53.5
11 Collin Klein Kansas State West Virginia (W) 10/20/12 53.0
12 Jordan Lynch Northern Illinois Western Michigan (W) 10/27/12 52.6
13 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M Oklahoma (W) 1/4/13 52.4
14 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M Southern Methodist (W) 9/15/12 52.2
15 Joe Webb Alabama-Birmingham Florida Atlantic (W) 11/7/09 52.0
16 Aaron Opelt Toledo Colorado (W) 9/11/09 51.7
16 Colt McCoy Texas Texas A&M (W) 11/26/09 51.7
18 Riley Dodge North Texas Western Kentucky (W) 10/31/09 51.5
19 Bryant Moniz Hawaii California-Davis (W) 9/24/11 50.0
20 Geno Smith West Virginia Clemson (W) 1/4/12 48.9
21 Cam Newton Auburn South Carolina (W) 12/4/10 48.7
22 Shane Carden East Carolina Marshall (W) 11/23/12 48.0
23 Chandler Harnish Northern Illinois Toledo (W) 11/1/11 47.9
24 Jerrod Johnson Texas A&M Alabama-Birmingham (W) 9/26/09 47.7
25 Dan Lefevour Central Michigan Toledo (W) 11/11/09 47.5

Here are the top QB fantasy performances for each team from 2009 - 2012. A few notes:

  • The W/L record for teams in these games is 91-30
  • Teams who have been victimized the most times: Western Kentucky (5), Kent State, Baylor, Toledo, NC State (4)
  • Fewest fantasy points in a team's best performance: Jordan La Secla (San Jose State)
Team Player Opponent Date Comp Att Comp% Yards TD INT Y/Att Rush
Yds
Rush
TDs
QB Rtg FP
Akron Dalton Williams Miami (OH) (L) 9/29/12 32 42 76.2% 446 4 1 10.6 0 0 192.1 31.8
Alabama A.J. McCarron Notre Dame (W) 1/7/13 20 28 71.4% 264 4 0 9.4 9 0 197.8 27.5
Alabama-Birmingham Joe Webb Florida Atlantic (W) 11/7/09 14 19 73.7% 292 4 0 15.4 123 2 272.3 52.0
Arizona Matt Scott Southern California (W) 10/27/12 27 50 54.0% 369 3 1 7.4 100 1 131.8 40.8
Arizona State Taylor Kelly Navy (W) 12/29/12 17 19 89.5% 267 4 0 14.1 81 1 277.0 40.8
Arkansas Ryan Mallett Georgia (L) 9/19/09 21 39 53.8% 408 5 0 10.5 4 0 184.0 36.7
Arkansas State Ryan Aplin Western Kentucky (L) 11/13/10 27 39 69.2% 306 3 2 7.8 96 2 150.3 41.8
Auburn Cam Newton South Carolina (W) 12/4/10 17 28 60.7% 335 4 0 12.0 73 2 208.4 48.7
Ball State Keith Wenning Kent State (L) 9/29/12 32 43 74.4% 445 5 0 10.3 14 0 199.7 39.2
Baylor Nick Florence West Virginia (L) 9/29/12 29 47 61.7% 581 5 1 12.4 -6 1 196.4 46.6
Boise State Kellen Moore Toledo (W) 9/16/11 32 42 76.2% 455 5 1 10.8 2 0 201.7 36.4
Boston College Chase Rettig Miami (FL) (L) 9/1/12 32 51 62.7% 441 2 1 8.6 -2 0 144.4 23.4
Bowling Green State Tyler Sheehan Kent State (W) 10/10/09 44 63 69.8% 505 4 1 8.0 -13 1 155.0 38.9
Brigham Young James Lark New Mexico State (W) 11/24/12 34 50 68.0% 384 6 0 7.7 1 0 172.1 39.5
Buffalo Chazz Anderson Northern Illinois (L) 10/22/11 35 53 66.0% 404 3 2 7.6 56 1 141.2 35.8
California Zach Maynard UCLA (W) 10/6/12 25 30 83.3% 295 4 1 9.8 -8 1 203.3 31.0
Central Florida Blake Bortles Ball State (W) 12/21/12 22 33 66.7% 272 3 0 8.2 80 1 165.9 36.9
Central Michigan Dan Lefevour Toledo (W) 11/11/09 29 36 80.6% 341 2 0 9.5 19 4 178.5 47.5
Cincinnati Zach Collaros Connecticut (W) 11/7/09 29 37 78.4% 480 1 0 13.0 75 2 196.3 42.7
Clemson Tajh Boyd North Carolina State (W) 11/17/12 30 44 68.2% 426 5 2 9.7 103 3 177.9 61.3
Colorado Tyler Hansen California (L) 9/10/11 28 49 57.1% 474 3 0 9.7 26 0 158.6 33.6
Colorado State Pete Thomas San Jose State (L) 10/1/11 28 43 65.1% 387 3 2 9.0 20 1 154.4 31.5
Connecticut Johnny McEntee Western Michigan (L) 10/1/11 22 39 56.4% 300 4 0 7.7 -9 0 154.9 27.1
Duke Thaddeus Lewis North Carolina State (W) 10/10/09 40 50 80.0% 459 5 0 9.2 8 1 190.1 45.2
East Carolina Shane Carden Marshall (W) 11/23/12 38 47 80.9% 439 3 0 9.3 4 3 180.4 48.0
Eastern Michigan Tyler Benz Army (W) 10/20/12 19 31 61.3% 369 5 1 11.9 16 0 208.1 34.4
Florida Tim Tebow Cincinnati (W) 1/1/10 31 35 88.6% 482 3 0 13.8 51 1 232.5 42.4
Florida Atlantic Rusty Smith North Texas (W) 10/17/09 21 40 52.5% 308 3 0 7.7 30 1 141.9 33.3
Florida International Wesley Carroll Duke (L) 10/1/11 25 39 64.1% 348 3 0 8.9 17 0 164.4 27.6
Florida State Christian Ponder Georgia Tech (L) 10/10/09 26 36 72.2% 359 5 0 10.0 17 0 201.8 36.1
Fresno State Derek Carr San Diego State (W) 9/29/12 42 55 76.4% 536 5 2 9.7 34 0 181.0 40.8
Georgia Aaron Murray Tennessee (W) 10/9/10 17 25 68.0% 266 2 0 10.6 41 2 183.8 34.7
Georgia Tech Tevin Washington Western Carolina (W) 9/1/11 8 13 61.5% 271 3 0 20.8 34 0 312.8 26.2
Hawaii Bryant Moniz California-Davis (W) 9/24/11 30 40 75.0% 424 7 0 10.6 50 0 221.8 50.0
Houston Case Keenum Rice (W) 10/27/11 24 37 64.9% 534 9 1 14.4 -15 0 261.0 53.9
Idaho Dominique Blackman Wyoming (L) 9/22/12 34 46 73.9% 321 3 0 7.0 4 1 154.1 31.2
Illinois Juice Williams Cincinnati (L) 11/27/09 21 34 61.8% 282 3 0 8.3 67 1 160.6 36.0
Indiana Ben Chappell Western Kentucky (W) 9/18/10 32 42 76.2% 366 3 0 8.7 -5 1 173.0 32.1
Iowa James Vandenberg Pittsburgh (W) 9/17/11 31 48 64.6% 399 3 1 8.3 -8 1 150.9 31.2
Iowa State Steele Jantz Baylor (W) 10/27/12 36 52 69.2% 381 5 1 7.3 54 0 158.7 38.6
Kansas Todd Reesing Missouri (L) 11/28/09 37 55 67.3% 498 4 1 9.1 8 1 163.7 40.7
Kansas State Collin Klein Texas A&M (W) 11/12/11 17 27 63.0% 281 1 1 10.4 103 5 155.2 53.5
Kent State Spencer Keith Central Michigan (W) 11/4/11 17 31 54.8% 281 3 0 9.1 13 0 162.9 24.5
Kentucky Maxwell Smith Kent State (W) 9/8/12 30 39 76.9% 354 4 0 9.1 1 0 187.0 30.3
Louisiana State Jordan Jefferson Mississippi (W) 11/20/10 13 17 76.5% 254 1 1 14.9 45 1 209.6 22.7
Louisiana Tech Colby Cameron Texas A&M (L) 10/13/12 44 58 75.9% 450 5 0 7.8 25 0 169.5 40.5
Louisiana-Lafayette Terrence Broadway Louisiana-Monroe (W) 11/3/12 23 32 71.9% 373 4 1 11.7 87 1 204.8 43.6
Louisiana-Monroe Kolton Browning Western Kentucky (W) 10/20/12 22 41 53.7% 308 4 2 7.5 69 2 139.2 43.2
Louisville Teddy Bridgewater Temple (W) 11/3/12 19 28 67.9% 324 5 0 11.6 0 0 224.0 33.0
Marshall Rakeem Cato Houston (W) 11/17/12 32 50 64.0% 377 3 2 7.5 32 1 139.1 32.3
Maryland Danny O'Brien North Carolina State (W) 11/27/10 33 47 70.2% 417 4 0 8.9 -9 0 172.8 31.8
Massachusetts Mike Wegzyn Ohio (L) 9/29/12 27 51 52.9% 373 4 0 7.3 36 0 140.3 34.5
Memphis Tyler Bass Tennessee-Martin (W) 9/19/09 22 28 78.6% 293 4 1 10.5 80 1 206.5 39.7
Miami (FL) Stephen Morris North Carolina State (W) 9/29/12 26 49 53.1% 566 5 1 11.6 2 0 179.7 40.8
Miami (OH) Zac Dysert Akron (W) 9/29/12 34 49 69.4% 516 6 0 10.5 108 0 198.3 55.4
Michigan Denard Robinson Indiana (W) 10/2/10 10 16 62.5% 277 3 0 17.3 217 2 269.8 56.8
Michigan State Kirk Cousins Purdue (W) 11/20/10 28 37 75.7% 276 3 1 7.5 -13 1 159.7 25.7
Middle Tennessee State Dwight Dasher Western Kentucky (W) 10/24/09 22 35 62.9% 355 3 0 10.1 66 2 176.3 44.8
Minnesota Adam Weber Michigan State (W) 10/31/09 19 31 61.3% 416 5 1 13.4 -5 0 220.8 34.1
Mississippi Jeremiah Masoli Arkansas (L) 10/23/10 21 36 58.3% 327 3 0 9.1 98 0 162.1 34.9
Mississippi State Chris Relf Michigan (W) 1/1/11 18 23 78.3% 281 3 1 12.2 30 1 215.2 30.2
Missouri James Franklin Iowa State (W) 10/15/11 20 28 71.4% 289 3 2 10.3 84 2 179.2 40.0
Nebraska Taylor Martinez Oklahoma State (W) 10/23/10 23 35 65.7% 323 5 0 9.2 112 0 190.4 44.1
Nevada Cody Fajardo New Mexico State (W) 10/29/11 19 29 65.5% 283 0 0 9.8 60 4 147.5 41.3
Nevada-Las Vegas Omar Clayton Hawaii (W) 9/19/09 28 43 65.1% 340 3 2 7.9 19 1 145.3 29.5
New Mexico Donovan Porterie Brigham Young (L) 11/14/09 28 44 63.6% 272 2 0 6.2 -14 1 130.6 23.5
New Mexico State Matt Christian New Mexico (W) 10/1/11 16 27 59.3% 296 4 0 11.0 101 1 200.2 43.9
North Carolina Bryn Renner Louisville (L) 9/15/12 26 41 63.4% 363 5 1 8.9 10 0 173.2 33.5
North Carolina State Russell Wilson Pittsburgh (W) 9/26/09 21 35 60.0% 322 4 0 9.2 91 0 175.0 38.0
North Texas Riley Dodge Western Kentucky (W) 10/31/09 24 30 80.0% 262 4 0 8.7 70 3 197.4 51.5
Northern Illinois Jordan Lynch Western Michigan (W) 10/27/12 18 28 64.3% 274 4 0 9.8 136 2 193.6 52.6
Northwestern Mike Kafka Syracuse (L) 9/19/09 35 42 83.3% 390 3 1 9.3 -7 1 180.1 39.3
Notre Dame Jimmy Clausen Stanford (L) 11/28/09 23 30 76.7% 340 5 0 11.3 -15 0 226.9 32.1
Ohio Theo Scott Temple (W) 11/27/09 17 21 81.0% 324 3 0 15.4 69 2 257.7 43.9
Ohio State Terrelle Pryor Toledo (W) 9/19/09 17 28 60.7% 262 3 2 9.4 110 1 160.4 35.5
Oklahoma Landry Jones West Virginia (W) 11/17/12 38 51 74.5% 554 6 1 10.9 0 0 200.7 44.2
Oklahoma State J.W. Walsh Louisiana-Lafayette (W) 9/15/12 21 30 70.0% 347 4 0 11.6 73 1 211.2 43.2
Oregon Jeremiah Masoli Arizona (W) 11/21/09 26 47 55.3% 284 3 1 6.0 61 3 122.9 45.5
Oregon State Sean Mannion Washington State (W) 10/22/11 26 34 76.5% 376 4 1 11.1 0 0 202.3 29.0
Penn State Matt McGloin Temple (W) 9/22/12 24 36 66.7% 318 1 1 8.8 13 2 144.5 28.0
Pittsburgh Tino Sunseri Connecticut (W) 10/26/11 29 42 69.0% 419 2 0 10.0 40 1 168.6 34.8
Purdue Robert Marve Indiana (W) 11/24/12 20 29 69.0% 348 4 1 12.0 2 0 208.4 28.1
Rice Taylor McHargue Marshall (L) 9/22/12 21 36 58.3% 314 3 0 8.7 153 1 159.1 45.9
Rutgers Gary Nova Arkansas (W) 9/22/12 25 35 71.4% 397 5 0 11.3 -12 0 213.9 34.7
San Diego State Ryan Lindley Colorado State (W) 10/24/09 29 43 67.4% 459 6 0 10.7 -9 0 203.2 41.5
San Jose State Jordan La Secla Louisiana Tech (L) 11/27/10 35 65 53.8% 496 5 3 7.6 -14 0 134.1 32.4
South Alabama Ross Metheny Louisiana-Lafayette (L) 11/24/12 27 44 61.4% 360 2 0 8.2 1 0 145.1 22.5
South Carolina Connor Shaw Tennessee (W) 10/27/12 22 32 68.8% 356 3 1 11.1 33 1 186.9 33.5
South Florida B.J. Daniels Louisville (W) 11/21/09 20 34 58.8% 304 1 0 8.9 141 2 143.6 42.3
Southern California Matt Barkley UCLA (W) 11/26/11 35 42 83.3% 423 6 0 10.1 -6 0 215.1 40.3
Southern Methodist Kyle Padron Washington State (W) 9/18/10 19 34 55.9% 280 4 0 8.2 32 1 163.9 36.4
Southern Mississippi Austin Davis Houston (W) 11/20/10 24 31 77.4% 293 2 0 9.5 111 4 178.1 54.8
Stanford Josh Nunes Arizona (W) 10/6/12 21 34 61.8% 360 2 0 10.6 33 3 170.1 43.7
Syracuse Ryan Nassib Northwestern (L) 9/1/12 45 66 68.2% 482 4 1 7.3 30 0 146.5 36.3
Temple Mike Gerardi Kent State (W) 11/6/10 21 29 72.4% 368 2 2 12.7 0 1 188.0 24.7
Tennessee Tyler Bray Troy (W) 11/3/12 29 47 61.7% 530 5 0 11.3 0 0 191.5 41.2
Texas Colt McCoy Texas A&M (W) 11/26/09 24 40 60.0% 304 4 0 7.6 175 1 156.8 51.7
Texas A&M Johnny Manziel Louisiana Tech (W) 10/13/12 24 40 60.0% 395 3 1 9.9 181 3 162.7 61.9
Texas Christian Trevone Boykin Baylor (W) 10/13/12 22 30 73.3% 261 4 0 8.7 56 1 190.4 38.0
Texas State Shaun Rutherford Stephen F. Austin (W) 9/22/12 21 26 80.8% 301 3 0 11.6 48 1 216.1 34.8
Texas Tech Steven Sheffield Kansas State (W) 10/10/09 33 41 80.5% 490 7 1 12.0 19 0 232.3 47.5
Texas-El Paso Trevor Vittatoe Marshall (W) 11/28/09 28 40 70.0% 517 5 0 12.9 0 0 219.8 40.7
Texas-San Antonio Eric Soza New Mexico State (W) 9/29/12 19 32 59.4% 269 3 0 8.4 55 1 160.9 34.3
Toledo Aaron Opelt Colorado (W) 9/11/09 15 23 65.2% 319 4 0 13.9 109 2 239.1 51.7
Troy Corey Robinson Ohio (W) 12/18/10 32 42 76.2% 387 4 0 9.2 5 0 185.0 32.0
Tulane Ryan Griffin Alabama-Birmingham (W) 10/27/12 34 42 81.0% 466 5 1 11.1 3 0 208.7 36.9
Tulsa G.J. Kinne Southern Mississippi (W) 11/26/10 23 37 62.2% 406 4 2 11.0 48 2 179.2 45.0
UCLA Brett Hundley Nebraska (W) 9/8/12 21 33 63.6% 305 4 0 9.2 53 0 181.3 33.5
Utah Jordan Wynn Colorado State (W) 10/23/10 23 29 79.3% 321 3 0 11.1 -5 0 206.4 24.3
Utah State Chuckie Keeton Louisiana Tech (W) 11/17/12 20 34 58.8% 340 2 0 10.0 121 2 162.2 45.7
Vanderbilt Jordan Rodgers Florida (L) 11/5/11 19 28 67.9% 297 2 0 10.6 20 1 180.5 27.9
Virginia Jameel Sewell Southern Mississippi (L) 9/19/09 24 46 52.2% 312 2 1 6.8 23 2 119.1 32.8
Virginia Tech Logan Thomas Miami (FL) (W) 10/8/11 23 25 92.0% 310 3 0 12.4 38 2 235.8 40.2
Wake Forest Riley Skinner Duke (W) 11/28/09 28 38 73.7% 372 5 0 9.8 -5 0 199.3 34.4
Washington Keith Price Baylor (L) 12/29/11 23 37 62.2% 438 4 0 11.8 39 3 197.3 55.4
Washington State Connor Halliday Arizona State (W) 11/12/11 27 36 75.0% 494 4 0 13.7 -1 0 226.9 35.7
West Virginia Geno Smith Baylor (W) 9/29/12 45 51 88.2% 656 8 0 12.9 31 0 248.0 61.3
Western Kentucky Kawaun Jakes Austin Peay (W) 9/1/12 18 23 78.3% 296 4 1 12.9 21 1 235.1 33.9
Western Michigan Alex Carder Toledo (L) 11/8/11 38 59 64.4% 548 7 0 9.3 16 1 181.6 57.5
Wisconsin Russell Wilson Nevada-Las Vegas (W) 9/1/11 10 13 76.9% 255 2 0 19.6 62 1 292.5 30.4
Wyoming Brett Smith Idaho (W) 9/22/12 23 35 65.7% 370 5 0 10.6 22 0 201.7 37.0