Bailey Zappe

CAREER TRANSACTIONS

Bailey Zappe was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (137th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Conference USA

• Most Valuable Player.
• All‐CUSA First Team.
• Offensive Player of the Week (Four times – Nov. 13, Oct. 30, Oct. 2, Sept. 11)
• Preseason Watch List.

Individual Awards (Season)

• Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Winner.
• ECTRA Finalist (Dec. 14) — Semifinalist (Nov. 18) – Watch List (Aug. 5).
• Lexington Herald‐Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year Award Finalist (Jan. 19).
• Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist (Nov. 9) – Class of 2021 (Oct. 26) – Watch List (Oct. 11).
• Manning Award Finalist (Dec. 3) – Watch List (Oct. 22).
• Walter Camp Player of the Year Award Semifinalist (Nov. 11).
• CFPA National Performer of the Year Watch List (Nov. 15).
• Maxwell Award Watch List (Oct. 6).

SEASONAL REVIEWS

Graduate Year (2021):

• Played in and started in all 14 games
• Zappe finished the 2021 campaign by completing 475‐of 686 passes (69.2%) for 5,987 yards, with 62 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
• With 422 yards and six touchdowns in the Hilltoppers' 59‐38 victory over App State in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, he set new all‐time single‐season FBS records, passing Texas Tech's B.J. Symons, who had 5,833 yards in 13 games in 2003 and LSU's Joe Burrow, who had 60 touchdowns in 15 games in 2019.
• He led the nation in yards by 1,095 and touchdowns by 15 (the next‐closest was Alabama's Bryce Young with 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns).
• Named the winner of the 2021 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. He is the second Hilltopper in the program's FBS Era (since 2009) to win a national award, joining quarterback Brandon Doughty – who won the 2014 Sammy Baugh Award, which was presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Columbus to the nation's top collegiate passer from 1959‐2018.
• He was also named a Finalist for the Manning Award, as well as a Semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien and Walter Camp Player of the Year Awards.
• He was Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week four times and was voted the league's Most Valuable Player by the 14 head coaches. With a C‐USA Championship Game‐record and career‐high 577 yards at UTSA on December 3, he became only the sixth quarterback in FBS history to achieve a 5,000‐yard, 50‐touchdown campaign.
• In addition, his 577 yards marked the first FBS passing performance of 560 or more yards since UCF's Dillon Gabriel had 601 at Memphis on October 17, 2020.
• He had two games of 500+ yards, eight games of 400+ yards and 13 games of 300+ yards.

Before Western Kentucky (2018-20):

• 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 led all of college football and ranked 101.3 yards above the leading FBS passer (Dillon Gabriel of UCF - 357 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 four FBS quarterbacks: Shane Buechele of SMU [11,660], Sam Ehlinger of Texas [11,436], Brady White of Memphis [10,949] and Travor Lawrence of Clemson [10,098]. 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 all four 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. Went 32-37 for 364 passing yards against Mercer; that 86.5% completion percentage was second best all time by an SEC player with 30 attempts.
• Passed for 331 yards in Peach Bowl vs. UCF with a 26-yard TD pass.

CAREER TRANSACTIONS

Bailey Zappe was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (137th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Conference USA

• Most Valuable Player.
• All‐CUSA First Team.
• Offensive Player of the Week (Four times – Nov. 13, Oct. 30, Oct. 2, Sept. 11)
• Preseason Watch List.

Individual Awards (Season)

• Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Winner.
• ECTRA Finalist (Dec. 14) — Semifinalist (Nov. 18) – Watch List (Aug. 5).
• Lexington Herald‐Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year Award Finalist (Jan. 19).
• Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist (Nov. 9) – Class of 2021 (Oct. 26) – Watch List (Oct. 11).
• Manning Award Finalist (Dec. 3) – Watch List (Oct. 22).
• Walter Camp Player of the Year Award Semifinalist (Nov. 11).
• CFPA National Performer of the Year Watch List (Nov. 15).
• Maxwell Award Watch List (Oct. 6).

SEASONAL REVIEWS

Graduate Year (2021):

• Played in and started in all 14 games
• Zappe finished the 2021 campaign by completing 475‐of 686 passes (69.2%) for 5,987 yards, with 62 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
• With 422 yards and six touchdowns in the Hilltoppers' 59‐38 victory over App State in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, he set new all‐time single‐season FBS records, passing Texas Tech's B.J. Symons, who had 5,833 yards in 13 games in 2003 and LSU's Joe Burrow, who had 60 touchdowns in 15 games in 2019.
• He led the nation in yards by 1,095 and touchdowns by 15 (the next‐closest was Alabama's Bryce Young with 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns).
• Named the winner of the 2021 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. He is the second Hilltopper in the program's FBS Era (since 2009) to win a national award, joining quarterback Brandon Doughty – who won the 2014 Sammy Baugh Award, which was presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Columbus to the nation's top collegiate passer from 1959‐2018.
• He was also named a Finalist for the Manning Award, as well as a Semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien and Walter Camp Player of the Year Awards.
• He was Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week four times and was voted the league's Most Valuable Player by the 14 head coaches. With a C‐USA Championship Game‐record and career‐high 577 yards at UTSA on December 3, he became only the sixth quarterback in FBS history to achieve a 5,000‐yard, 50‐touchdown campaign.
• In addition, his 577 yards marked the first FBS passing performance of 560 or more yards since UCF's Dillon Gabriel had 601 at Memphis on October 17, 2020.
• He had two games of 500+ yards, eight games of 400+ yards and 13 games of 300+ yards.

Before Western Kentucky (2018-20):

• 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 led all of college football and ranked 101.3 yards above the leading FBS passer (Dillon Gabriel of UCF - 357 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 four FBS quarterbacks: Shane Buechele of SMU [11,660], Sam Ehlinger of Texas [11,436], Brady White of Memphis [10,949] and Travor Lawrence of Clemson [10,098]. 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 all four 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. Went 32-37 for 364 passing yards against Mercer; that 86.5% completion percentage was second best all time by an SEC player with 30 attempts.
• Passed for 331 yards in Peach Bowl vs. UCF with a 26-yard TD pass.