Josh Johnson

Early life

Johnson was born on May 15, 1986, in Oakland, California. He attended Oakland Technical High School and was a letterman in football, basketball, and track & field. In football, as a senior, Johnson was named the team's Most Improved Player, was a first-team All-City selection, and led his team to the Oakland Athletic League Championship. Johnson was also a teammate of cousin Marshawn Lynch.

2004–2005

Johnson enrolled at University of San Diego in 2004, where he played for the Toreros as a backup quarterback to Todd Mortensen. Johnson finished the season with 135 passing yards and an interception to go along with 13 carries for 39 yards and two touchdowns.

Johnson earned the starting job after Mortensen's departure for the 2005 season and earned some All-American honors after breaking numerous records. Johnson, who earned three conference player of the week honors, totaled eight games with four or more passing touchdowns. His best game of the season came against Valparaiso, when he threw for a school-record seven touchdowns (all coming in the first half). Johnson also had five touchdowns and 375 yards against Morehead State in the Pioneer Football League Championship victory. He finished the season with 3,256 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and eight interceptions to go along with 86 carries for 379 yards and four touchdowns en route to being named team MVP.

2006

After his record-setting sophomore season, Johnson was named third-team Associated Press All-America on his junior season. He was also named PFL Offensive Player of the Year as he led San Diego to a 10–0 start. Johnson led San Diego to their first Top 25 appearance in school history and finished the season with 3,320 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 107 carries for 720 yards and 11 touchdowns. Johnson led the FCS in total offense, passing efficiency, passing yards, and points responsible for. He totaled four games with over 300 yards passing, while his season-best was a 384-yard performance against Jacksonville. Johnson also had a 25-yard touchdown reception on the season. In the victory over Jacksonville, he set a school-record with 470 total yards of offense. Johnson finished sixth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, for the best player in the FCS.

2007

After two highly productive seasons, Johnson entered the 2007 campaign on the Walter Payton Award watch list and was named a Preseason All-American. He was suspended for the season opener against Azusa Pacific for violating team rules.

Making his season debut the following week against Marist, Johnson completed 24 of 28 passes for a then career-high 403 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. He followed that performance with consecutive six-touchdown passing games against Northern Colorado and Butler. In the latter contest, Johnson became the Toreros’ all-time leader in career passing yards.

Against Davidson College, he threw for a career-high 428 yards and six touchdowns. Johnson finished the season with 2,988 passing yards, a school-record 43 touchdowns, and an interception to go along with 107 carries for 726 yards and two touchdowns. He set school records for career touchdown passes and passing yards, in addition to already holding the career completions record. Johnson was named a third-team FCS All-American and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, finishing third in the voting behind winner Jayson Foster. Johnson also holds the record for the highest career passer efficiency (176.68) in NCAA Division I football history.

Following his senior season, Johnson was invited to play in the 2008 East–West Shrine Game in Houston, Texas, where he was named the game's Offensive MVP after completing five of 11 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 103 yards on three attempts.