Brian Brohm never did it. Neither did Tim Couch or Michael Bush.

Kentucky has produced a number of quarterbacks who have went on to have successful college careers. But never had any of them thrown as many passes as Elizabethtown senior QB J.D. Tanner did at Central Hardin on Aug. 31.

He threw 71, to be exact in a 48-35 loss.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t really notice that I was throwing it any more than usual,” Tanner said. “I was just doing what I was told to do.”

Tanner put himself in the record books with his other stats that night as well. His 36 completed passes are tied for second best, behind Steven Sizemore’s 40 in 2000. Tanner’s 489 yards passing rank No. 11.

“It was kinda game situation,” coach Brad Todd said. “Frankly, we don’t like to throw the ball that much. We want to be a little bit more balanced. We were not doing a good job of knocking them off the football. They had a big team and had a lot more depth than we did. We did pretty good early but later in the game we wore down and we didn’t do a good job knocking them off the football so we ended up trying to do what we were getting done which, we were making most of our yards when we made them by throwing the football.”

Tanner has benefitted all season from the new spread offense installed by Todd, in his first year as the Panthers’ head coach. Todd said the offense favors the quarterback and features an arsenal of short, quick passes for quick gains, such as screen passes.

“Most quarterbacks enjoy throwing the ball and that’s what they’re gonna get to do,” Todd said. “It’s something that’s fun to do. They can spread the ball around quite a bit and I think it’s a fun offense to play in for the most part. We spread the ball out as much as we can, throw it to kids out in space and let them go do their thing.”

While Tanner’s output against Central Hardin was a fry car from what many football minds would call ‘balanced,’ Todd uses the word to describe spreading the ball to the Panthers’ surplus of skill position players.

Junior wide receiver Chris Gohman has been Tanner’s favorite target this season, hauling in 39 catches for 594 yards and seven touchdowns through the first five games. Junior wide receiver Trevor Deneen is next on the bullseye with 27 catches for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

Keeping in mind Todd’s ‘balance,’ Tanner has connected with 10 receivers for at least catch.

“I’m sure J.D. loves it because he has fresh receivers on almost every play,” Deneen said. “We’re loving it because we’ll go in, make a big play, come out to get a breather and then someone else will make a big play. We go in fresh and get going.”

In his fourth year as the Panthers’ starting quarterback, Tanner has had plenty of time over the years to gel with his receivers as well as the rest of his teammates.

“ We’ve been together for a long time and everyone was looking forward to running this offense,” Tanner said. “(The receivers) are doing great. I’ve been with them all for so long that we have a real good chemistry together.”

That chemistry has extended to the offensive line as well. In the new offense, the linemen have had to pass protect even more but have allowed little pressure on Tanner.

“When people blitz, J.D.’s got the talent that he can just throw right then and there,” senior offensive lineman Henri Baynham-Baker said. “Most of the time teams sit back and try to see what he’s doing and they only bring three or four people at a time. The front five can block any front four in the state. It’s been pretty easy for us and for him because he doesn’t get hit much.”

Though Tanner has cohesion with his teammates because of the time they’ve spent on the field, he’s established himself as a clear captain.

“J.D.’s really a leader on the field,” Deneen said. “We really look to him in times of need. He really poses as our whole team leader. He’s put in the time, he comes in everyday for film, he’s gone to so many camps.”

It’s little surprise to anyone around the program that Tanner has adapted so well to the same offense that Todd’s son, Chris thrived in so well just three years ago. The younger Todd threw for 3,180 yards and 38 touchdowns in his senior year of 2004.

Tanner played in the same offense as a freshman under Todd, who left after that season after serving as offensive coordinator.

“He does a pretty good job reading coverage,” Todd said. “He’s got to continue to get better at that. He’s got a good strong arm. Physically, he’s a big kid and can do some things that a smaller kid can’t do.”

Though he’s being looked at by a few college football programs (he doesn’t want to reveal who), Tanner knows he has work to do before then, leading Elizabethtown this season.

“I’m definitely more of a pocket passer, but over the summer I worked on my speed a lot,” he said. “I’m working on accuracy. I’ve gotten better with short stuff. Just putting it on a certain shoulder and just hitting the spots that you need to hit.”

At Tanner’s pace there may not be too many passers ahead of him in the record books by seasons end.