Aaron Rodgers's College career

2002
Despite his record-setting statistics, Rodgers' small stature coming out of high school (5'10" in height and 165 pounds as a senior) made him an under-appreciated asset. He garnered little interest from Division I programs, with only an offer to compete for a scholarship as a walk-on from Illinois. He declined the invitation, and considered quitting football to study toward law school. He was then recruited to play football at Butte Community College in Oroville, a local junior college about 15 miles (25 km) southeast of Chico. In his freshman season Rodgers threw 28 touchdowns while leading Butte to a 10–1 record, the NorCal Conference championship, and a No. 2 national ranking. While there, Rodgers was discovered by the Bears head coach Jeff Tedford, who was recruiting Butte tight end Garrett Cross. Tedford was very surprised to learn that Rodgers had not been recruited out of high school. By this point Rodgers was growing into his 6'2" frame. Because he had a 3.6 grade point average and SAT score of 1300 when he left high school, Rodgers was eligible to transfer after one year of junior college instead of the typical two.
2003
As a junior college transfer, Rodgers had three years of eligibility at Cal. He was named the starting quarterback in the fifth game of the 2003 season, coincidentally against the only team that offered him a Division I opportunity out of high school, Illinois. As a sophomore, he helped lead the Golden Bears to a 7–3 record as a starter. Against the then-No. 3 ranked USC in his second career start, Rodgers led the team to a 21–7 halftime lead before being replaced due to injury in the second half by Reggie Robertson. The Bears won in triple overtime, 34–31. Rodgers passed for 394 yards and was named game MVP in the Insight Bowl against Virginia Tech. In 2003, Rodgers tied the school season record for 300-yard games with 5 and set a school record for lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.43%.
2004
As a junior, Rodgers led Cal to a 10–1 record and top-five ranking at the end of the regular season, with their only loss coming in a closely contested and well-played game at #1 USC, 17–23. In that game, Rodgers set a school record for consecutive completed passes with 26 and tied an NCAA record with 23 consecutive passes completed in one game. Rodgers set a school single game record for passing completion, completing 85.3% of his passes in that game. Rodgers also holds the school career record for lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.95%. Despite these records, the Bears had 1st and goal with 1:47 remaining and could not score a winning touchdown. The game-ending sequence included three incomplete passes and a sack by USC.
After Texas was picked over Cal for a Rose Bowl berth, the fourth-ranked Bears earned a spot in the Holiday Bowl, but lost to Texas Tech, 45–31. After the season, Rodgers decided to forego his senior season (without a redshirt) to enter the 2005 NFL Draft.