Allstate Sugar Bowl announces 2018 Manning Award Watch List

National Honor Recognizes Top Quarterback in Country After Bowls

NEW ORLEANS – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its preseason Watch List on Thursday. The list includes 30 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2018 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the bowls.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting.

“We’re very excited to jump into another college football season and to have the opportunity to watch all of the tremendous quarterbacks around the country,” said Archie Manning. “While these 30 quarterbacks have been selected to our Watch List, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible to earn the honor. We will make some midseason additions which will allow us to recognize some new faces as well as some of the standout quarterbacks that are still in the midst of preseason competition.”

Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Midseason additions to the Watch List will be announced on Thursday, October 11. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Thursday, November 29. The winner will be announced in the week following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

This year’s Watch List includes players from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The SEC leads the way with five selections, while the ACC and the Big Ten each have four selections, followed by the Pac-12 and the MAC with three each. There are 17 seniors on the list while the junior class is represented by 12 quarterbacks and the sophomore class has just one.

Four of last year’s Manning Award finalists are included on this year’s Watch List: Trace McSorley (Penn State), McKenzie Milton (UCF), Jarrett Stidham (Auburn) and Khalil Tate (Arizona).

2018 Manning Award Watch List
Name, Cl., School Com-Att. Yds. TD INT QBR Rushing
Jake Bentley, Jr., South Carolina 245-394 2,794 18 12 65.1 85 yds, 6 TDs
Jake Browning, Sr., Washington 230-336 2,719 19 5 71.9 25 yds, 7 TDs
A.J. Erdely, Sr., UAB 205-338 2,331 16 4 49.5 326 yds, 13 TDs
Caleb Evans, Jr., UL Monroe 211-344 2,868 17 6 66.7 579 yds, 13 TDs
Mason Fine, Jr., North Texas 324-511 4,052 31 15 56.8 NA
Ryan Finley, Sr., NC State 312-479 3,518 17 6 80.4 194 yds, 3 TDs
Nick Fitzgerald, Sr., Mississippi State 159-286 1,782 15 11 78.5 984 yds, 14 TDs
Andrew Ford, Sr., Massachusetts 223-353 2,924 22 4 45.3 NA
Ty Gangi, Sr., Nevada 228-374 2,746 25 11 63.3 180 yds, 4 TDs
Will Grier, Sr., West Virginia 250-388 3,490 34 12 75.8 NA
Justice Hansen, Sr., Arkansas State 305-487 3,967 37 16 52.4 422 yds, 7 TDs
Ben Hicks, Jr., SMU 276-472 3,569 33 12 64.5 NA
Alex Hornibrook, Jr., Wisconsin 198-318 2,644 25 15 74.0 NA
Josh Jackson, So., Virginia Tech 236-396 2,991 20 9 60.3 324 yds, 6 TDs
Daniel Jones, Jr., Duke 257-453 2,691 14 11 52.8 518 yds, 7 TDs
Kyle Kempt, Sr., Iowa State 161-243 1,878 15 3 72.1 NA
Brian Lewerke, Jr., Michigan State 246-417 2,793 20 7 77.7 559 yds, 5 TDs
Drew Lock, Sr., Missouri 242-419 3,964 44 13 74.4 NA
Trace McSorley, Sr., Penn State 284-427 3,570 28 10 81.5 491 yds, 11 TDs
McKenzie Milton, Jr., UCF 265-395 4,037 37 9 84.1 613 yds, 8 TDs
Gus Ragland, Sr., Miami (Ohio) 150-268 2,032 19 7 48.9 123 yds, 3 TDs
Malik Rosier, Sr., Miami 224-415 3,120 26 14 67.7 468 yds, 5 TDs
Nathan Rourke, Jr., Ohio 161-292 2,203 17 7 73.5 912 yds, 21 TDs
Brett Rypien, Sr., Boise State 218-348 2,877 17 6 69.7 NA
Kyle Shurmur, Sr., Vanderbilt 220-380 2,823 26 10 62.9 NA
Nathan Stanley, Jr., Iowa 196-351 2,437 26 6 55.9 NA
Jarrett Stidham, Sr., Auburn 246-370 3,158 18 6 67.2 153 yds, 4 TDs
Khalil Tate, Jr., Arizona 111-179 1,591 14 9 92.0 1,411 yds, 12 TDs
Manny Wilkins, Sr., Arizona State 260-410 3,270 20 8 63.7 282 yds, 7 TDs
Brandon Wimbush, Jr., Notre Dame 136-275 1,870 16 6 76.2 803 yds, 14 TDs

“We have had the opportunity to recognize 13 outstanding quarterbacks with the Manning Award,” said Paul Hoolahan, Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO. “It is truly a great honor for the Allstate Sugar Bowl to sponsor this award and we wish the best of luck to every quarterback and team in the country for another great year of college football.”

In its first 14 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 12 different schools and from four different conferences. The Big 12 Conference (Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) joins the Southeastern Conference (Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) with four Manning Award winners each, while Texas is the only school with two different winners (McCoy and Young).

Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Eleven of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Mayfield, Griffin III, Marcus Mariota, Ryan, Watson (twice) and Winston. On the other hand, Watson (in 2015), Young, Manziel and Newton were all 1,000-yard rushers during their Manning years.

Perhaps most impressive among the statistics of the quarterbacks recognized by the Manning Award is touchdowns scored. Nine of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons – Mariota tallied a Manning Award-best 58 touchdowns during his winning campaign in 2014.

One of the more unique aspects of the Manning Award is the fact that it takes account of the quarterbacks’ bowl performances, in addition to the regular season. Twelve of the 14 Manning Award winners won bowl games during the season they won the honor. Nine Manning Award honorees led their teams to the CFP Semifinals or a BCS Championship game appearance (Matt Leinart, Mariota, Mayfield, McCoy, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and Young). Six won national championships (Leinart, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and Young).

Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Four honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Mayfield, Newton, Russell and Winston), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Griffin, Mariota, Ryan and Young).

All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.

In addition to the Manning Award’s yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Quarterbacks of the Week. Sixty-three players from 60 different schools were honored during the 2017 season.