Eight quarterbacks named Manning Award Stars of the Week

Fans Vote on Facebook to Select Overall Manning Player of the Week

NEW ORLEANS – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its “Stars of the Week.” College football fans can now go to the Allstate Sugar Bowl Facebook page to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. When voting closes on Thursday at 11 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.

VOTE HERE

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor 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. Since the Manning Award started recognizing Stars of the Week in 2011, 424 different quarterbacks from 129 schools have been recognized. Seventy-three players from 66 different schools were honored during the 2020 season.

This week’s eight Manning Award Stars of the Week are:

Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (15-of-19, 225 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 95.1)

Hooker, who also rushes for 80 yards and a touchdown, becomes the first Vol quarterback since 2016 to throw multiple TD passes in four straight games as he leads the Volunteers to scores on their first nine possessions in a 62-24 SEC win over Missouri on the road.

Adrian Martinez, Nebraska (11-of-17, 202 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, QBR: 95.4)

Martinez, who also runs for three first-quarter touchdowns while tallying 50 rushing yards, registers 250-plus yards of offense for the seventh straight game, a school-record, as he leads the Cornhuskers to a 56-7 Big Ten victory over Northwestern.

D’Wan Mathis, Temple (35-of-49, 322 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 77.2)

Mathis, who also rushes for 52 yards, sets career-highs in nearly every category and connects on a 53-yard TD pass with 2:35 to go to give the Owls an 11-point edge as they defeat AAC rival Memphis, 34-31.

Tanner McKee, Stanford (20-of-36, 230 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 65.3)

McKee, who suffers a rib injury on the final drive of regulation, returns to the game and tosses a two-yard touchdown pass on the final play of regulation before connecting on a 14-yard TD pass in overtime to lift the Cardinal to a 31-24 upset of No. 3 Oregon.

Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh (23-of-36, 389 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 93.7)

Pickett records his third straight game with 380-plus yards and 4-plus touchdowns (first ACC QB since 2009 with three straight 4-TD games) as he leads the Panthers to a 52-21 ACC win over Georgia Tech on the road.

Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati (19-of-32, 297 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, QBR: 78.7)

Ridder rushes for a victory-clinching touchdown with just over five minutes to go to lead the Bearcats to a 24-13 victory over No. 9 Notre Dame, snapping the Fighting Irish’s 26-game home winning streak.

Will Rogers, Mississippi State (46-of-59, 408 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 87.7)

Rogers, who notches his second 400-yard game of the season, leads the Bulldogs to a 26-22 SEC win over No. 15 Texas A&M on the road.

C.J. Stroud, Ohio State (17-of-23, 330 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 99.3)

Stroud, who sets a career-high for touchdowns, leads the Buckeyes to scores on its first six possessions as they roll to a 52-13 Big Ten victory over Rutgers on the road.

While the Manning Award selected 32 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Ten finalists will be selected and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In its first 17 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 13 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Mac Jones, Joe Burrow, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with six Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and Young) have each had two different winners.

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.