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:

Jake Haener, Fresno State (30-of-42, 378 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 63.7)
Haener, who notches his eighth 300-yard game and sets a career-high for TD passes, connects on four second-half touchdown passes as the Bulldogs overcome a 12-point deficit to beat UNLV, 38-30, in a Mountain West showdown.

Max Johnson, LSU (17-of-27, 280 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 85.2)
Johnson, who has his fourth game with three-plus TD passes this year, connects on long scores of 58 and 64 yards in the third quarter to give the Tigers the advantage as they hold on for a 28-25 SEC road win over Mississippi State.

Emory Jones, Florida (21-of-27, 209 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 86.4)
Jones, who also rushes 15 times for 144 yards (9.6 yards per carry), leads the Gators to 28 unanswered points as they break open a close game and win 38-14 over SEC rival Tennessee.

Devin Leary, N.C. State (32-of-44, 238 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 85.8)
Leary, who tallies career-bests in completions, attempts and touchdowns, connects on a 22-yard score in the second overtime period to lift the Wolfpack to a 27-21 upset of ACC rival and ninth-ranked Clemson, N.C. State’s first win over a top-10 team since 2012.

Daniel Richardson, Central Michigan (16-of-23, 276 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 75.8)
Richardson, who comes off the bench to tally career-bests in yards and TDs, connects on three fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a 27-yard connection with 1:18 to go as the Chippewas shock FIU, 31-27.

Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State (22-of-34, 344 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 88.0)
Sanders, who also runs for a touchdown, leads the Cowboys to 481 yards of offense against what had been a very stingy Kansas State defense in a 31-20 Big 12 victory over the No. 25 Wildcats.

Jeff Sims, Georgia Tech (10-of-13, 112 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, QBR: 98.6)
Sims comes off the bench and runs for 128 yards on 10 carries (12.8 yards per carry) while scoring three touchdowns on the ground as he leads the Yellow Jackets to 18 fourth-quarter points in an impressive 45-22 upset of No. 21 North Carolina in an ACC showdown.

Casey Thompson, Texas (18-of-23, 303 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 97.4)
Thompson, who also runs for a TD, tallies career-highs in nearly every category and the second-best marks in school history for TD passes and total TDs as he leads the Longhorns to a 70-35 rout of Big 12 rival Texas Tech, who came into the game undefeated.

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.