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.

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

Ian Book, Notre Dame (24-of-37, 285 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 92.1)
Book also rushes for 53 yards and two scores and becomes the winningest quarterback in school history (30 wins) as he leads the Fighting Irish to a 45-21 ACC road victory over Syracuse.

Justin Fields, Ohio State (17-of-24, 199 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 95.7)
Fields also runs for a career-high 104 yards and two touchdowns as he leads the Buckeyes to a 52-12 Big Ten road win over Michigan State.

Layne Hatcher, Arkansas State (11-of-14, 326 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 99.6)
Hatcher, who matches the second-best passing-TD effort in school history, surpasses 5,000 career passing yards while leading the Red Wolves to a 48-15 Sun Belt win over UL Monroe.

Preston Hutchinson, Eastern Michigan (19-of-30, 315 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 73.0)
Hutchinson, who tallies his third career 300-yard game, also runs for a touchdown as he leads the Eagles to their first win over the year, upsetting previously undefeated rival Western Michigan, 53-42, in a MAC road game.

Mac Jones, Alabama (20-of-28, 385 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 99.6)
Jones, who notches his sixth 300-yard game of the season, completes his first 12 passes as the Crimson Tide jumps out to a 38-14 early lead en route to a 55-17 blowout of SEC rival LSU on the road.

Drew Plitt, Ball State (26-of-43, 366 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 73.3)
Plitt also rushes for a touchdown to finish with his FBS career-highs in TDs and yards as he leads the Cardinals to a 45-20 MAC road win over Central Michigan.

Brock Purdy, Iowa State (20-of-23, 247 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 99.6)
Purdy, who also rushes for a touchdown, becomes the winningest quarterback in school history (22 wins) and helps the Cyclones clinch their first conference title since 1912 with a 42-6 Big 12 victory over West Virginia.

Kyle Trask, Florida (35-of-49, 433 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 88.6)
Trask tallied his third 400-yard game and his seventh four-TD game of the season as he tied the school-record for TD passes in a season (38) while helping the Gators clinch the SEC East title with a 31-19 SEC road win over Tennessee.

While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Finalists are scheduled to be announced in mid-December and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
In its first 16 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 (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) and the Southeastern Conference (Joe Burrow, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) lead the way with five Manning Award honorees each, while and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Burrow and Russell) joins Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and Young) as the only schools with 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.