Georgia Tech’s Jeff Sims named Manning Award Quarterback of the Week

NEW ORLEANS – Jeff Sims, a freshman from Georgia Tech, has been selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week. He earns the honor over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Facebook contest.

Facebook Voting Results

Sims, a true freshman making his collegiate debut, completed 24-of-35 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for a game-leading 64 yards as he directed the Yellow Jackets to nine fourth-quarter points in a 16-13 comeback win over ACC foe Florida State.

The Jacksonville, Fla., native is the first true freshman quarterback to start a season-opener for the Yellow Jackets since 2003. He hit 10 different targets on his way to being named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Rookie of the Week.

The Yellow Jackets open their six-game home schedule against UCF on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC. Saturday’s matchup pits Georgia Tech’s defense, which held Florida State to just 13 points and 307 yards while forcing three turnovers, against a UCF offense that ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring, rushing, passing and total offense in 2019.
Sims won this week’s award over Texas’ Sam Ehlinger and Grayson McCall of Coastal Carolina. Ehlinger completed 25-of-33 passes for 426 yards and five touchdowns as he opened the Longhorn season with a 78-yard TD connection and kept rolling to career-highs in passing yards and touchdowns in a 59-3 win over UTEP. McCall, making his first career start, completed 11-of-18 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 73 yards and a pair of touchdowns as he helped the Chanticleers jump to a 28-0 lead en route to a 38-23 road win over Kansas.

While the Manning Award selected 30 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 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.