Penn State’s Trace McSorley earns Manning Award Quarterback of the Week

Trace McSorley, a junior from Penn State, has been selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week. He earns the win over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Facebook contest.

Facebook Voting

McSorley completed 17-of-26 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 76 yards and a career-high three touchdowns as the Nittany Lions piled up 506 yards against one of the nation’s top defenses in a 42-13 win over No. 19 Michigan.

The Ashburn, Va., native has thrown a touchdown pass in 22 consecutive games, dating back to the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl. The streak is the second-longest active streak in the FBS behind Baker Mayfield. He also had his 12th career game with both a rushing and passing touchdown and is the first Penn State quarterback to run for three touchdowns in a game since at least 1982.

McSorley’s top competitors this week were Oklahoma’s Mayfield and Logan Woodside of Toledo. Mayfield, who also rushed for a pair of touchdowns, completed 32-of-41 passes for 410 yards and two touchdowns in the air to help the Sooners overcome a 21-10 halftime deficit to upend Kansas State in an 42-35 thriller on the road in Big 12 action. In just three quarters of action, Woodside completed 17-of-24 passes for 304 yards and five touchdowns, marking his fourth career five-TD game, as he led the Rockets to a 48-21 MAC victory over Akron.

Ten finalists for the Manning Award will be announced on Thursday, November 30 and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Manning Award

In its first 13 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 11 different schools and from four different conferences. 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) lead the way with four Manning Award wins each, while Texas is the only school with two different winners (Colt McCoy and Vince 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-one players from 59 different schools were honored during the 2016 season.