ULM’s Chandler Rogers named Manning Award Quarterback of the Week

NEW ORLEANS – Chandler Rogers, a freshman from the University of Louisiana Monroe, 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.

Rogers, a Mansfield, Texas, native, completed 25-of-35 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns as he led the Warhawks to a 41-31 Sun Belt Conference victory over South Alabama. He set career highs for pass completions (25), pass attempts (35), passing yards (369), passing touchdowns (4) and total offense (409 yards) on his way to also being named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Offensive Player of the Week.

The 6-foot, 188-pound signal caller also rushed for 40 yards and connected on an 81-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter, which ranks among the top 10 longest plays in school history. He completed passes to nine different receivers and led ULM to scores on five of six possessions during one stretch of the game.

Rogers and the Warhawks will head to North Carolina to face Appalachian State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Appalachian State quarterback, Chase Brice, was Rogers’ closest competition this week, while Rocky Lombardi of Northern Illinois rounded out the top three vote getters. Brice completed 18-of-28 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 34 yards. He directed a flawless final drive to set up a game-winning field goal on the final play of the game as the Mountaineers earned a critical Sun Belt win over No. 14 Coastal Carolina, 30-27, to snap the Chanticleers 11-game conference winning streak.

Lombardi completed 17-of-27 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns, notching career-bests in passing yards and touchdown passes, capping an impressive Huskie comeback from a 17-point second-half deficit by setting his team up for the game-winning field goal with 54 seconds to go in a 39-38 MAC road win over Central Michigan.

The Manning Award selected 32 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List and will made 15 midseason additions last week. 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.