Eight Quarterbacks Named Manning Award Stars of the Week
NEW ORLEANS (September 9, 2024) – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its “Stars of the Week.” College football fans can follow the Manning Award on social media (@ManningAward) to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. After voting closes on Wednesday at 9 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.
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, 519 different quarterbacks from 133 schools have been recognized. Sixty-six players were honored during the 2023 season.
This week’s eight Manning Award Stars of the Week are:
- Rocco Becht, Iowa State (23-of-35, 275 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 66.4)
- Becht connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to close a 12-point gap, then delivered a critical 30-yard completion with 29 seconds to go to set up the game-winning 54-yard field foal in a 20-19 win over archrival Iowa.
- Anthony Colandrea, Virginia (33-of-43, 380 total yards, 3 TDs, 2 INT, QBR: 71.6)
- Colandrea, who matched his career-best with three TD passes, connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 10:37 to go and then directed a 12-play drive that included a pair of fourth-down conversions and ended with Virginia scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 2:07 to go in a 31-30 ACC road win over Wake Forest.
- Quinn Ewers, Texas (24-of-36, 246 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 89.6)
- Ewers turned in a masterful performance as he led the Longhorns to a 31-12 victory over No. 10 Michigan to snap the Wolverines’ 23-game home winning streak.
- Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee (16-of-23, 276 total yards, 3 TDs, QBR: 76.9)
- Iamaleava threw for 211 yards and ran for 65 more to lead the Tennessee offense to its second straight 50-point game as the Volunteers cruised to a 51-10 victory over No. 24 NC State.
- Cade Klubnik, Clemson (24-of-26, 383 total yards, 7 TDs, QBR: 99.6)
- Klubnik, who became the first player in 25 years to tally five passing TDs and two rushing TDs while completing 90% of his passes, started things strong with a 76-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the game and never slowed down as he led Clemson to TDs on its first eight possessions in a 66-20 blowout of App State.
- John Mateer, Washington State (9-of-19, 312 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 63.0)
- Mateer, who had the first 100-yard rushing day by a Washington State quarterback since 1987, set a school record for rushing yards by a QB with 197 as he led the Huskies to a 37-16 victory over Texas Tech.
- Jordan McCloud, Texas State (18-of-27, 339 total yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 93.9)
- McCloud, who ran for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns to put the Bobcats in command, led Texas State to a 49-10 win over UTSA as it opens a season at 2-0 for the first time since 2013.
- Kyle McCord, Syracuse (32-of-46, 391 total yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 82.0)
- McCord had a second straight big game, recording career-bests in completions, attempts, and passing yards as he led the Orange to a 31-28 ACC victory over No. 23 Georgia Tech.
While the Manning Award selected 29 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Finalists will be selected in early December and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
In its first 20 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 14 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine 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 (Daniels, Burrow, and Russell) now leads the way with three honorees, while Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) have each produced a pair of Manning Award 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.