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Manning Award Watch List Adds Florida State’s Christian Ponder
Monday, August 2, 2010
 From a school that has produced multiple Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, Florida State's Christian Ponder (official bio) is the latest addition to the Manning Award Preseason Watch List. Ponder has also been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Player of the Year on offense. The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, is releasing the Watch List one player per day through its official Facebook and Twitter pages. The award has honored the top quarterback in the nation for the past six years.
Allstate Sugar Bowl on Facebook
Allstate Sugar Bowl on Twitter
Ponder had a solid season as a sophomore in 2008, but last year, he jumped into the national scene, throwing for 2,717 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions in the first nine games of the season before suffering a season-ending shoulder-injury in game nine. He averaged over 300 passing yards per game, including a career-best 395 yards and three scores against a highly-touted North Carolina defense - his first game after being a midseason addition to the 2009-10 Manning Award Watch List. In the Tar Heel game, the Seminoles trailed by 18 in the third quarter before Ponder rallied the offense; the key play was a 98-yard touchdown strike to Rod Owens, but the comeback wasn't complete until an 18-yard scoring toss to Beau Reliford with 6:20 remaining in the contest. He added 359 yards and five touchdowns without a pick in a wild 49-44 loss against Georgia Tech. Florida State, which can boast of Heisman winners Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke, has created a promotional campaign for Ponder, centered around a website: www.cp7forheisman.com. The Seminoles and Ponder, who was back to full strength for spring drills, open the 2010 season on Sept. 4, hosting Samford in Tallahassee.
Aug. 29 Miami Herald story about Ponder becoming a star
Aug. 23 USA Today story about Ponder leading FSU into new era
July 6 CBS Sports feature on Ponder working his way up in the NFL Draft
Manning Award Watch List (Final)
| Name | Class | Cmp-Att | Pct. | Yards | TDs | INTs | Wins | Matt Barkley, USC
| So. | 211-352 | .599 | 2,735 | 15 | 14 | 9 | Diondre Borel, Utah St.
| Sr. | 214-366 | .585 | 2,885 | 17 | 4 | 4 | Ryan Colburn , Fresno St.
| Sr. | 181-298 | .607 | 2,459 | 19 | 11 | 8 | Zach Collaros, Cincinnati
| Jr. | 93-124 | .750 | 1,434 | 10 | 2 | 4 | Kirk Cousins, Michigan St.
| Jr. | 198-328 | .604 | 2,680 | 19 | 9 | 5 | Andy Dalton, TCU
| Sr. | 199-323 | .616 | 2,756 | 23 | 8 | 12 | Dwight Dasher, Middle Tenn.
| Sr. | 219-399 | .549 | 2,789 | 23 | 14 | 10 | Ricky Dobbs, Navy
| Sr. | 56-105 | .533 | 1,031 | 6 | 3 | 9 | Nathan Enderle, Idaho
| Sr. | 192-312 | .615 | 2,906 | 22 | 9 | 8 | Nick Foles, Arizona
| Jr. | 260-409 | .636 | 2,486 | 19 | 9 | 6 | Blaine Gabbert, Missouri
| Jr. | 262-445 | .589 | 3,593 | 24 | 9 | 8 | Robert Griffin, III, Baylor
| So. | 45-69 | .652 | 481 | 4 | 0 | 2 | Jacory Harris, Miami
| Jr. | 242-406 | .596 | 3,352 | 24 | 17 | 9 | Jordan Jefferson, LSU
| Jr. | 182-296 | .615 | 2,166 | 17 | 7 | 8 | Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M
| Sr. | 296-497 | .596 | 3,579 | 30 | 8 | 6 | Landry Jones, Oklahoma
| So. | 261-449 | .581 | 3,198 | 26 | 14 | 7 | Colin Kaepernick , Nevada
| Sr. | 166-282 | .589 | 2,052 | 20 | 6 | 8 | Case Keenum, Houston
| Sr. | 492-700 | .703 | 5,671 | 44 | 15 | 10 | G.J. Kinne, Tulsa
| Jr. | 210-345 | .609 | 2,732 | 22 | 10 | 5 | Jake Locker , Washington
| Sr. | 230-395 | .582 | 2,800 | 21 | 11 | 5 | Andrew Luck, Stanford
| So. | 162-288 | .563 | 2,575 | 13 | 4 | 8 | Ryan Mallett , Arkansas
| Jr. | 225-403 | .558 | 3,627 | 30 | 7 | 8 | Greg McElroy, Alabama
| Sr. | 198-325 | .609 | 2,508 | 17 | 4 | 14 | Kellen Moore, Boise St.
| Jr. | 277-431 | .643 | 3,536 | 39 | 3 | 14 | Joshua Nesbitt, Ga. Tech
| Sr. | 75-162 | .463 | 1,701 | 10 | 5 | 11 | Kyle Padron, SMU
| So. | 135-201 | .672 | 1,922 | 10 | 4 | 5 | Christian Ponder, Florida St.
| Sr. | 227-330 | .688 | 2,717 | 14 | 7 | 4 | Terrelle Pryor, Ohio St.
| Jr. | 167-295 | .566 | 2,094 | 18 | 11 | 11 | | Kevin Riley, California | Sr. | 209-382 | .547 | 2,850 | 18 | 8 | 8 | Ricky Stanzi , Iowa
| Sr. | 171-304 | .563 | 2,417 | 17 | 15 | 11 | Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech
| Sr. | 136-243 | .560 | 2,311 | 13 | 5 | 10 | Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin
| Sr. | 211-328 | .643 | 2,705 | 16 | 11 | 10 | Russell Wilson, N.C. State
| Jr. | 224-378 | .593 | 3,027 | 31 | 11 | 5 |
2010-11 Manning Award Watch List Photo Gallery
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances. Ten finalists will be selected in late-November and the winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans.
The preseason Watch List recognizes some of the top quarterbacks in the nation based on previous collegiate performance, however, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible for the honor. Additional quarterbacks may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Monday, Nov. 29. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The Manning Award will be recognizing its seventh winner this year. USC's Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas' Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU's JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL's No. 1 draft pick. Boston College's Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2009, Florida star Tim Tebow earned the honor - he also went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Last year's winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history. McCoy was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 NFL Draft. -AllstateSugarBowl.org-
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