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Nevada’s Kaepernick and His 100 TDs Added to Manning Watch List

Friday, August 13, 2010

Another sensational dual-threat quarterback, Nevada senior Colin Kaepernick (official bio), is the latest addition to the Manning Award Watch List. Kaepernick expects to re-write the Wolf Pack record books this fall in his fourth year as a starter - he is already responsible for 101 touchdowns (61 passing, 39 rushing and one receiving) in his career. 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

Kaepernick became the 10th quarterback in NCAA history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and just the second player to record back-to-back seasons of 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. Last year, the California product led the Wolf Pack to eight wins, completing 59 percent of his passes for 2,052 yards and 20 touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,183 yards and 16 more scores. His biggest rushing day came against Idaho when he tallied 230 yards, including a career-long 75-yard TD run. Kaepernick's passing stats take a little hit due to the potency of the rushing game in Nevada's pistol-offense - in addition to Kaepernick, two running backs tallied 1,000 yards on the ground, the first squad in history to have three players each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. His career statistics are eye-popping as well - he is on pace to become just the second player in FBS history to rush for 4,000 yards and throw for 8,000 yards in his career. Kaepernick and the Wolf Pack welcome Eastern Washington to Reno on Thursday, Sept. 2 for the 2010 season opener.

Oct. 4 ESPN.com article on Kaepernick

Aug. 29 New York Times story on the anonymous Kaepernick

July 30 Turlock Journal hometown feature on Kaepernick

July 15 Reno-Gazette Journal article on Kaepernick at the Manning Passing Academy

July 30 video interview with Kaepernick from KTVB.com

Aug. 8 Reno Gazette-Journal debating of Kaepernick is the best QB ever at Nevada

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-