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Jordan Jefferson From LSU Joins Manning Award Watch List

Sunday, July 25, 2010

LSU's Jordan Jefferson (official bio) is the latest player selected to the Manning Award Watch List. Jefferson took over as the starter for Louisiana State as a sophomore and led the Tigers to the Capital One Bowl - as a freshman he had turned in an MVP bowl performance, leading LSU to a victory in the Chick fil-A Bowl. 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.

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After a solid finish to his freshman campaign, Jefferson earned the nod as the Louisiana State starter for 2009 and threw for over 2,000 yards with 17 touchdowns and just seven interceptions while registering eight wins. He was the second youngest quarterback to start a season opener for LSU, leading the Tigers to a road win over Washington. Jefferson's 17 touchdowns tied for eighth in the LSU single-season annals, while his 182 completions ranked ninth in school history. He delivered two fourth-quarter/overtime comebacks on the season, and nearly led LSU to a come-from-behind victory in the Capital One Bowl against Penn State, tossing for 202 yards on 13-of-24 passes with one score. His top passing yardage day came against Ole Miss, when he tallied 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He has been praised by coaches and teammates for becoming a more vocal leader in the spring. The Tigers will open the season playing in the Chick fil-A Kickoff game against North Carolina on Sept. 4 in Atlanta.

Interesting stat fact from ESPN: Jefferson finished second in the nation in red-zone passing efficiency in 2009.

Sept. 2 Times-Picayune feature on Jefferson becoming a leader

Here's a July 24 Times-Picayune story about Jefferson from SEC Media Days

Here's a spring story about Jefferson's leadership progress from The Times Picayune

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-

Manning Award 2010

Colt McCoy, the Texas star and the winningest quarterback in NCAA history, was officially presented with the 2010 Manning Award on March 2, 2010 at the Louisiana Superdome. The Manning Award, now in its sixth year of recognizing the top collegiate quarterback in the nation, was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances. The award is voted on by a panel of local and national media, as well as each of the Mannings.

Manning Award Website

"I'm very honored to be able to win the Manning Award," McCoy said. "I did get to know Archie, Peyton and Eli at the (Manning) camp this summer, and they have helped me a lot this year and through the process of getting started in the NFL. I'm very thankful for their relationship, and to have an award named after them and their family - they're a true football family - is very special to me. You also always have to mention Cooper when you mention the Manning family. This is very special to me and to The University of Texas. I'm very honored and privileged to win the Manning Award."

McCoy led Texas to a perfect 13-0 regular season record and a slot in the BCS National Championship game in Pasadena, Calif. For the season, he completed 70.6 percent of his passes (332-of-470) for 3,521 yards with 27 touchdowns while rushing for another 348 yards with three TDs. A product of Tuscola, Texas, McCoy is the all-time winningest quarterback in NCAA history with a 45-8 career record.

"We have had the privilege to be associated with five outstanding quarterbacks since 2005," Archie Manning said. "And we are thrilled to welcome Colt McCoy to the list of Manning Award winners. I have been a long-time follower of college football and what Colt has accomplished on the field is very difficult to match. He has won so many awards for his accomplishments, but I think the one statistic which says it all is that he won more games than any other quarterback in the history of college football."