Prior to the 2004 college football season, the Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only college football quarterback award that includes the candidates' bowl performances in its balloting; therefore, it is presented annually following the completion of the bowl season. The winner is selected by a panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings. The 2010-11 Manning Award Watch List was officially released on Monday, Aug. 16 as was the official Watch List Photo Gallery.
The list of Manning Award winners reads like a Who's Who for the quarterback position. USC's Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner in 2005 after a stellar undefeated regular season and an outstanding performance in the BCS National Championship Game. He passed for 332 yards and five touchdowns in the Trojans' 55-19 win over Oklahoma. Leinart was selected 10th in the 2006 NFL draft and is currently with the Arizona Cardinals.
In 2006, Texas' Vince Young claimed the Award as he led his undefeated Longhorns to a national championship over defending BCS champion USC. Young completed 30-of-40 passes for 267 yards and rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns in the 41-38 victory. His 8-yard touchdown with 19 seconds remaining lifted Texas to the win. Young was the NFL's third overall pick in 2006 and is currently with the Tennessee Titans.
LSU's JaMarcus Russell captured the third annual Manning Award after his performance in the 2007 Sugar Bowl. He completed 21-of-34 passes for 332 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for another 16 yards and a score in the Tiger's 41-14 victory over Notre Dame. Russell was selected first overall in the NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
In 2008, Boston College's Matt Ryan was honored as he led his team to three road wins over ranked teams, and capped off his season with a three-touchdown performance in leading the Eagles to a 24-21 win over Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl. Ryan went on to be selected third overall in the 2008 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons.
Presented with the honor in 2009, Tim Tebow collected the prestigious honor after leading the Florida Gators to the BCS National Championship with a hard-fought victory over Oklahoma in Miami. He threw for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also rushing for 109 yards in the win. The Heisman Trophy winner in 2007, Tebow threw for 2,746 yards with 30 touchdowns while running for 673 yards and another 12 touchdowns as a junior.
Last season's winner, Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history, continued the tradition of excellence to be honored by this award. McCoy led Texas to a perfect 13-0 regular season record, completing 70.6 percent of his passes for 3,521 yards with 27 touchdowns.
Additional players could be added to the Watch List in the midseason and the 10 finalists for the honor will be announced on Monday, Nov. 29.
