NEW ORLEANS (November 23, 2022) – Todd Centeio, a graduate student from James Madison University, has been selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week. This is his third time being named a Manning Award Star of the Week this season and his first win as he earns the honor over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl's® Facebook contest.
Facebook Voting
This past weekend, Centeio directed the Dukes to an impressive second-half comeback, leading them to 28 unanswered points as they upended Georgia State, 42-40, in Sun Belt action.
The West Palm Beach, Fla., native completed his first 15 passes of the game and finished 21-of-27 for 274 passing yards and four touchdowns. He added 12 rushing yards to finish with 288 total yards. His 77.8% completion percentage was his second highest of the season, and he threw for at least four touchdowns for the third time in 2022.
JMU hosts No. 23 Coastal Carolina on Saturday for Senior Day. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU.
Centeio's closest competition in this week's Facebook voting contest came from Chase Cunningham of Middle Tennessee and South Carolina's Spencer Rattler. Cunningham, who missed the last game with an injury, returned to tally career-bests in completions and passing yards with the bulk of his stats coming in the first half of a 49-21 blowout of FAU in a C-USA road game to lift the Blue Raiders to bowl eligibility. He completed 40-of-54 passes for 448 yards and five touchdowns.
Rattler, who also had a 15-yard reception, tallied career-bests for passing yards and touchdowns (setting the school record for single-game TD passes) as he led the Gamecocks to their most points against an SEC opponent since 1995 with a dominating 63-38 victory over No. 5 Tennessee. He finished 30-of-37 with 438 yards and six touchdowns.
While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List and then made 12 midseason additions in October, all quarterbacks remain eligible for the honor. Ten finalists will be selected and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
In its first 18 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 13 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with seven 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. Alabama (B. Young and Jones) joins LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and V. Young) as the only schools with two different 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.
-www.AllstateSugarBowl.org-
