NEW ORLEANS (September 28, 2023) – Ben Bryant of Northwestern has been voted as the week four Manning Award Quarterback of the Week. He earned the honor over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl's online voting contest.
 
Bryant went 33-of-49 for 396 yards and four touchdowns, including the longest completion of his career with an 80-yard scoring pass in the second quarter, as he led the Wildcats to a thrilling 37-34 Big Ten win over Minnesota. The senior led his team to 21 fourth-quarter points, including an 11-yard TD pass with two seconds remaining, to force overtime. He then connected on the game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass on his first play in overtime to earn the victory.
 
The 396 passing yards were a career-high for the La Grange, Ill., native, who also tied his career high with four touchdown passes, which also tied for third most in program history. Bryant is in his first year at Northwestern after transferring from Cincinnati.
 
This weekend, the Wildcats will host No. 6 Penn State at Ryan Field for an 11 a.m. CST kickoff on the Big Ten Network.  
 
Bryant's closest competitors in this week's social media voting were Jack Plummer of Louisville and USF's Byrum Brown.  Plummer, who also added a rushing score, went 18-of-21 for 388 yards and five touchdowns, including a stretch of 15 straight completions. He led Louisville to touchdowns on their first seven possessions to remain undefeated with a 56-28 ACC road win at Boston College. Brown, who also caught a two-point conversion pass, rushed for 82 yards and a score on the ground. Through the air, he completed 22-of-29 passes for 435 yards, second most in USF history, with two touchdowns as the Bulls secured an AAC victory over Rice, 42-29.
 
While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Ten finalists will be selected and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.


In its first 19 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 14 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with eight 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 (Bryce Young and Jones), LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) have each produced a pair of Manning Award 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-