NEW ORLEANS (September 7, 2023) – DJ Uiagalelei, a junior from Oregon State University, has been selected as the week one 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 social media contest.

Uiagalelei, making his Oregon State debut, completed 20-of-25 passes for 239 yards with three touchdowns through the air, and no turnovers, as the Beavers cruised past San Jose State 42-17 on the road.

The Inland Empire, Calif., native added two rushing touchdowns, accounting for five of the Beavers' six scores, to match his career best. The transfer from Clemson became the first OSU QB, since at least 1996, to throw for three touchdowns and run for two in the same game.

Oregon State will open their home slate on Saturday against UC Davis at 8 p.m. CST on the Pac-12 Network.

Uiagalelei's closest competition in this week's social media voting contest came from Penn State's Drew Allar and TJ Finley of Texas State. Allar, who became the first Penn State quarterback to throw for 300 yards in his first start since 2003, completed 21-of-29 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns. The Nittany Lions broke open a tight game at the half and rolled to a 38-15 home victory over West Virginia. Finley, making his debut for Texas State, completed 22-of-30 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for a score. Finley and the Bobcats' 42-31 road win over Baylor marked their first-ever win over a team from a Power Five conference.

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.