NEW ORLEANS (October 16, 2024) – Fans have selected Garrett Nussmeier of LSU as the 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 fan voting contest.
 
Nussmeier, a junior from Lake Charles, La., notched his fifth 300-yard game of the season in LSU's 29-26 SEC win over No. 8 Ole Miss. He went 22-of-51 for 353 total yards with three touchdowns, including a 23-yard TD pass with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. Then, on the first play in overtime, he connected with WR Kyren Lacy on a 25-yard game-winning TD strike to secure the win.
 
In addition to the Manning Award honor, Nussmeier was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. He leads the SEC in touchdown passes with 18. Nussmeier also rushed for a pair of first downs in the game as LSU overcame a 10-0 deficit to beat Ole Miss for the eighth straight time in Tiger Stadium.
 
With the win, the Tigers improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. LSU, now ranked No. 8, will be on the road in Arkansas on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT, televised by ESPN.
  
The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Luke Altmyer (Illinois), Evan Bullock (Louisiana Tech), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Cade Klubnik (Clemson), Riley Leonard (Notre Dame), Jordan McCloud (Texas State), and E.J. Warner (Rice).
 
While the Manning Award selected 29 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks will be added to the Watch List on October 24. Finalists will be selected in early December and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In its first 20 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 (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine 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. LSU (Daniels, Burrow, and Russell) now leads the way with three honorees, while Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones), 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.