NEW ORLEANS (October 2, 2024) – Fans have selected Hunter Watson of Sam Houston 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.
 
Watson, a junior from Celina, Texas, completed 10-of-19 passes for 95 yards and no interceptions while running for 105 yards and two touchdowns as he led the Bearkats to their largest comeback in school history in a thrilling 40-39 victory over Texas State. Sam Houston entered the game as a double-digit underdog and trailed by 22 points early in the game. They were down 39-21 late in the third quarter before Watson led them to 19 unanswered points, including an 11-play drive that culminated with the game-winning field goal with six seconds left on the clock.
 
In addition to the Manning Award honor, Watson was the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week, his second selection of the season. He ranks first among quarterbacks in CUSA and ninth nationally in rushing yards per game at 67.6. He is the first QB in Bearkat history with consecutive 100-yard rushing performances.
 
Sam Houston (4-1 overall, 1-0 CUSA) will head to El Paso tomorrow (Thursday) to face UTEP at 8 p.m. CT on CBSSN.
  
The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Avery Johnson (K-State), Darian Mensah (Tulane), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Chandler Morris (North Texas), Cam Ward (Miami), Hajj-Malik Williams (UNLV), and Ben Wooldridge (Louisiana).
 
While the Manning Award selected 29 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. 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.