NEW ORLEANS (October 30, 2024) – Fans have selected Fernando Mendoza of Cal 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.
 
Mendoza, a sophomore from Miami, Fla., led the Golden Bears to 31 first-half points in a 44-7 victory over Oregon State. He completed 27-of-36 passes for a career-best 364 yards with two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had the rare occurrence of being credited with a passing touchdown and a receiving touchdown on the same play. After completing a short pass to Jaivian Thomas, Thomas lateralled back to Mendoza who then darted untouched into the end zone for a 15-yard score.
 
In addition to the Manning Award honor, Mendoza was also named the ACC Quarterback of the Week.

Cal (4-4, 0-4 ACC) enters its second off week of the season before returning to action on Nov. 8 at Wake Forest. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. CT and will air on the ACC Network.
  
The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Joey Aguilar (App State), Max Brosmer (Minnesota), Taylen Green (Arkansas), Josh Hoover (TCU), Colton Joseph (Old Dominion), Cooper Legas (Tulsa), and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado).
 
The Manning Award selected 29 quarterbacks for its Watch List in the preseason and added an additional 14 quarterbacks 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.