NEW ORLEANS (November 20, 2024) – Fans have selected Devon Dampier of New Mexico 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.
 
Dampier, a sophomore from Phoenix, Ariz., was 11-for-25 passing for 174 yards and a touchdown and he rushed a career-high 28 times for 193 yards and three touchdowns as UNM came from 14 down at halftime to defeat No. 18 Washington State, 38-35. Dampier scored on touchdown runs of 7, 33 and 1 yard, the final score coming to cap off an 11-play, 75-yard drive that gave UNM a 38-35 lead with 21 seconds left. It was the Lobos first win over a ranked opponent since 2003.
 
At 3,657 yards, Dampier now tops the Lobos record book for single season total offense. He also became the first Lobo quarterback to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. In addition to the Manning Award honor, Dampier was selected as the Associated Press National Player of the Week and the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week.

The Lobos have a bye weekend and then will travel to Honolulu to face Hawai'i on Nov. 30 at 10 p.m. CT.
  
The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Carson Beck (Georgia), Matthew Caldwell (Troy), Cade Klubnik (Clemson), Owen McCown (UTSA), C.J. Ogbonna (Buffalo), Sawyer Robertson (Baylor), and LaNorris Seller (South Carolina).
 
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.