NEW ORLEANS (November 6, 2024) – Fans have selected Kaden Anderson of Wyoming 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.
 
Anderson, a freshman from Southlake, Texas, made his first career start leading the Cowboys to a 49-45 win at New Mexico. He threw for a career-high 342 yards on 20-of-29 passing with three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. His performance helped lead the Cowboy offense to a season-high 604 yards, the most since having the same number at Utah State in 2021.
 
In addition to the Manning Award honor, Anderson was also named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week.

The Cowboys will enjoy an off week before taking on Colorado State on November 15 in Fort Collins for the Border War.

The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Zeon Chriss (Houston), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Keyone Jenkins (FIU), Jalen Kitna (UAB), Maddux Madsen (Boise State), LaNorris Seller (South Carolina), and Cam Ward (Miami).  
 
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.