NEW ORLEANS (September 11, 2024) – Fans have selected Nico Iamaleava 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.
 
Iamaleava, making his third career start, accounted for 276 yards of total offense and three touchdowns to lead Tennessee past No. 24 NC State, 51-10, in Charlotte. The freshman finished 16-of-23 for 211 yards and two touchdowns with two picks through the air and added 65 yards rushing on eight carries with a 31-yard touchdown run.
 
The signal caller from Long Beach, California, was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row. Iamaleava defeated a ranked opponent for the second time in three starts and Tennessee has outscored its opponents 155-13 with him under center.
 
On Saturday, the Vols take on Kent State for the first time on the gridiron. Kickoff is 6:45 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
 
The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Rocco Becht (Iowa State), Anthony Colandrea (Virginia), Quinn Ewers (Texas), Cade Klubnik (Clemson), John Mateer (Washington State), Jordan McCloud (Texas State) and Kyle McCord (Syracuse).
 
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.