NEW ORLEANS (September 25, 2024) – Fans have selected Alonza Barnett III from James Madison 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.
 
Barnett, a sophomore from Whitsett, N.C., had a memorable return to his home state as he led James Maidson into Chapel Hill where they erupted for a 70-50 victory over North Carolina. The 6-0, 207-pound Barnett completed 22-of-34 passes for 388 yards while also rushing for 99 yards and two more scores to set the Dukes' record for single-game touchdowns. His 487 total yards rank third in JMU single-game history while his 388 passing yards is seventh all-time at the school.
 
In addition to the Manning Award honor, Barnett III was the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the Walter Camp FBS Offensive Player of the Week, and the Associated Press National Player of the Week.
 
Barnett III and JMU set multiple team records, recording their most points in a game against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent and as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Dukes nearly doubled their previous record of points scored against an autonomy five team, besting the 36 they scored at Virginia last season.
 
JMU scored a single-half school-record 53 points in the first half and the 70 scored set a Kenan Stadium record by a road team and was tied for the most points UNC had ever given up. Additionally, JMU set a record for most points scored by a Group of Five program on the road at the power-conference team.
 
JMU, which is in the "others receiving votes" category of the AP Top-25 poll, puts its perfect record on the line again on Saturday when it hosts Ball State for a non-conference game at 1:30 p.m., at Bridgeforth Stadium. The game will air on ESPN+.
  
The other Manning Award Stars of the Week were Luke Altmyer (Illinois), Garrett Greene (West Virginia), Blake Horvath (Navy), Graham Mertz (Florida), John Mateer (Washington State), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), and Evan Simon (Temple).
 
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.