NEW ORLEANS (January 8, 2026) – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has expanded its list of  finalists by five players who had outstanding postseason performances. The original 10 finalists were announced on Dec. 4 prior to postseason games. The winner will be announced after the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 19. The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes the candidates' bowl and playoff performances into consideration in its balloting.
 
The newly added finalists are:

Name, Class, School	Cmp-Att	Pct.	Yards	TD	INT	QBR	Rushing
Carson Beck, Sr., Miami	296-398	74.4	3,313	27	10	81.8	56 yds, 1 TD
Kaleb Blaha, Sr., Wisconsin-River Falls	415-611	67.9	4,971	41	10	NA	1,218 yds, 18 TDs
Trinidad Chambliss, Sr., Ole Miss	271-408	66.4	3,660	21	3	86.8	520 yds, 8 TDs
Arch Manning, So., Texas	248-404	61.4	3,163	26	7	78	399 yds, 10 TDs
Devon Dampier, Jr., Utah	212-334	63.5	2,490	24	5	84.5	835 yds, 10 TDs

 
"We had a great list of finalists that we announced at the start of December," said Archie Manning. "But we are the only quarterback award that takes the postseason into account. Based on that, and some outstanding performances in bowl games and playoff games, we felt it made sense to add these five young men to our list of finalists."
 
Beck directed No. 11 Miami to a pair of upset victories – a CFP First Round win over Texas A&M on the road and a 24-14 defeat of No. 2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Blaha broke Joe Burrow's NCAA record for individual yards in a single season as he led Wisconsin-River Falls to the Division III National Championship. Chambliss was the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in this year's CFP Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl after passing for 362 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Dampier had 358 total yards and five touchdowns in Utah's 44-22 win over Nebraska as he was the MVP of the Las Vegas Bowl. Manning had 376 total yards and four scores in an MVP performance as he led Texas to a 41-27 Citrus Bowl win over Michigan. Both Beck and Chambliss will be in action in the CFP Semifinals.
 
The original finalists for this year's Manning Award were:

Name, Class, School	Cmp-Att	Pct.	Yards	TD	INT	QBR	Rushing
CJ Carr, RFr., Notre Dame	195-293	66.6	2,741	24	6	83.4	33 yds, 3 TDs
Haynes King, RSr., Georgia Tech	252-361	69.8	2,951	14	6	78.6	953 yds, 15 TDs
Fernando Mendoza, RJr., Indiana	240-332	72.3	3,172	36	6	89.5	256 yds, 6 TDs
Drew Mestemaker, RFr., North Texas	319-463	68.9	4,379	34	9	74.8	89 yds, 5 TDs
Dante Moore, RSo., Oregon	272-373	72.9	3,280	28	9	79.0	184 yds, 2 TDs
Diego Pavia, Gr., Vanderbilt	267-378	70.6	3,539	29	8	87.2	862 yds, 10 TDs
Marcel Reed, RSo., Texas A&M	234-377	62.1	3,169	25	12	75.7	493 yds, 6 TDs
Julian Sayin, So., Ohio State	301-391	77.0	3,610	32	8	88.4	NA
Ty Simpson, RJr., Alabama	305-473	64.5	3,567	28	5	76.0	93 yds, 2 TDs
Gunner Stockton, RJr., Georgia	269-386	69.7	2,894	24	5	84.8	462 yds, 10 TDs

 
In its first 21 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 15 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) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Cam Ward, Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) have each had five 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.
 
In addition to the Manning Award's yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Awards Stars of the Week. Sixty-nine quarterbacks were honored during the 2025 season and 609 different quarterbacks from 138 schools have been recognized since 2011.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which served as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, saw Ole Miss defeat SEC rival Georgia in a sold-out Superdome on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.