NEW ORLEANS (Oct. 5, 2026) – Ohio State's Julian Sayin and Missouri's Austin Simmons led a standout group of Manning Stars of the Week after delivering impressive performances in ranked victories Saturday. Sayin threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 5 Ohio State to a 31-14 road win over No. 14 Iowa, while Simmons passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns as Missouri stunned No. 8 Florida, 45-17.
The two quarterbacks headlined a weekend that featured several outstanding performances from some of the nation's top signal callers.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes candidates' bowl performances in its balloting.
Since the Manning Award began recognizing Stars of the Week in 2011, 628 different quarterbacks from 138 schools have been recognized.

This week's eight Manning Award Stars of the Week are:

Braden Atkinson, Oregon State (31-of-34, 427 yards, 5 TDs) – Atkinson put together a record-setting performance Saturday, completing 31 of 34 passes for 427 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions as Oregon State routed Colorado State 56-26 in the Pac-12 opener.  Atkinson connected with Jesse Legree for three touchdowns, including scoring strikes of 50 and 52 yards. Legree finished with five catches for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Atkinson also threw touchdown passes to Eric Olsen and Aaron Butler. Atkinson completed 16 consecutive passes, establishing an Oregon State single-game record. He has now surpassed 300 passing yards in five straight games, the second-longest such streak in school history behind Sean Mannion's seven-game run in 2013.

CJ Bailey, NC State (24-of-40, 373 yards, 2 TDs) – Bailey posted a career-best performance Saturday, throwing for 373 yards, two touchdowns and a key two-point conversion as NC State held off Louisville 31-28 in Raleigh. Bailey completed 24 of 40 passes and added 19 rushing yards. Bailey connected with Keenan Jackson on a 19-yard touchdown in the first half and later found Tyran Warren for a 34-yard scoring strike. His 373 passing yards marked the seventh 300-yard game of his career.

CJ Carr, Notre Dame (21-of-29, 234 yards, 5 total TDs) – Carr continued his impressive season on Saturday, completing 21 of 29 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions as No. 3 Notre Dame defeated North Carolina 37-26 in Chapel Hill. Carr also added a 3-yard rushing touchdown as the Irish improved to 5-0.  Carr connected with Jordan Faison for two touchdowns (28 and 39 yards) and also found Jaden Greathouse for a 12-yard score and Nolan James Jr. for a 6-yard touchdown. His four touchdown passes matched his career high.

DJ Lagway, Baylor (25-of-40, 306 yards, 5 total TDs) – Lagway delivered a career-high four touchdown passes Saturday night, leading Baylor to a dominant 55-19 victory over Arizona State in Tempe. Lagway completed 25 of 40 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and added an 11-yard rushing touchdown. Lagway spread the ball around, throwing touchdown passes to Louis Brown IV, Jadon Porter, Tony Livingston and Hawkins Polley. He also connected with Gavin Freeman seven times for 115 yards as Baylor rolled up 564 total yards.

Julian Sayin, Ohio State (20-of-27, 324 yards, 3 total TDs) – Sayin delivered one of his best performances of the season Saturday, completing 20 of 27 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions as No. 5 Ohio State defeated No. 14 Iowa, 31-14, at Kinnick Stadium. His 324 passing yards came against an Iowa defense that entered the game allowing just 152 passing yards per game.  Sayin connected with Devin McCuin for a 15-yard touchdown on Ohio State's opening possession. He then found Jeremiah Smith for touchdowns of 12 and 57 yards, with the latter giving the Buckeyes a 24-6 lead in the third quarter.  He has now thrown 13 touchdowns against just one interception through five games and has topped 300 passing yards in three games this season

Austin Simmons, Missouri (23-of-30, 340 yards, 2 total TDs) – Simmons delivered the best performance of his Missouri career Saturday, leading No. 25 Missouri to a stunning 45-17 upset of No. 8 Florida in Columbia. Simmons completed 23 of 30 passes (76.7%) for 340 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. His touchdown passes covered 47 yards to Donovan Olugbode and 31 yards to Caleb Goodie Sr.  The 340 passing yards were a Missouri career high and came just one yard shy of Simmons' career best of 341 yards, set during his first career start at Ole Miss in 2025. It was also his first 300-yard passing game at Missouri.  Simmons was particularly effective in the second half as Missouri pulled away from a 10-10 tie, scoring 35 unanswered points to knock off the previously unbeaten Gators.

Gunner Stockton (25-of-32, 295 yards, 3 TDs) – Stockton turned in his best passing performance of the season Saturday, completing 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions as No. 2 Georgia defeated Vanderbilt 38-14 in Athens. Stockton connected with 10 different receivers, including Dwight Phillips Jr., who led Georgia with five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Stockton also rushed seven times for 22 yards, giving him 317 total yards of offense. The junior has now thrown 13 touchdown passes against just one interception through Georgia's first five games.

Marcus Stokes, Memphis (20-of-25, 318 yards, 5 TDs) – Stokes had a career day Saturday as Memphis opened American Conference play with a 59-8 rout of Charlotte. The junior quarterback completed 20 of 25 passes for 318 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, leading the Tigers to their largest victory since 2022. Stokes got Memphis rolling with a 93-yard touchdown pass to Jermane Hayes, the second-longest touchdown pass in Memphis history. He added touchdown passes of 25 yards to Jemyri Davis, 28 yards to Hunter Tipton, 19 yards to Stonka Burnside and 9 yards to Tipton.

The Manning Award selected 40 quarterbacks for its Watch List in the preseason and will add additional quarterbacks on October 23. 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 22 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 16 different schools and five 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 more than 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.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 114 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 93rd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will serve as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, will be played on January 15, 2027. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests more than $1 million into the community through 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 more than $2.6 billion into the local economy over the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.