The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced 12 finalists for this year’s award on December 2. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans. 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 performances into consideration in its balloting.
“I am very pleased with this outstanding group that was selected as our finalists,” Archie Manning said. “I appreciate the time and expertise of our voting panel who made the effort to get us to these final 12. The skills and accomplishments of some very impressive young men who didn’t make the finalist list shows just how competitive it is to be selected. Now we get to see how these guys do on an even bigger stage – conference championship games and bowl games.”
2015 MANNING AWARD FINALISTS
| Name |
Cl. |
School |
QBR |
C |
A |
Pct. |
Yards |
TDs |
INT |
Wins |
Rushing |
| Brandon Allen |
Sr. |
Arkansas |
87.2 |
224 |
344 |
65.1 |
3,125 |
29 |
7 |
7 |
116 yds, 1 TD |
| Trevone Boykin |
Sr. |
TCU |
82.3 |
257 |
396 |
64.9 |
3,575 |
31 |
10 |
10 |
612 yds, 9 TDs |
| Connor Cook |
Sr. |
Michigan State |
78.0 |
194 |
337 |
57.6 |
2,730 |
24 |
4 |
10 |
NA |
| Brandon Doughty |
Sr. |
Western Kentucky |
85.8 |
322 |
444 |
72.5 |
4,184 |
42 |
6 |
10 |
NA |
| Kevin Hogan |
Sr. |
Stanford |
85.3 |
185 |
271 |
68.3 |
2,500 |
23 |
7 |
10 |
294 yds, 4 TDs |
| Chad Kelly |
Jr. |
Ole Miss |
86.4 |
277 |
425 |
65.2 |
3,740 |
27 |
12 |
9 |
427 yds, 10 TDs |
| Paxton Lynch |
Jr. |
Memphis |
81.0 |
280 |
406 |
69.0 |
3,670 |
28 |
3 |
9 |
240 yds, 2 TDs |
| Baker Mayfield |
Jr. |
Oklahoma |
82.0 |
243 |
354 |
68.6 |
3,389 |
35 |
5 |
11 |
420 yds, 7 TDs |
| Dak Prescott |
Sr. |
Mississippi State |
81.1 |
291 |
435 |
66.9 |
3,413 |
25 |
4 |
8 |
541 yds, 10 TDs |
| Keenan Reynolds |
Sr. |
Navy |
71.1 |
46 |
84 |
54.8 |
964 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
1,093 yds, 19 TDs |
| Greg Ward, Jr. |
Jr. |
Houston |
80.2 |
196 |
283 |
69.3 |
2,502 |
16 |
5 |
11 |
893 yds, 17 TDs |
| Deshaun Watson |
So. |
Clemson |
86.9 |
261 |
371 |
70.4 |
3,223 |
27 |
10 |
12 |
756 yds, 9 TDs |
Statistically, the group of finalists excels in nearly every category as they average over 3,000 yards passing and over 26 touchdowns. The group has thrown for nearly five and a half touchdowns for every interception they have lost. In addition, seven of the finalists ran for over 400 yards on the year with seven of them tallying seven or more rushing touchdowns. Seven of the 12 led their teams to double digits in victories, while all 12 led their teams to bowl eligibility. Five of this year’s Manning Award finalists will be competing in conference championship games this weekend.
This year’s group includes two returning finalists from last year (Boykin and Prescott). The list is dominated by upperclassmen with seven seniors and four juniors, with just one sophomore. The finalists come from seven different conferences, including the SEC and the American Athletic Conference with three, two from the Big 12, and one each from the ACC, the Big Ten, Conference USA and the Pac-12.
In its first 11 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 10 different schools and from four different conferences. One of the more unique aspects of the Manning Award is the fact that it takes into account the quarterbacks bowl performances, in addition to the regular season. Ten of the 11 Manning Award winners won bowl games during the season they won the honor; the lone loss was by Colt McCoy in the 2010 BCS Championship game when he suffered an early injury. In addition to McCoy, six other Manning honorees (Matt Leinart, Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota) led their teams to the national championship game (BCS or CFP).
All of 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 Quarterbacks of the Week. Fifty-five players from 52 different schools were honored during the 2015 season.
