Sugar Bowl

The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its 10 finalists for 2010 award on Tuesday. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a banquet 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 into consideration the candidates’ bowl performances.

2009 MANNING AWARD FINALISTS (UPDATED 1/11 TO INCLUDE BOWL STATS)

Quarterback	Cl.	School	Com-Att	Pct.	Yards	TD	INT	Wins
Jimmy Clausen	Jr.	Notre Dame	289-of-425	68.0	3722	28	4	6
Andy Dalton	Jr.	TCU	199-of-323	61.6	2756	23	8	12
Max Hall	Sr.	BYU	275-of-409	67.2	3560	33	14	11
Case Keenum	So.	Houston	492-of-700	70.3	5671	44	15	10
Dan LeFevour	Sr.	Cent. Michigan	318-of-456	69.7	3438	28	7	12
Ryan Mallett	Jr.	Arkansas	225-of-403	55.8	3627	30	7	8
Colt McCoy	Sr.	Texas	332-of-470	70.6	3521	27	12	13
Kellen Moore	So.	Boise State	277-of-431	64.3	3536	39	3	14
Tony Pike	Sr.	Cincinnati	211-of-338	62.4	2520	29	6	9
Tim Tebow	Sr.	Florida	213-of-314	67.8	2895	21	5	13

This year’s finalists are an outstanding class which includes five players from undefeated teams and a combined 102 victories with over 30,000 passing yards and 275 touchdowns. As far as national statistical leaders, eight of the top 12 in touchdown passes, five of the top 10 in passing yardage and 10 of the top 12 in passing efficiency are included on the list.

“It has been another entertaining year to watch great quarterbacks in college football,” Archie Manning said. “There have been outstanding performances by so many different players, but we are very excited with this list of 10 quarterbacks which we think represent the best that college football has to offer. We will be very excited to follow these 10 young men through the bowl season and then decide which one is the best in the nation.”

The winner will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 14.

The first five winners of the Manning Award reads like a Who’s Who list at the quarterback position. USC’s Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas’ Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU’s JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick. Boston College’s Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. Last season’s winner was Florida’s Tim Tebow, who is making his bid to become the first two-time winner of the honor this year.