The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its 10 finalists for the 2012 award on Nov. 28. 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.
| Name |
Class |
School |
C-A |
Pct. |
Yards |
TDs |
INTs |
Wins |
Rush |
| Matt Barkley |
Sr. |
USC |
246-387 |
63.6 |
3,273 |
36 |
15 |
7 |
NA |
| Tajh Boyd |
Jr. |
Clemson |
251-377 |
66.6 |
3,550 |
34 |
13 |
10 |
NA |
| Collin Klein |
Sr. |
Kansas State |
172-258 |
66.7 |
2,306 |
14 |
6 |
10 |
787 yds, 20 TDs |
| Jordan Lynch |
Jr. |
No. Illinois |
203-319 |
63.6 |
2,750 |
23 |
4 |
11 |
1,611 yds, 16 TDs |
| Johnny Manziel |
Fr. |
Texas A&M |
273-400 |
68.3 |
3,419 |
24 |
8 |
10 |
1,181 yds, 19 TDs |
| Marcus Mariota |
Fr. |
Oregon |
218-312 |
69.9 |
2,511 |
30 |
6 |
11 |
690 yds, 4 TDs |
| AJ McCarron |
Jr. |
Alabama |
178-265 |
67.2 |
2,507 |
25 |
2 |
11 |
NA |
| Braxton Miller |
So. |
Ohio State |
148-254 |
58.3 |
2,039 |
15 |
6 |
12 |
1,271 yds, 13 TDs |
| Aaron Murray |
Jr. |
Georgia |
213-320 |
66.6 |
3,201 |
30 |
7 |
11 |
NA |
| Geno Smith |
Sr. |
West Virginia |
327-466 |
70.2 |
3,597 |
37 |
5 |
6 |
NA |
While the statistics for the group are exemplary, one stat stands out above the rest – they have a combined winning percentage of .846 with an overall record of 99-19. The finalists average nearly 3,000 passing yards and 27 passing touchdowns while averaging just seven interceptions each. Interestingly, five of the finalists rushed for over 500 yards on the season, including three 1,000-yard rushers. As a group, they totaled 87 rushing touchdowns. Eight of the players come from 10-win programs.
“We think we have another great group of quarterbacks as our finalists,” said Archie Manning. “Once again, there were so many outstanding performances by so many different guys, this was very tough to decide on 10, and I’d like to thank our selection committee for their time and effort. But what this is really about is the players themselves and I want to thank them all for their hard work all season long. I’m very much looking forward to the conference championships and bowl games to really see who steps up in the big-game situations.”
The group is represented by just three seniors, to go with four juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen – the first two freshmen to be selected as Manning Award finalists. The finalists come from the Southeastern Conference (3), the Pac-12 (2), the Big 12 (2), the ACC (1), the Mid-American Conference (1) and the Big Ten Conference (1). Matt Barkley is the only player who has been a finalist in previous years (2011-12).
-www.AllstateSugarBowl.org-
