Prior to the 2004 college football season, 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 college football quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting; therefore, it is presented annually following the completion of the College Football Playoff and Bowl Season.
Manning Award Finalists 2025
Manning Award Watch List 2025
Manning Award Stars of the Week 2025
Manning Award Futures 2025 – Weekly High School Honorees
Fernando Mendoza, the star quarterback who led Indiana University to its first college football national championship, was selected as the winner of the 2025 Manning Award, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl to the top quarterback in the nation. Mendoza is the first Indiana quarterback to earn the honor, which started in 2004.
“What a joy it’s been to watch Fernando throughout this season,” said Archie Manning. “He excelled on the field week after week, right down to that fourth-down touchdown run in the national championship that will live forever in Indiana history. He also conducted himself so well off the field and in interviews. We’re honored to recognize Fernando Mendoza as the winner of the 2025 Manning Award.”
Mendoza, an All-American who also won the Heisman Trophy and was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, led the Hoosiers to wins in the College Football Playoff (CFP) Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl and the CFP Semifinal at the Peach Bowl before capping the first 16-0 season in FBS history with a thrilling 27-21 win over Miami in the CFP National Championship in his hometown of Miami.
“If you can picture a sundae, winning a national championship is the ice cream, the Heisman is a little bit of whipped cream, and the Manning Award is really the cherry on top,” Mendoza said. “It wouldn’t be complete without the Manning Award as it’s the only award that recognizes postseason feats, and I believe that’s the most recognized for quarterbacks – how they perform in the postseason. [It’s great to] be recognized with, and associated with, such a prestigious award from such a fantastic family on and off the field.”
In a season with many high points, none will be remembered more than Mendoza’s national championship effort when facing a fourth-and-four at the Miami 12-yard line while clinging to a 17-14 fourth-quarter lead. On a designed run, the 6-5, 225-pound quarterback managed to jump over his center for the first down, battled past two Hurricane defenders before running over a third, and then spun and dove for the end zone, taking a brutal hit to the back but holding on for the critical touchdown.
“He’s a complete warrior,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said. “He has the heart of a lion.”
“A big constant we’ve had this year,” Mendoza said, “is always bet on ourselves.”
Mendoza led the Football Bowl Subdvision (FBS) in passing touchdowns (41) and led the Power Four in touchdowns responsible for (passing and rushing, 48). He was also the only FBS quarterback with six games of 4-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
“We’re honored to continue to work with the Manning family to recognize the top quarterback in the nation,” said Jeff Hundley, the chief executive officer of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “We’ve had the opportunity to honor some of the best quarterbacks in college football history with the Manning Award. and this year we add to that list with Fernando Mendoza, who capped one of the most memorable seasons in college football history with a great playoff run and a national championship. We look forward to hosting him here in New Orleans for the official Manning Award Ceremony.”
Other finalists for this year’s Manning Award were Carson Beck (Miami), Kaleb Blaha (Wisconsin-River Falls), CJ Carr (Notre Dame), Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss), Devon Campier (Utah), Haynes King (Georgia Tech), Arch Manning (Texas), Drew Mestemaker (North Texas), Dante Moore (Oregon), Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt), Marcel Reed (Texas A&M), Julian Sayin (Ohio State), Ty Simpson (Alabama), and Gunner Stockton (Georgia).
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 from 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 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.
