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. An All-American who also won the Heisman Trophy and was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Mendoza 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.
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.
