University of North Carolina Athletics
Williams Named To Manning Award List
July 23, 2015 | Football
Courtesy of John Sudsbury, Director of Communications & Media Relations Allstate Sugar Bowl
NEW ORLEANS – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, published its complete preseason Watch List on Thursday and North Carolina senior quarterback Marquise Williams is among those under consideration. The list includes 30 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2015 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the bowls.
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 includes the candidates' bowl performances in its balloting.
“We're very excited about the group of quarterbacks on our Watch List,” said Archie Manning. “And once the season gets rolling, I am sure we will see additional quarterbacks become worthy of inclusion as they establish themselves, so we will make some additions.”
Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Midseason additions to the Watch List will be announced on Wednesday, October 14. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Wednesday, November 25. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, January 13.
This year's Watch List includes players from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The ACC leads the way with five selections, followed by the SEC, the Pac-12 and the American with four each. There are 15 seniors on the list while the junior class is represented by 10 quarterbacks and the sophomore class has four.
Three of last year's Manning Award finalists are included on this year's Watch List: Trevone Boykin (TCU), Cody Kessler (USC) and Dak Prescott (Mississippi State).
2015-16 Manning Award Watch List
1. Brandon Allen Sr. Arkansas
2. Tommy Armstrong Jr. Nebraska
3. Trevone Boykin Sr. TCU
4. Jacoby Brissett Sr. N.C. State
5. Connor Cook Sr. Michigan State
6. Joshua Dobbs So. Tennessee
7. Brandon Doughty Sr. Western Kentucky
8. Kevin Ellison Jr. Georgia Southern
9. Blake Frohnapfel Sr. UMass
10. Jared Goff Jr. California
11. Joe Gray Sr. San Jose State
12. Christian Hackenberg Jr. Penn State
13. Taysom Hill Sr. BYU
14. Kevin Hogan Sr. Stanford
15. Brad Kaaya So. Miami
16. Cody Kessler Sr. USC
17. Gunner Kiel Jr. Cincinnati
18. Fredi Knighten Sr. Arkansas State
19. Joe Licata Sr. Buffalo
20. Paxton Lync Jr. Memphis
21. Maty Mauk Jr. Missouri
22. Dak Prescott Sr. Mississippi State
23. Keenan Reynolds Sr. Navy
24. Sam B. Richardson Sr. Iowa State
25. Anu Solomon So. Arizona
26. Zach Terrell Jr. Western Michigan
27. Justin Thomas Jr. Georgia Tech
28. P.J. Walker Jr. Temple
29. Deshaun Watson So. Clemson
30. Marquise Williams Sr. North Carolina
“We have had the opportunity to recognize 11 outstanding quarterbacks with the Manning Award,” said Paul Hoolahan, Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO. “It is truly a great honor for the Allstate Sugar Bowl to sponsor this award and we wish the best of luck to every quarterback and team in the country for another great year of college football.”
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. While the Southeastern Conference leads the way with four Manning Award winners (JaMarcus Russell, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel), Texas is the only school with two winners (Vince Young and Colt McCoy).
Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Eight of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Robert Griffin III, and Ryan, who connected for over 4,500 yards during the 2007 season. On the other hand, Young, Manziel and Newton were both 1,000-yard rushers during their Manning years.
Perhaps most impressive among the statistics of the quarterbacks recognized by the Manning Award is touchdowns scored. Six of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons – Mariota's 58 touchdowns in 2014 shattered the Manning Award record of 51 scores from Newton, who threw for 30 touchdowns, ran for 20 more and added a receiving TD.
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 McCoy in the 2010 BCS Championship game when he suffered an early injury. In addition to McCoy, six other Manning honorees (Matt Leinart, Young, Tebow, Newton, Winston and Mariota) led their teams to the national championship game (BCS or CFP).
Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Three honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Russell, Newton and Winston), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Young, Ryan, Griffin and Mariota).
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. Sixty-two players from 58 different schools were honored during the 2014 season.
