NEW ORLEANS – Two Conference USA football student-athletes were named to the Manning Award watch list, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced Monday – UTSA QB Frank Harris and Charlotte QB Chris Reynolds. Harris and Reynolds are among the top 30 quarterbacks selected heading into the 2022 season.
A semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Awards a year ago, Harris enters the 2022 campaign with a 20-8 record as UTSA’s starting quarterback. Harris guided UTSA to the most successful season in program history in 2021, helping lead the Roadrunners to a 12-2 record, their first conference championship and top-25 ranking and to their second straight and third overall bowl game. A two-time national player of the week last fall, he set school single-season records for passing yards (3,177), completions (398), touchdowns (27), attempts (263), completion percentage (.661), passing efficiency (152.5), total offense (3,743) and touchdowns responsible for (33). He also rushed for 566 yards — a program record for a QB — and six scores and caught three passes for 36 yards and a TD en route to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Offensive Player of the Year and second-team all-conference accolades.
Reynolds, the 49ers all-time leader in career passing yards and touchdowns broke the school’s single season records for passing yards and touchdowns. He ranked second in C-USA in passing touchdowns and points responsible for and fourth in passing efficiency. Reynolds was named to the Davey O’Brien Top 40 QB Class and a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy given to the top college player that began his career as a walk-on in 2021. Reynolds threw for 300+ yards three times last season, including a school-record 448 passing yards vs. La. Tech. He also led the team in rushing touchdowns. A four-year starter and two-time captain, he was named Honorable Mention all-C-USA for the third straight year, in 2021.
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.
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-seven players from 66 different schools were honored during the 2021 season and 464 different quarterbacks from 129 schools have been recognized since 2011.
2022 Manning Award Preseason Watch List (2021 stats)
| Name, Class, School |
| Brennan Armstrong, Sr., Virginia |
| Stetson Bennett, Sr., Georgia |
| Logan Bonner, Sr., Utah State |
| Chase Brice, Sr., Appalachian State |
| Sean Clifford, Sr., Penn State |
| Malik Cunningham, Sr., Louisville |
| Brett Gabbert, Jr., Miami (Ohio) |
| Jake Haener, Sr., Fresno State |
| Jaren Hall, Jr., BYU |
| Frank Harris, Sr., UTSA |
| Sam Hartman, Jr., Wake Forest |
| Seth Henigan, So., Memphis |
| Hendon Hooker, Sr., Tennessee |
| KJ Jefferson, Jr., Arkansas |
| Devin Leary, Jr., NC State |
| Will Levis, Sr., Kentucky |
| Grayson McCall, Sr., Coastal Carolina |
| Tanner Mordecai, Sr., SMU |
| Aidan O’Connell, Sr., Purdue |
| Chris Reynolds, Sr., Charlotte |
| Cameron Rising, Jr., Utah |
| Will Rogers, Jr., Mississippi State |
| Spencer Sanders, Sr., Oklahoma St. |
| C.J. Stroud, So., Ohio State |
| Taulia Tagovailoa, Jr., Maryland |
| Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Sr., UCLA |
| Payton Thorne, Jr., Michigan State |
| Clayton Tune, Sr., Houston |
| Tyler Van Dyke, So., Miami |
| Bryce Young, Jr., Alabama |
-ConferenceUSA.com-
