NEW ORLEANS – WKU senior QB Austin Reed was selected to the Manning Award Watch List, presented to the nation’s best quarterback, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced Tuesday.
Reed, the 2023 CUSA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and member of the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Walter Camp Award and Wuerffel Trophy preseason watch lists, is coming off a 2022 season in which he was the leading passer in all of college football with 4,746 yards. The Florida native also tossed 40 touchdowns, while rushing for an additional eight. Reed’s biggest performance of the season came in WKU’s win over South Alabama in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl when he threw for 497 yards and four touchdowns, which led to him being named the bowl game’s MVP. Reed was also named Conference USA’s Newcomer of the Year at the end of the 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 quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting.
“We have another outstanding group of quarterbacks on our Watch List,” said Archie Manning. “We’re excited to get a new season rolling to see who will rise up and establish themselves as the best in the country. We’ll add another batch of quarterbacks to the Watch List midway through the season to allow us to recognize transfers and young QBs who have become stars in their new roles or with their new schools.”
Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Transfers and other newcomers at schools were not eligible for the preseason Watch List, but additional quarterbacks will be added to the Watch List during the season. Finalists will be selected prior to the postseason and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
“It’s an honor for the Allstate Sugar Bowl to partner with the Manning family to recognize outstanding achievements by quarterbacks from around the country,” said Jeff Hundley, the CEO of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “We’re looking forward to another exciting season of college football and the opportunity to welcome the nation’s best quarterback to New Orleans next spring.”
For full Manning Award information, follow @ManningAward on Twitter and Instagram or visit AllstateSugarBowl.org.
In its first 19 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 14 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with eight Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones), LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) have each produced a pair of Manning Award winners.
Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Sixteen of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Bennett, Burrow, Griffin III, Jones, Marcus Mariota, Mayfield, Murray, Ryan, Watson (twice), Winston and Bryce Young. On the other hand, Manziel, Murray, Newton, Watson (in 2015) and Vince Young were all 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. Thirteen of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons – Burrow’s 65 touchdowns (60 passing, five rushing) broke Mariota’s record (58 in 2014) for touchdowns by a Manning Award winner.
One of the more unique aspects of the Manning Award is the fact that it takes account of the quarterbacks’ bowl performances, in addition to the regular season. Sixteen of the 19 Manning Award winners won bowl games during the season they won the honor. Fourteen Manning Award honorees led their teams to the CFP Semifinals or a BCS Championship game appearance (Bennett, Burrow, Jones, Matt Leinart, Mariota, Mayfield, McCoy, Murray, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and both Bryce and Vince Young). Nine won national championships (Bennett, Burrow, Jones, Leinart, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and Vince Young).
Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Seven honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Burrow, Mayfield, Murray, Newton, Russell, Winston, and Bryce Young), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Griffin III, Mariota, Ryan and Vince Young).
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 Quarterbacks of the Week. Sixty players from 58 different schools were honored during the 2022 season and 491 different quarterbacks from 132 schools have been recognized since 2011.-ConferenceUSA.com-
