NEW ORLEANS, La. — WKU Football quarterback Bailey Zappe was voted the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced on Thursday. Zappe is the second Hilltopper in program history and only the eighth Conference USA player to win the weekly award, which began during the 2011 season.
After being named one of eight Manning Award “Stars of the Week” on Monday, Zappe won a fan vote on the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Facebook page that took place over the past three days. The 563 votes by Zappe and Hilltopper fans eclipsed 474 for West Virginia’s Jarret Doege, which was the next-closest number.
The other candidates were: Doege, Utah State’s Logan Bonner, Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, Bowling Green’s Matt McDonald, Houston’s Clayton Tune, Miami (Fla.)’s Tyler Van Dyke and Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams.
Zappe had another spectacular performance in WKU’s 45-13 Homecoming win vs. Charlotte, completing 33-of-45 passes (73.3%) for 393 yards, with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. As WKU led 35-13 at the end of the third quarter, he was already 30-of-40 (75%) for 361 yards, with all five of his touchdowns.
The most recent WKU “Star of the Week” had been Ty Storey on November 14, 2019, following the team’s 45-19 victory at Arkansas. The Charleston, Ark., native also won the fan vote to be the Quarterback of the Week after completing 22-of-32 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown, along with 17 rushes for 77 yards and two scores on the ground – all career highs in the run game.
Brandon Doughty was honored four times during the 2014 season, and then five more times the next year, when he was ultimately one of 12 finalists for the 2015 Manning Award. Mike White was a “Star of the Week” on September 6, 2016, after completing 25-of-31 passes for 517 yards and three touchdowns in his WKU debut vs. Rice.
The Victoria, Texas, native – who was added to the Manning Award Watch List on October 22 – has now been honored twice as a “Star of the Week” this season, marking 13 total occurrences of a Hilltopper being recognized. Zappe was also voted C-USA Offensive Player of the Week and named to the Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” list over the past few days.
WKU improved to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in C-USA with the win over the 49ers. The Hilltoppers’ next game will be against Middle Tennessee at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday, November 6. Kickoff against the Blue Raiders (4-4 overall and 2-2 in C-USA) will be at 2:30 p.m. WKU will be looking for its fourth-straight win this season and their sixth victory in the past seven meetings against rival MTSU.
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