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Photo – QB Matt Grothe – South Florida
Sugar Bowl Announces Manning List
Honor Recognizes Top QB After Bowls
NEW ORLEANS – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its 2009 preseason Watch List. The list includes 38 of the top QBs in the nation heading into the 2009 season. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a February banquet in New Orleans. 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 QB award that takes into consideration the candidates’ bowl performances.
Florida’s Tim Tebow will attempt to become the first repeat winner of the honor after collecting it last season. He is joined by Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford to give the award two Heisman Trophy winners on the Watch List. Each of the 11 FBS conferences is represented on the Watch List with at least two candidates while the Big 12 leads the way with seven Watch List selections. In addition, Appalachian St’s Armanti Edwards becomes the 1st player from a FCS school to be recognized on the preseason Manning list.
“We have another great class of QBs this season,” said Archie Manning. “We have 38 QBs on our Watch List, but there are any number of other guys who could step into the picture as the season gets going. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch another tremendous college football season.”
While the preseason Watch List includes just 38 QBs, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible for the honor. Additional QBs may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. Ten finalists will be determined by a selected panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings. That list will be released on Monday, Nov. 30. The winner will be announced on Thurs, Jan. 14.
The first four winners of the Manning Award reads like a Who’s Who list at the QB position. USC’s Matt Leinart was the inaugural award winner in 2005, followed by Texas’ Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU’s JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick. Boston College’s Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting QB for the Atlanta Falcons.
2009 Manning Award Watch List
Austen Arnaud - Jr - Iowa St
Sam Bradford - Jr - Oklahoma
Levi Brown - Sr - Troy
Darryll Clark - Sr - Penn St
Jimmy Clausen - Jr - Notre Dame
Andy Dalton - Sr - TCU
Austin Davis - So - Southern Miss
Armanti Edwards - Sr - Appalachian St
Robert Griffin III - So - Baylor
Matt Grothe - Sr - USF
Max Hall - Sr - BYU
Tim Hiller - Sr - Western Michigan
Jerrod Johnson - Jr - Texas A&M
Colin Kaepernick - Jr - Nevada
Case Keenum - Jr - Houston
Dan LeFevour - Sr - Central Michigan
Corey Leonard - Sr - Arkansas St
Thaddeus Lewis - Sr - Duke
Ryan Lindley - So - San Diego St
Jake Locker - Jr Washington
Jeremiah Masoli - Jr - Oregon
Colt McCoy - Sr - Texas
Kellen Moore - So - Boise St
Tony Pike - Sr - Cincinnati
Terrelle Prior - So - Ohio St
Todd Reesing - Sr - Kansas
Zac Robinson - Sr - Oklahoma St
Tyler Sheehan - Sr - Bowling Green
Riley Skinner - Sr - Wake Forest
Rusty Smith - Sr - Florida Atlantic
Jevan Snead - Jr - Ole Miss
Ricky Stanzi - Jr - Iowa
Tim Tebow - Sr - Florida
Trevor Vittatoe - Jr - UTEP
Adam Weber - Jr - Minnesota
Juice Williams - Sr - Illinois
Russell Wilson - S- - N.C. St
T.J. Yates - Jr North Carolina
-www.AllStateSugarBowl.org-