Desmond Ridder Named Manning Award Finalist

CINCINNATI — Another day, another chance at hardware for 2021 AAC Offensive Player of the Year Desmond Ridder. The Bearcats quarterback was named a finalist for the 2021 Manning Award.

Ridder is one of ten quarterbacks across the country to make the cut.

“There have been so many quarterbacks who’ve had outstanding seasons. They’re making this year’s competition for the Manning Award as wide-open as I can remember,” Archie Manning said in a press release. “This is definitely a year where we’re very pleased to have the opportunity to see how everyone plays for the full season – right through the bowl games and the playoff – before deciding who will be the winner.”

Ridder joins other finalists including, Virginia's Brennan Armstrong, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, Nevada’s Carson Strong, Alabama’s Bryce Young, and Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe.

The Bearcats quarterback is also a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was a semifinalist for the Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards.

Ridder's final regular-season stats came in at 3,000 passing yards (22nd nationally) and 27 passing touchdowns (13th) on 9.4 adjusted yards per attempt (15th). He also has 342 rushing yards (29th among quarterbacks) and six rushing touchdowns (t-10th).

His next time on the field is Saturday at 4 p.m. ET in the AAC Championship game against No. 21 Houston.

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