Clemson's Trevor Lawrence Honored by The Manning Award

The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its “Stars of the Week"—one of whom was Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence

NEW ORLEANS (November 23, 2020) – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its “Stars of the Week.” College football fans can now go to the Allstate Sugar Bowl Facebook page to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. When voting closes on Thursday at 11 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor 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.

This week’s eight Manning Award Stars of the Week are:

Cornelious Brown IV, Georgia State (28-of-39, 372 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, QBR: 68.0)
Brown, who also scored on a short TD run, sets career-highs for completions, attempts and passing yards while rallying the Panthers to 17 unanswered points to close the game in a 30-24 Sun Belt win over Georgia Southern.

Brett Gabbert, Miami, Ohio (18-of-27, 308 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 97.6)
Gabbert, who also runs for a career-high 48 yards, records career-highs in yards and touchdowns as he leads the RedHawks to a 38-7 AMC road win over Akron.

Dillon Gabriel, UCF (22-of-36, 336 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 87.3)
Gabriel, who also runs for a touchdown, notches his seventh 300-yard game of the season and his third five-TD performance as he leads the Knights to a 58-46 AAC road win over archrival USF.

Frank Harris, UTSA (19-of-24, 144 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 90.7)
Harris, who also notched his third career 100-yard rushing game (113 yards on six carries with a TD), leads the Roadrunners to a 49-17 Conference USA win over North Texas.

Mac Jones, Alabama (18-of-26, 302 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 96.4)
Jones, who notches his fifth 300-yard game of the season, matches the Iron Bowl record for TD passes as he leads the Crimson Tide to a 42-13 SEC victory over No. 22 Auburn.

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (26-of-37, 403 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 85.3)
Lawrence, playing his first game in five weeks, goes over 400 yards for the second time this year as he leads the Tigers to a 52-17 ACC victory over Pittsburgh.

Andrew Peasley, Utah State (14-of-21, 239 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 91.1)
Peasley, who also rushes for 118 yards and a 62-yard touchdown, tallies single-game totals (passing and running) that surpass nearly all of his career stats entering the game as he leads the Aggies to their first win of the season, 41-27, over New Mexico.

Zac Thomas, Appalachian State (22-of-29, 279 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 89.5)
Thomas, who registers his fourth career four-TD game, moves into second place in active QB wins in the FBS as he leads the Mountaineers to a 47-10 Sun Belt win over Troy.

While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Finalists are scheduled to be announced in mid-December and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In its first 16 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 12 different schools and from four different conferences. The Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) and the Southeastern Conference (Joe Burrow, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) lead the way with five Manning Award honorees each, while and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Burrow and Russell) joins Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and Young) as the only schools with two different winners.

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. Seventy-one players from 65 different schools were honored during the 2019 season and 377 different quarterbacks from 127 schools have been recognized since 2011.