Utah QB Devon Dampier makes late push for prominent college football award

Dampier is among 15 finalists for the Manning Award

Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) broke Alex Smith's program record for total yards of offense in a bowl game during a 44-22 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Las Vegas Bowl. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

An electric performance that fueled Utah to a blowout victory over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl has earned Utes quarterback Devon Dampier the distinction of being a finalist for the Manning Award.

Dampier was added to the list of contenders for the prominent honor Thursday, placing him among a select group of signal-callers vying to take home the award that honors the accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning.

Peyton and Eli's nephew, Arch Manning, was among the five players who joined the original group of 10 finalists the Allstate Sugar Bowl revealed on Dec. 4.

Because the Manning Award is the only quarterback award that takes the candidates' bowl and playoff performances into consideration in its balloting, College Football Playoff semifinal participants Carson Beck of Miami and Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss were able to play their way into finalist consideration with standout performances in the postseason. Ironically, their respective teams were slated to go head-to-head for a spot in the national championship game later on Thursday (5:30 p.m. MT, ESPN).

The one late addition to the group of finalists that stuck out was Kaleb Blaha, a senior from Division III constituent Wisconsin-River Falls. Blaha racked up the most total yards of offense among the 15 finalists with 6,189 (4,971 passing, 1,218 rushing), breaking former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow's NCAA record for individual yards in a single season. Blaha also recorded 59 total touchdowns as he led Wisconsin-River Falls to the Division III national championship.

As for Dampier, he had the third-most total yards of offense (3,325) among the newly-named Division I finalists, and boasted the second-highest quarterback rating (84.5) of the group behind Chambliss (86.8). When comparing the other 10 finalists as well, though, Dampier finished No. 13 in total yards and No. 6 in quarterback rating. He was, however, tied for the second-fewest interceptions (four).

A significant chunk of Dampier's final counting stats came during the Utes' triumph on New Year's Eve, when he went 19-of-31 through the air for 310 yards with two touchdown passes and rushed for 148 yards and three scores on 19 carries against Nebraska. That effort earned him game MVP honors, as Dampier tied former Utah quarterback Travis Wilson for the most rushing touchdowns by a Utah player in a bowl game and surpassed Alex Smith's program record of total yards of offense (408) in a bowl game. It was also Dampier's first career game with over 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing, and marked the third time he accounted for five total touchdowns.

Dampier concluded the season with 2,490 passing yards and 24 touchdowns to five interceptions while completing 63.5% of his pass attempts. He finished as Utah's second-leading rusher with 835 yards and 10 scores on 146 carries, becoming the first Utes quarterback to throw for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 600 in a single season since Alex Smith accomplished the feat in 2004.

Dampier's efforts also helped earn him the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year award, third team all-conference recognition and a spot on the Associated Press all-bowl team.

The winner of the Manning Award will be announced after the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 19.

Manning Award Finalists

Player (School)	Completion-Attempts (%)	Passing Yards	TDs	INTs	QBR	Rushing
Carson Beck (Miami)	296-of-398 (74.4%)	3,313	27	10	81.8	56 yds, 1 TD
Kaleb Blaha (Wisconsin-River Falls)	415-of-611 (67.9%)	4,971	41	10	N/A	1,218 yds, 18 TDs
Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss)	271-of-408 (66.4%)	3,660	21	3	86.8	520 yds, 8 TDs
Arch Manning (Texas)	248-of-404 (61.4%)	3,163	26	7	78	399 yds, 10 TDs
Devon Dampier (Utah)	212-of-334 (63.5%)	2,490	24	5	84.5	835 yds, 10 TDs
CJ Carr (Notre Dame)	195-of-293 (66.6%)	2,741	24	6	83.4	33 yds, 3 TDs
Haynes King (Georgia Tech)	252-of-361 (69.8%)	2,951	14	6	78.6	953 yds, 15 TDs
Fernando Mendoza (Indiana)	240-of-332 (72.3%)	3,172	36	6	89.5	256 yds, 6 TDs
Drew Mestemaker (North Texas)	319-of-463 (68.9%)	4,379	34	9	74.8	89 yds, 5 TDs
Dante Moore (Oregon)	272-of-373 (72.9%)	3,280	28	9	79.0	184 yds, 2 TDs
Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt)	267-of-378 (70.6%)	3,539	29	8	87.2	862 yds, 10 TDs
Marcel Reed (Texas A&M)	234-of-377 (62.1%)	3,169	25	12	75.7	493 yds, 6 TDs
Julian Sayin (Ohio State)	301-of-391 (77.0%)	3,610	32	8	88.4	N/A
Ty Simpson (Alabama)	305-of-473 (64.5%)	3,567	28	5	76.0	93 yds, 2 TDs
Gunner Stockton (Georgia)	269-of-386 (69.7%)	2,894	24	5	84.8	462 yds, 10 TDs