Boyd named a "Manning Star of the Week"

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 07 11:53:06 GMT-04:00 2013

NEW ORLEANS – 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 Player of the Week.

VOTE HERE!

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.

Manning Award Website

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

Quinn Kaehler, San Diego State

(23-of-32, 286 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 91.9)

Kaehler registers career-highs in completions, yards and touchdowns with his biggest completion coming in overtime as he finds Eric Judge for a 13-yard touchdown in a 51-44 Mountain West win over Nevada.

Jameis Winston, Florida State

(23-of-32, 393 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 90.4)

Winston tallies his career-high in touchdowns and passing yards while turning in multiple highlight-reel plays as the Seminoles dismantle previously undefeated Maryland, 63-0.

Zach Mettenberger, LSU

(25-of-29, 340 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 92.1)

LSU trails late in the second quarter, then explodes for a 38-3 run to crush Mississippi State, 59-26, on the road as Mettenberger is nearly flawless with his career-best completion percentage.

Tajh BoydTajh Boyd
RS Sr. Quarterback
#10 6-1, 225
Hampton, VA
View Full Profile , Clemson

(20-of-27, 455 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INT, QBR: 94.0)

Boyd matches his own school-record for touchdown passes in three quarters of action as the Tigers win 49-14, providing an unfriendly welcome to Syracuse in its ACC debut.

Jaquez Johnson, Florida Atlantic

(23-of-36, 299 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 90.2)

Johnson, who also rushes for a career-high 105 yards and a score, leads the Owls to 14 unanswered points to close the game in a 37-23 C-USA road win over UAB.

Marcus Mariota, Oregon

(16-of-27, 355 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 90.9)

Mariota sets a school record with seven touchdowns (he also rushes for two scores) in a 57-16 victory over Colorado on the road.

Keith Wenning, Ball State

(23-of-41, 346 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 77.0)

Wenning, who also rushes for a touchdown, tallies his sixth straight 300-yard game and his season-high, in a 48-27 upset of Virginia on the road.

David Carr, Fresno State

(37-of-48, 419 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 97.0)

Carr tallies 390 of his yards and all of his touchdowns in the first half as the Bulldogs register their fifth 40-point game of the year in a 61-14 Mountain West blowout over Idaho on the road.

Last week’s Manning Award Quarterback of the Week was Oregon State star Sean Mannion, who earned the honor for the second time this season. The Pleasanton, Calif., native, set a school record for passing touchdowns while tallying his third 400-yard game of the year in leading the Beavers to their fourth straight victory, 44-17, over Colorado. He completed 27-of-52 passes for 414 yards with six touchdowns and just one interception and was also selected the Pac-12 Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. The 10 finalists for the honor will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the BCS National Championship game on Monday, Jan. 6.

The Manning Award will be recognizing its 10th winner this year. USC’s Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award 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 quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2009, Florida star Tim Tebow earned the honor – he also went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The 2010 winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history, who was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the draft. McCoy was followed by top-two NFL Draft picks – Auburn’s Cameron Newton earned the award in 2011, prior to being selected No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers and then Robert Griffin, III, from Baylor, was the 2012 winner prior to being the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Redskins. This past season’s winner was Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel, who became the first freshman to earn the honor.