The Allstate Sugar Bowl announced today that quarterback Cade Klubnik has been named as one of 29 candidates on the watch list for the Manning Award, presented annually to the nation’s top quarterback after the postseason. Additional information from award organizers is included below.
In addition, Klubnik also garnered a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award selection on Wednesday. Visit the 2024 Preseason Honors hub for more preseason accolades garnered by Clemson.
NEW ORLEANS (August 15, 2024) – The Manning Award, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its preseason Watch List on Tuesday. The list includes 29 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2024 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the postseason.
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 quarterback award that includes the candidates’ postseason performances in its balloting.
“The start of college football is always an exciting time of year,” said Archie Manning. “There’s lots of anticipation on campuses around the country and the quarterback position always draws a lot of attention and scrutiny. We hope that the Watch List for the Manning Award brings some positive attention to many of the top returning quarterbacks looking to have big years. And after we get into the season, we’ll revisit things and expand our Watch List to include transfers and young quarterbacks who have started to make their marks on the game.”
Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Transfers and other newcomers at schools were not eligible for the preseason Watch List, but additional quarterbacks will be added to the Watch List during the season. Finalists will be selected prior to the postseason and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
“Each year it’s an honor for the Allstate Sugar Bowl to partner with the Manning family to recognize outstanding achievements of quarterbacks from around the country,” said Jeff Hundley, the CEO of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “We’re looking forward to another great season of college football and the opportunity to honor the nation’s best quarterback in New Orleans next spring.”
This year’s Watch List includes players from eight Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The Big 12 and the SEC lead the way with six selections, followed by the ACC with five. The American and the Mountain West each have three.
Two of last year’s Manning Award finalists are included on this year’s Watch List: Carson Beck (Georgia) and Jalen Milroe (Alabama).
For full Manning Award information, follow @ManningAward on X (FKA Twitter) and Instagram; or visit AllstateSugarBowl.org.
2024 Manning Award Preseason Watch List (2023 stats)
| Player, Class, School | QBR | Pct. | Yards | TD | INT | Rushing |
| Joey Aguilar, Sr., Appalachian State | 73.2 | 63.7 | 3,757 | 33 | 10 | 249 yds, 3 TDs |
| Drew Allar, Jr., Penn State | 72.7 | 59.9 | 2,631 | 25 | 2 | 210 yds, 4 TDs |
| Rocco Becht, So., Iowa State | 67.9 | 62.9 | 3,120 | 23 | 8 | 63 yds, 3 TDs |
| Carson Beck, Sr., Georgia | 85.2 | 72.4 | 3,941 | 24 | 6 | 116 yds, 4 TDs |
| Alan Bowman, Sr., Oklahoma State | 64.4 | 60.7 | 3,460 | 15 | 14 | 2 TDs |
| Byrum Brown, So., USF | 56.6 | 64.8 | 3,292 | 26 | 11 | 809 yds, 11 TDs |
| Hudson Card, Sr., Purdue | 50.6 | 58.9 | 2,387 | 15 | 8 | 203 yds, 5 TDs |
| Thomas Castellanos, Jr., Boston College | 63.7 | 57.3 | 2,248 | 15 | 14 | 1,113 yds, 13 TDs |
| Cade Klubnik, Jr., Clemson | 58.4 | 63.9 | 2,844 | 19 | 9 | 182 yds, 4 TDs |
| Brady Cook, Sr., Missouri | 77.2 | 66.1 | 3,317 | 21 | 6 | 319 yds, 8 TDs |
| Jaxson Dart, Sr., Ole Miss | 76.7 | 65.1 | 3,364 | 23 | 5 | 391 yds, 8 TDs |
| Kyron Drones, Jr., Virginia Tech | 61.2 | 58.2 | 2,084 | 17 | 3 | 818 yds, 5 TDs |
| Quinn Ewers, Jr., Texas | 78.7 | 69 | 3,479 | 22 | 6 | 75 yds, 5 TDs |
| Noah Fifita, So., Arizona | 85.6 | 72.4 | 2,869 | 25 | 6 | NA |
| Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, So., Colo. St. | 52 | 62.1 | 3,460 | 22 | 16 | 1 TD |
| Garrett Greene, Sr., West Virginia | 76.7 | 55.1 | 2,406 | 16 | 4 | 772 yds, 13 TDs |
| Seth Henigan, Sr., Memphis | 67.9 | 66.8 | 3,883 | 32 | 9 | 274 yds, 5 TDs |
| Mikey Keene, Jr., Fresno State | 52.2 | 67.1 | 2,976 | 24 | 10 | 1 TD |
| Haynes King, Jr., Georgia Tech | 72.3 | 61.6 | 2,842 | 27 | 16 | 737 yds, 10 TDs |
| Graham Mertz, Sr., Florida | 68.5 | 72.9 | 2,903 | 20 | 3 | 4 TDs |
| Jalen Milroe, Jr., Alabama | 83.6 | 65.8 | 2,834 | 23 | 6 | 531 yds, 12 TDs |
| Jaylen Raynor, So., Arkansas State | 55.2 | 58.2 | 2,550 | 17 | 7 | 373 yds, 5 TDs |
| Kaidon Salter, Jr., Liberty | 86.2 | 61 | 2,876 | 32 | 6 | 1,089 yds, 12 TDs |
| Shedeur Sanders, Sr., Colorado | 63 | 69.3 | 3,230 | 27 | 3 | 4 TDs |
| Brayden Schager, Sr., Hawaii | 38.2 | 63.2 | 3,542 | 26 | 14 | 54 yds, 2 TDs |
| Donovan Smith, Sr., Houston | 62.9 | 64.5 | 2,801 | 22 | 13 | 428 yds, 6 TDs |
| Preston Stone, Jr., SMU | 71.3 | 59.9 | 3,197 | 28 | 6 | 198 yds, 4 TDs |
| Nicholas Vattiato, Jr., Middle Tenn. | 45 | 66.8 | 3,092 | 23 | 13 | 397 yds, 2 TDs |
| Jacob Zeno, Sr., UAB | 58.4 | 73.6 | 3,126 | 20 | 9 | 168 yds, 4 TDs |
In its first 20 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 14 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Daniels, Burrow, and Russell) now leads the way with three honorees, while Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) have each produced a pair of Manning Award winners.
Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Seventeen of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Bennett, Burrow, Griffin III, Jones, Marcus Mariota, Mayfield, Murray, Ryan, Watson (twice), Winston and Bryce Young. On the other hand, Daniels, Manziel, Murray, Newton, Watson (in 2015) and Vince Young were all 1,000-yard rushers during their Manning years.
Perhaps most impressive among the statistics of the quarterbacks recognized by the Manning Award is touchdowns scored. Fourteen of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons – Burrow’s 65 touchdowns (60 passing, five rushing) broke Mariota’s record (58 in 2014) for touchdowns by a Manning Award winner.
One of the more unique aspects of the Manning Award is the fact that it takes account of the quarterbacks’ bowl performances, in addition to the regular season. Sixteen of the 20 Manning Award winners won bowl games during the season they won the honor. Fourteen Manning Award honorees led their teams to the CFP Semifinals or a BCS Championship game appearance (Bennett, Burrow, Jones, Matt Leinart, Mariota, Mayfield, McCoy, Murray, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and both Bryce and Vince Young). Nine won national championships (Bennett, Burrow, Jones, Leinart, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and Vince Young).
Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Seven honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Burrow, Mayfield, Murray, Newton, Russell, Winston, and Bryce Young), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Griffin III, Mariota, Ryan and Vince Young).
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. Sixty-six players were honored during the 2023 season and 519 different quarterbacks from 133 schools have been recognized since 2011.
– Via Clemson Athletic Communications