Jennings named to Manning Award "Stars of the Week" list

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Jennings Named To Manning Award “Stars Of The Week”

NEW ORLEANS (SMU) – SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings was named as one of the eight "Stars of the Week" by the Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, on Monday.

The award recognizes eight quarterbacks as its "Stars of the Week." College football fans can follow the Manning Award on social media (@ManningAward) to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. After voting closes on Wednesday at 9 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.

Jennings was sensational in helping the Mustangs capture their first road ACC win in program history, knocking off then-No. 22 Louisville, 34-27 this past Saturday.

The Oak Cliff native turned in his best game yet for SMU, setting career highs in passing (281) and rushing yards (113) and ran for a score in the victory, becoming the first Mustang quarterback to throw for at least 200 yards and run for 100 in a game since Matt Davis in 2014.

The redshirt sophomore's 86.1 grade by Pro Football Focus (PFF) was the third highest by any ACC offensive player this week who played at least 25 snaps.

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. Since the Manning Award started recognizing Stars of the Week in 2011, 546 different quarterbacks from 134 schools have been recognized. Sixty-six players were honored during the 2023 season and 39 quarterbacks have been recognized so far in 2024.

While the Manning Award selected 29 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Finalists will be selected in early December and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

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.

SMU returns to action at Stanford on October 19.