Hill named to Manning Award Watch List for second straight year

PROVO, Utah – The Allstate Sugar Bowl published its preseason watch list for the Manning Award Thursday with senior quarterback Taysom Hill selected for a second straight year.

The list includes 30 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2015 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the bowls.

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' bowl performances in its balloting.

The 6-foot-2, 232-pound Hill makes the watch list a second time after being named to the list in 2014. He led the Cougars to a 4-0 start before a season-ending injury in his fifth game, passing for 975 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 460 yards with eight touchdowns in just over four games.

Last season Hill also eclipsed 4,000 passing yards (4,052) with his 200-yard performance against Houston in 2014 in addition to 2,000 career rushing yards (2,036) with his 160 rushing yards on the night. He is one of 14 FBS quarterbacks to reach that mark in their junior season, including Colin Kaepernick, Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow and Robert Griffin III.

Hill has been named to the 2015 watch lists for the Walter Camp Award, the Wuerffel Trophy, the Davey O’Brien Award and the Maxwell Award in addition to being named a 2015 Phil Steele Preseason All-Independent selection.


"We're very excited about the group of quarterbacks on our Watch List," said Archie Manning. "And once the season gets rolling, I am sure we will see additional quarterbacks become worthy of inclusion as they establish themselves, so we will make some additions."



This year's Watch List includes players from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The ACC leads the way with five selections, followed by the SEC, the Pac-12 and the American with four each. There are 15 seniors on the list while the junior class is represented by 11 quarterbacks and the sophomore class has three.


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-two players from 58 different schools were honored during the 2014 season. 


Read the full release on the Allstate Sugar Bowl website.