Zach Wilson named Manning Award Finalist

PROVO, Utah — BYU junior quarterback Zach Wilson has been named a finalist for the 2020 Manning Award that honors the nation's top quarterback.  

The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced 12 finalists for this year’s award on Thursday. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January. 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 takes the candidates’ bowl performances into consideration in its balloting.

In addition to the Manning Award's yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Stars of the Week. Wilson is a six-time honoree in 2020 of the weekly Stars of the Week recognition and was voted the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week on Sept. 8. 

A 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior from Draper, Utah, Wilson has led BYU to a 10-1 record and a No. 14 national ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 16 ranking in the Amway Coaches Poll. In addition to being a top candidate for the top quarterback in the nation, the talented signal caller has also garnered Heisman Trophy considerations and is a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year award honoring the nation's top player overall. 

Wilson leads a BYU offense that ranks No. 9 in scoring (43.0 ppg) and No. 10 in total offense (510.1 ypg), while consistently demonstrating through his play that he is a strong candidate for the top quarterback in the land. Some of Wilson's top individual rankings include the following:

• No. 2  Points responsible for (234)
• No. 2  Passing touchdowns (30)
• No. 3  Passing yards per attempt (10.82)
• No. 4  Passing efficiency (194.8)
• No. 4  Completion percentage (.732)
• No. 5  Passing yards (3,267)
• No. 5  Rushing TDs by a QB (8) (also No. 33 among all players)
• No. 8  Points responsible for per game (21.3)
• No. 10  Total offense (319.0)
• No. 10  Passing yards per completion (14.78)
• No. 12  Passing yards per game (297.0)

As a team, the Cougars rank in the top 10 in 14 different statistical categories and are the only FBS team ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense (No. 9; 43.0 ppg), scoring defense (No. 3; 14.6 ppg), total offense (No. 10; 510.1 ypg) and total defense (No. 10; 309.5 ypg).

The finalists for this year’s Manning Award, including season statistics, are listed below:

Statistically, the group of finalists excels in nearly every category as they have combined for a total of 284 touchdowns. The group has thrown nearly six times as many touchdown passes as interceptions. In addition, seven of the finalists ran for five or more rushing touchdowns. Eight of this year’s Manning Award finalists directed their programs to conference championship games this weekend.

“This has been a unique year for sure,” said Archie Manning. “But even with all the challenges, we once again have an outstanding group of quarterbacks as finalists for the Manning Award. I’m really looking forward to watching them in conference championship games, bowl games and the national championship game. Those are the biggest games of the year and it will be fun to see who rises to the top.”

In its first 16 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 12 different schools and from four different conferences. The Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) and the Southeastern Conference (Joe Burrow, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) lead the way with five Manning Award honorees each, while the Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Burrow and Russell) joins Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and Young) as the only schools with two different winners.

Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Six honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Burrow, Mayfield, Murray, Newton, Russell and Winston), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Griffin, Mariota, Ryan and Young).