NEW ORLEANS – Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall has been named to The Manning Award watch list, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, it was announced on Thursday. The list includes 32 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2021 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.
 
"We're really looking forward to a football season that has a little more sense of normalcy this fall," said Archie Manning. "There's so much talent among the returning quarterbacks with the super seniors and so many other top players returning. We have 32 outstanding quarterbacks on the preseason watch list, and I'm expecting the midseason additions to be very impressive as well with a lot of young guys and transfers expected to make major contributions."
 
Inclusion on the watch list is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Additional quarterbacks are expected to 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.
 
"The Sugar Bowl has considered it a great honor to sponsor the Manning Award for the past 17 years," said Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley.  "After the challenges of the 2020 season, we're all hoping that these outstanding young quarterbacks will have the opportunity for a more traditional season this year. And after the bowls and the College Football Playoff, we'll be able to recognize the top quarterback with this honor."
Six of last year's Manning Award finalists are included on this year's watch list in Matt Corral (Ole Miss), Dillon Gabriel (UCF), Sam Howell (North Carolina), Brock Purdy (Iowa State), Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), and McCall (Coastal Carolina).
 
Already named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation 2021 Player of the Year, 2021 Maxwell Award, and the 2021 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award preseason watch lists, McCall was also named to the 2021 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) National Performer of the Year Trophy watch list earlier this week.
 
Tabbed the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team, the North Carolina native has also been named to the 2021 Pro Football Focus (PFF) College Football Preseason All-Sun Belt first team, the 2021 Phil Steele Preseason SBC All-Conference first team, and the 2021 Athlon Sports Preseason All-Sun Belt first team.
 
Named the 2020 Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Most Inspirational Freshman and named to both the 2020 FWAA Freshman All-American team and The Athletic's 2020 College Football Freshman All-American team, McCall was a 2020 Manning Award finalist, a 2020 Shaun Alexander-FWAA Freshman of the Year Award semifinalist, a 2020 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award semifinalist, and a member of the Davey O'Brien QB Class of 2020 last season.
 
McCall was named the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year by the league's coaches and earned a spot on the 2020 All-Sun Belt first team and the 2020 Phil Steele SBC All-Conference first team last season in which he led the Sun Belt and ranked 10th nationally with 26 passing touchdowns on the year.
 
He also led the Sun Belt and ranked in the top 30 nationally in passing efficiency at 184.3 (fifth), points responsible for with 202 (ninth), points responsible for per game at 18.4 (16th), passing yards with 2,488 (19th), and in total offensive yards per game at 277.9 (30th), and was second in the Sun Belt in completion percentage at 68.8 percent (172-of-250), in passing yards per completion at 14.47, and yards per attempt at 9.95.
 
McCall, who ranked sixth in the Sun Belt with seven rushing touchdowns and 12th in rushing yards with 569 rushing yards from his quarterback position, threw for over 200 yards in eight of the 11 games he played in on the season, including a career-high 338 passing yards at Troy (Dec. 12). He also tallied two passing touchdowns or more in nine games on the season, including a career-high four touchdown tosses against Arkansas State (Oct. 3) and at Georgia State (Oct. 31).
 
In its first 17 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 13 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell, and Tim Tebow) leads the way with six 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 (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Young) are 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).

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. Seventy-three players from 66 different schools were honored during the 2020 season and 424 different quarterbacks from 129 schools have been recognized since 2011.

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