🏈 Jalon Daniels Receives Pair of Honors for Third-Straight Week

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Junior quarterback Jalon Daniels picked up a pair of honors for the third-straight week, being named an Allstate Sugar Bowl Manning Award Star of the Week and to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 List, the organizations announced Monday.

Daniels accounted for five touchdowns and 407 yards of offense in Kansas’ 35-27 win over Duke on Saturday. Daniels has now been named to both lists for three-consecutive weeks following other breakout performances at West Virginia (Sept. 10) and Houston (Sept. 17).

Daniels completed 19-of-23 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday, while picking up 83 yards and one score on the ground on 11 carries. Through four games this season, Daniels has completed 66-of-93 passing attempts for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns, while leading the team in rushing with 320 yards and four touchdowns on 38 attempts. Over the last three games, Daniels has throw 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The Manning Award Star of the Week honor marks Daniels’ fourth-career time receiving the award. After being named a Manning Award Star of the Week last week, Daniels was voted the Quarterback of the week in a fan vote.

Fans will now have the opportunity to vote for Daniels to be named the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week through the Sugar Bowl’s Facebook page.

Daniels has received numerous national honors this season, being named the Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18 and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on September 19.

Daniels has led Kansas to a 4-0 record for the first time since 2009, while he is currently ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s QBR Rating at 98.0, ahead of Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (95.4) and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker (90.3).

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, 464 different quarterbacks from 129 schools have been recognized. Sixty-seven players from 66 different schools were honored during the 2021 season.

This week’s eight Manning Award Stars of the Week are:

Chase Cunningham, Middle Tennessee (16-of-25, 408 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 91.9)

Cunningham, who registers his career-best for passing yards, connects on a trio of long TD strikes (69 yards, 71 yards and 98 yards) as well as another 89-yard pass to lead the Blue Raiders to a shocking 45-31 road win over No. 25 Miami – Middle Tennessee’s first win in 21 games against ranked opponents.

Jalon Daniels, Kansas (19-of-23, 324 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 98.3)

Daniels also runs for a game-high 83 yards and a touchdown as the Jayhawks take down previously undefeated Duke in a 35-27 thriller in Lawrence – the win lifts Kansas to 4-0 for the first time since 2009.

Jaren Hall, BYU (26-of-32, 337 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 91.1)

Hall, who goes over 4,000 career passing yards, sets a career-best mark for completion percentage (81.3%) as he leads the Cougars to a 38-24 home win over Wyoming.

Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (22-of-28, 349 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 96.9)

Hooker, who also runs for 112 yards and another touchdown, sets his career mark with 461 total yards as he helps the Volunteers improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2016 with a 38-33 SEC East victory over Florida.

Adrian Martinez, Kansas State (21-of-34, 234 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, QBR: 91.5)

Martinez, who also runs for 148 yards and four touchdowns, tallies two of his rushing TDs in the fourth quarter including the game-clinching burst with 1:58 to go as the Wildcats shock No. 6 Oklahoma, 41-34, in a Big 12 road game.

Bo Nix, Oregon (33-of-44, 428 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 87.5)

Nix, who tallies his career-high for passing yards, leads the Oregon offense to 22 fourth-quarter points, connecting on a 50-yard TD pass with 1:29 to go, followed by running for the successful two-point conversion, to put the Ducks on top for good in a 44-41 Pac-12 road win over Washington State.

Donovan Smith, Texas Tech (38-of-56, 331 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 75.5)

Smith connects on a game-tying 19-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter, then sets up a critical field goal in the final minute of regulation before directing the Red Raiders into position for the game-winning field goal in overtime of a thrilling 37-34 upset of Big 12 rival Texas.

D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson (26-of-41, 371 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 87.2)

Uiagalelei, who also runs for 52 yards, sets his career mark for touchdown passes, including a pair of touchdown passes in overtime as the Tigers rally to take down No. 21 Wake Forest in an ACC road game.

 

While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. Ten finalists will be selected and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In its first 18 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 (Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with seven 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. Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones) joins LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) as the only schools with two different winners.

Davey O’Brien Great 8: Week 4 

Ben Bryant, Cincinnati

Chase Cunningham, Middle Tennessee

Jalon Daniels, Kansas

Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

Adrian Martinez, Kansas State

Tanner Morgan, Minnesota

Donovan Smith, Texas Tech

D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson