Taysom Hill, a sophomore from Brigham Young University, has been selected as Manning Award Player of the Week. He earns the win over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl's Facebook contest. This is Hill’s first win.
Hill completed 27-of-41 passes for 339 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He turned in a very impressive performance as he added 69 rushing yards and a touchdown in a 37-20 win over Boise State – the Cougars first-ever win over the Broncos.
Hill, a Pocatello, Idaho native, and his offense wasted little time putting the game out of reach as they built a 24-3 halftime lead. They ran 52 plays for 376 yards of total offense in the first half, and finished the night with 568 yards. Much of that production was thanks to Hill, who showed why he is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country accounting for three of his four total touchdowns by halftime.
His top competitor in this week’s competition was South Carolina’s Connor Shaw. He completed 20-of-29 passes for 201 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. With the Gamecocks down 17-0 in the third quarter, Shaw shrugged off a sprained knee and entered the game for the first time. He led his team to scores on their final five possessions as they shocked previously-undefeated and fifth-ranked Missouri, 27-24, in two overtimes.
Check out the final fan voting numbers on Facebook here.
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.
Visit the Manning Award page here.
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. The 10 finalists for the honor will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the BCS National Championship game on Monday, Jan. 6.
The Manning Award will be recognizing its 10th winner this year. USC's Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas' Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU's JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL's No. 1 draft pick. Boston College's Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2009, Florida star Tim Tebow earned the honor - he also went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The 2010 winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history, who was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the draft. McCoy was followed by top-two NFL Draft picks - Auburn's Cameron Newton earned the award in 2011, prior to being selected No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers and then Robert Griffin, III, from Baylor, was the 2012 winner prior to being the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Redskins. This past season's winner was Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel, who became the first freshman to earn the honor.