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Three B1G QBs included on 2021 Manning Award Watch List
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Presented annually to college football’s top quarterback following bowl season, the Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, unveiled its 2021 Watch List on August 4.
Featuring 32 of the nation’s best quarterbacks, three Big Ten gunslingers – Penn State Nittany Lions redshirt senior Sean Clifford, Wisconsin Badgers redshirt sophomore Graham Mertz, and Indiana Hoosiers redshirt junior Michael Penix, Jr. – made the cut.
We're ready for another season of amazing QBs! We have 32 on our preseason Watch List – who do you think will be added in the midseason? And more importantly, who do you think will win? #ManningAward https://t.co/wms6VwTMqA pic.twitter.com/UkGKUxIG5Y
— Allstate Sugar Bowl (@SugarBowlNola) August 5, 2021
Entering his third year as the Nittany Lions’ starter, Clifford is just 80 yards away from tying Todd Blackledge for tenth on the school’s all-time passing yards list.
Mertz, set to embark on his second campaign as the starter in Madison, is 2,695 yards shy of Tony Lowery for the No. 10 spot on the Badgers’ passing yards leaderboard.
Having the unique distinction of being of the few left-handed quarterbacks in the sport, Penix, Jr. was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2020.
Other names to make the Watch List include Georgia State Panthers redshirt sophomore Cornelious Brown IV, Ole Miss Rebels redshirt junior Matt Corral, Kansas State Wildcats redshirt senior Skylar Thompson and Liberty Flames redshirt senior Malik Willis.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.