The preseason accolades continue to roll in for Louisville QB Malik Cunningham. After being named to the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award watch lists, the redshirt junior has found his way onto yet another watch list: The Manning Award watch list.
👀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗭𝗡 👀
— Louisville Football (@UofLFootball) August 5, 2021
Manning Award – @MalikMalikc10
Details: https://t.co/IolNFIWR4i#GoCards pic.twitter.com/huLDMDxTCM
Cunningham comes off a 2020 season that saw him throw for 2617 yards and 20 TDs, completing 64-percent of his passes. He also rushed for 609 yards and 7 TDs. For his career to date, Cunningham has rushed for 1588 yards and 18 TDs while passing for 5155 yards and 43 TDs. He’s completed 63-percent of his passes during his time playing QB.
The Manning Award has been given out annually since 2004, with the inaugural winner being USC QB Matt Leinart. The award is given to the best collegiate QB as adjudged by the Sugar Bowl committee and is named for former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints QB Archie Manning. Manning is also, of course, the father of Peyton and Eli Manning. Cunningham is one of 32 names on the watch list and is seeking to become the first Louisville QB to win the award.
To read more about Malik Cunningham’s inclusion on the Manning Award watch list, read the press release below:
Press Release:
Louisville’s Cunningham Tabbed to the Manning Award Watch List
NEW ORLEANS – University of Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham was named to the Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Wednesday.
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.
Entering his third season as a starter, Cunningham has thrown for 5,155 career yards and 43 touchdowns in his career, which ranks 10th and seventh, respectively, on UofL’s all-time list. He ranks second all-time in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
The native of Montgomery, Ala., set career highs last season in passing yards with 2,615 and tossed 20 touchdowns. He finished second on the team with 609 yards rushing and seven touchdowns, while posting a pair of 100-yard rushing contests. He rushed for a career best 197 yards at Virginia and added 133 in a loss at Boston College.
Through the air, Cunningham threw for a season high 350 yards and three touchdowns versus Virginia Tech and opened the year with 343 yards and three scores against Western Kentucky.
The redshirt junior completed 64.1 percent of his throws and became the first quarterback in school history with four 75-yard touchdown passes in a career.
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.
This year’s Watch List includes players from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The ACC leads the way with five selections, while the Big 12 and the Sun Belt have four each. The AAC, Big Ten, MAC, Pac-12 and the SEC each have three selections. Both the senior class and the junior class have 13 quarterbacks on the list while the sophomore class has six.
Six of last year’s Manning Award finalists are included on this year’s Watch List: Matt Corral (Ole Miss), Dillon Gabriel (UCF), Sam Howell (North Carolina), Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina), Brock Purdy (Iowa State) and Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati).
2021 Manning Award Preseason Watch List (2020 stats)
Name, Class, School
Cmp-Att
Pct.
Yards
TD
INT
QBR
Rushing
Cornelius Brown, So., Georgia State
178-304
58.6
2,278
17
10
56.7
301 yds, 7 TDs
Sean Clifford, Jr., Penn State
152-251
60.6
1,883
16
9
69.1
335 yds, 3 TDs
Matt Corral, Jr., Ole Miss
231-326
70.9
3,337
29
14
89.9
506 yds, 4 TDs
Dustin Crum, Sr., Kent State
83-113
73.5
1,181
12
2
88.5
240 yds, 4 TDs
Malik Cunningham, Sr., Louisville
195-304
64.1
2,617
20
12
78.5
609 yds, 7 TDs
Jayden Daniels, Jr., Arizona State
76-152
58.3
701
5
1
87.1
223 yds, 4 TDs
JT Daniels, Jr., Georgia
80-119
67.2
1,231
10
2
NA
NA
Max Duggan, Jr., TCU
146-240
60.8
1,795
10
4
68.9
526 yds, 10 TDs
Kaleb Eleby, Jr., Western Michigan
99-153
64.7
1,715
18
2
78.1
4 TDs
Dillon Gabriel, Jr., UCF
248-413
60.0
3,570
32
4
78
169 yds, 2 TDs
Chase Garbers, Sr., Cal
85-136
62.5
771
6
3
57.1
2 TDs
Frank Harris, Sr., UTSA
159-250
63.6
1,630
12
6
62.3
528 yds, 9 TDs
Layne Hatcher, Jr., Arkansas State
116-194
59.8
2,058
19
2
69.7
NA
Sam Howell, Jr., North Carolina
237-348
68.1
3,586
30
7
79.3
146 yds, 5 TDs
Phil Jurkovec, Jr., Boston College
205-336
61.0
2,558
17
5
71.3
150 yds, 3 TDs
D’Eriq King, Sr., Miami
211-329
64.1
2,686
23
5
78
538 yds, 4 TDs
Levi Lewis, Sr., UL Lafayette
177-297
59.6
2,274
19
7
67.7
335 yds, 5 TDs
Grayson McCall, So., Coastal Carolina
172-250
68.8
2,488
26
3
82.2
569 yds, 7 TDs
Graham Mertz, So., Wisconsin
118-193
61.1
1,238
9
5
60.6
2 TDs
Bo Nix, Jr., Auburn
214-357
59.9
2,415
12
7
73.1
388 yds, 7 TDs
Michael Penix, Jr., Indiana
124-220
56.4
1,645
14
4
67.7
2 TDs
Kenny Pickett, Sr., Pittsburgh
203-332
61.1
2.408
13
9
60.9
145 yds, 8 TDs
Drew Plitt, Sr., Ball State
164-250
65.6
2,154
17
6
62.4
49 yds, 4 TDs
Michael Pratt, So., Tulane
140-254
55.1
1,806
20
8
53.2
229 yds, 8 TDs
Brock Purdy, Sr., Iowa State
243-365
66.6
2,750
19
9
78.8
382 yds, 5 TDs
Spencer Rattler, So., Oklahoma
214-317
67.5
3,031
28
7
81.2
160 yds, 6 TDs
Desmond Ridder, Sr., Cincinnati
186-281
66.2
2,296
19
6
80.9
592 yds, 12 TDs
Kedon Slovis, Jr., USC
177-264
67.0
1,921
17
7
75.7
NA
Nick Starkel, Sr., San Jose State
163-254
64.2
2,174
17
7
68.8
NA
Carson Strong, So., Nevada
249-355
70.1
2,858
27
4
66.1
NA
Skylar Thompson, Sr., Kansas State
40-64
62.5
626
4
0
NA
3 TDs
Malik Willis, Sr., Liberty
170-265
64.2
2,260
20
6
78.7
944 yds, 14 TDs
