Alabama Football’s Tua Tagovailoa a Finalist for Manning Award
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been named one of 11 finalists for the Manning Award, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced Thursday.
Tagovailoa has thrown for 3,189 yards and a school-record 36 touchdowns with just two interceptions on 189-of-269 passing (70.3 percent). He leads the nation in collegiate pass efficiency (212.5) and his NFL passer rating (145.6) ranks first among all FBS quarterbacks with at least 230 attempts. The sophomore is also No. 2 in ESPN’s Total QBR metric at 94.7 (out of 100). He is tied for second on the UA career touchdown pass list with 47 and has thrown for 300 or more yards an Alabama-record five times this season.
Tagovailoa is joined as a finalist by Ian Book (Notre Dame), Jake Fromm (Georgia), Dwayne Haskins (Ohio State), Will Grier (West Virginia), D’Eriq King (Houston), Trevor Lawrence (Clemson), Drew Lock (Missouri), McKenzie Milton (UCF), Gardner Minshew (Washington State) and Kyler Murray (Oklahoma).
The Manning Award has been presented annually since 2004 to the nation’s top college quarterback. It the only national quarterback award that takes the candidates’ bowl performance into account. The 2018 winner will be announced following the College Football National Championship Game.
The selection is the fourth national finalist honor for Tagovailoa. He was previously announced as a finalist for the Davey O’Brien, Maxwell and Walter Camp Player of the Year awards.