Terry Wilson, a sophomore from the University of Kentucky, has been selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week. He earns the win over seven other Manning Award Stars of the Week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Facebook contest.
Wilson, making his second career start, led the Wildcats to a 27-16 road victory over No. 25 Florida, snapping UK’s 31-game losing streak to the Gators. He completed 11-of-16 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 105 yards and a score.
The Oklahoma City, Okla., native is the first UK quarterback to rush and throw for at least 100 yards since Jalen Whitlow in 2013. Wilson delivered a 54-yard third-quarter touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Lynn Bowden, marking the longest pass of his career and Bowden’s first career touchdown reception.
The Wildcats will welcome Murray State to Kroger Field on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 11 a.m. CT on the SEC Network. Wilson’s top competitors were Drew Lock of Missouri and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray. Lock completed 33-of-45 passes for 398 yards with four touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 51 yards and a touchdown to lead the Tigers to a 40-13 victory over Wyoming. Murray completed 19-of-33 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for a team-best 69 yards and two touchdowns and registered his career-high in passing yards as he led the Sooners to a 49-21 victory over UCLA.
In its first 14 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 12 different schools and from four different conferences. The Big 12 Conference (Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) joins the Southeastern Conference (Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) with four Manning Award winners each, while Texas is the only school with two different winners (McCoy and Young).
All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.
