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Tulsa’s G.J. Kinne Is Third C-USA QB Named to Manning Award Watch List
Sunday, August 1, 2010
 For the first time in his four years at Tulsa, head coach Todd Graham returns his starting quarterback, the talented G.J. Kinne (official bio), who led the Golden Hurricane in rushing and passing as a sophomore. Kinne, who transferred to Tulsa from Texas, was a midseason addition to the Manning Watch List last year. The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, is releasing the Watch List one player per day through its official Facebook and Twitter pages. The award has honored the top quarterback in the nation for the past six years.
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Despite playing with an inexperienced offensive line and backfield, Kinne still managed to throw for 2,732 yards and 22 touchdowns for the Golden Hurricane. After transferring from Texas and redshirting the 2008 campaign, Kinne won the starting job and completed 61 percent of his passes (227.7 average per game) while rushing for a team-high 393 yards. He ranked third in Conference USA in passing average (227.7), fourth in total offense (260.4) and fourth in pass efficiency (142.6) while registering three 300-yard passing games. He had a pair of career games as well, tallying a career-high 396 passing yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 88 yards and one TD against Southern Miss, and throwing for 334 yards with 100 rushing yards against No. 13 Houston in a 46-45 loss. That marked the first time in Tulsa history that a player had passed for 300 yards while rushing for 100 yards. He also had a streak of 95 passes attempted without an interception against SMU. Kinne closed the season by passing for 268 yards and three TDs in a 33-30 overtime victory against Memphis. The Golden Hurricanes jump straight into league play in 2010 by opening the season on the road against East Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 5.
He joins Houston's Case Keenum and SMU's Kyle Padron as Conference USA quarterbacks on the Manning Award Watch List to date.
Here's the C-USA Player Spotlight on Kinne for 2010
Manning Award Watch List (Final)
| Name | Class | Cmp-Att | Pct. | Yards | TDs | INTs | Wins | Matt Barkley, USC
| So. | 211-352 | .599 | 2,735 | 15 | 14 | 9 | Diondre Borel, Utah St.
| Sr. | 214-366 | .585 | 2,885 | 17 | 4 | 4 | Ryan Colburn , Fresno St.
| Sr. | 181-298 | .607 | 2,459 | 19 | 11 | 8 | Zach Collaros, Cincinnati
| Jr. | 93-124 | .750 | 1,434 | 10 | 2 | 4 | Kirk Cousins, Michigan St.
| Jr. | 198-328 | .604 | 2,680 | 19 | 9 | 5 | Andy Dalton, TCU
| Sr. | 199-323 | .616 | 2,756 | 23 | 8 | 12 | Dwight Dasher, Middle Tenn.
| Sr. | 219-399 | .549 | 2,789 | 23 | 14 | 10 | Ricky Dobbs, Navy
| Sr. | 56-105 | .533 | 1,031 | 6 | 3 | 9 | Nathan Enderle, Idaho
| Sr. | 192-312 | .615 | 2,906 | 22 | 9 | 8 | Nick Foles, Arizona
| Jr. | 260-409 | .636 | 2,486 | 19 | 9 | 6 | Blaine Gabbert, Missouri
| Jr. | 262-445 | .589 | 3,593 | 24 | 9 | 8 | Robert Griffin, III, Baylor
| So. | 45-69 | .652 | 481 | 4 | 0 | 2 | Jacory Harris, Miami
| Jr. | 242-406 | .596 | 3,352 | 24 | 17 | 9 | Jordan Jefferson, LSU
| Jr. | 182-296 | .615 | 2,166 | 17 | 7 | 8 | Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M
| Sr. | 296-497 | .596 | 3,579 | 30 | 8 | 6 | Landry Jones, Oklahoma
| So. | 261-449 | .581 | 3,198 | 26 | 14 | 7 | Colin Kaepernick , Nevada
| Sr. | 166-282 | .589 | 2,052 | 20 | 6 | 8 | Case Keenum, Houston
| Sr. | 492-700 | .703 | 5,671 | 44 | 15 | 10 | G.J. Kinne, Tulsa
| Jr. | 210-345 | .609 | 2,732 | 22 | 10 | 5 | Jake Locker , Washington
| Sr. | 230-395 | .582 | 2,800 | 21 | 11 | 5 | Andrew Luck, Stanford
| So. | 162-288 | .563 | 2,575 | 13 | 4 | 8 | Ryan Mallett , Arkansas
| Jr. | 225-403 | .558 | 3,627 | 30 | 7 | 8 | Greg McElroy, Alabama
| Sr. | 198-325 | .609 | 2,508 | 17 | 4 | 14 | Kellen Moore, Boise St.
| Jr. | 277-431 | .643 | 3,536 | 39 | 3 | 14 | Joshua Nesbitt, Ga. Tech
| Sr. | 75-162 | .463 | 1,701 | 10 | 5 | 11 | Kyle Padron, SMU
| So. | 135-201 | .672 | 1,922 | 10 | 4 | 5 | Christian Ponder, Florida St.
| Sr. | 227-330 | .688 | 2,717 | 14 | 7 | 4 | Terrelle Pryor, Ohio St.
| Jr. | 167-295 | .566 | 2,094 | 18 | 11 | 11 | | Kevin Riley, California | Sr. | 209-382 | .547 | 2,850 | 18 | 8 | 8 | Ricky Stanzi , Iowa
| Sr. | 171-304 | .563 | 2,417 | 17 | 15 | 11 | Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech
| Sr. | 136-243 | .560 | 2,311 | 13 | 5 | 10 | Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin
| Sr. | 211-328 | .643 | 2,705 | 16 | 11 | 10 | Russell Wilson, N.C. State
| Jr. | 224-378 | .593 | 3,027 | 31 | 11 | 5 |
2010-11 Manning Award Watch List Photo Gallery
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances. Ten finalists will be selected in late-November and the winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans.
The preseason Watch List recognizes some of the top quarterbacks in the nation based on previous collegiate performance, however, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible for the honor. Additional quarterbacks may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Monday, Nov. 29. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The Manning Award will be recognizing its seventh 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. Last year's winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history. McCoy was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 NFL Draft. -AllstateSugarBowl.org-
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