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Meet the Manning Finalists - Jimmy Clausen

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame, Junior) leads the nation's fifth-ranked passing offense with 3,722 yards and 28 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He has completed 68.0 percent of his passes this year and ranks second nationally in passing efficiency (161.42), second in average passes between interceptions (106.3), third in touchdown-to-interception ratio (7.0), third in passing yards per game (310.17), third in total passing yards (3,722), tied for third in fewest interceptions (four), sixth in completion percentage (68.0), tied for sixth in touchdown passes (28) and seventh in passing yards per attempt (8.76). He is in the top three of 15 passing categories in the Notre Dame record books, including his 3,722 yards ranking as the second most in Notre Dame single-season history and his 28 touchdowns are third best. He has eclipsed 300 yards passing seven times in 2009, which is a single-season school record. Also, he has led Notre Dame to a school record four fourth-quarter comebacks this year.

Manning Award Finalists

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 takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances.

The first five winners of the Manning Award reads like a Who's Who list at the quarterback position. 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. Last season's winner was Florida's Tim Tebow, who is making his bid to become the first two-time winner of the honor this year.