NEW ORLEANS – Virginia Tech QB Ryan Willis added another honor for last week's performance at Duke after earning ACC Quarterback of the Week on Monday. The Overland Park, Kansas native was named the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week, an accolade sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
"He's a competitor," Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente said. "He has some toughness and likes the game. He was really having fun out there. It certainly wasn't too big for him."
Virginia Tech, ranked No. 24 in the latest AP Poll, returns to action this Saturday night, hosting No. 6 Notre Dame, which will be making its first appearance at Lane Stadium.
Willis' top competitors were Will Grier of West Virginia and Notre Dame's Ian Book. Grier registered his fourth 300-yard game of the year as the Mountaineers went on the road to upend No. 25 Texas Tech, 42-34, in Big 12 action. Book directed the Fighting Irish to 550 yards of offense and set his career-high for touchdown passes as he led them to a 38-17 victory over No. 7 Stanford.
Needless to say, @VT_Football QB Ryan Willis is ready for his first start at Lane Stadium.#HardSmartTough pic.twitter.com/JpCpJybfVa
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) October 3, 2018
Willis (6-4, 223) made his first start for the Hokies in place of an injured Josh Jackson. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-14 win at No. 22 Duke. That yardage total marked his third career 300-yard passing game, while his three TDs were a career high. The contest marked the first start for the Overland Park, Kansas native since opening for Kansas at Baylor on Oct. 15, 2016. The redshirt-junior threw for the most passing yards since at least 1987 for a Tech quarterback in his first start for the Hokies.
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor 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.
Manning Award Website
While the Manning Award selected 30 quarterbacks for its preseason Watch List, additional quarterbacks are expected to be added to the Watch List later in the season. The 10 finalists for the honor will be announced on Thursday, November 29 and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
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.
In addition to the Manning Award's yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Quarterbacks of the Week. Sixty-three players from 60 different schools were honored during the 2017 season.