MTSU Quarterback Vattiato on Manning Award Watch List

(August 15, 2024) – The Manning Award, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its preseason Watch List on Thursday. The list includes 29 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading in to the 2024 season and Middle Tennessee’s Nicholas Vattiato is among the elite group. Vattiato attended the Manning Passing Academy earlier this summer.

The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the postseason.

Vattiato, a redshirt junior with a 3.9 GPA, is coming off a season where he became just the third different quarterback in MTSU history to record a 3,000-yard passing season. The Plantation, Fla., native had 3,092 passing yards on 286 completions to go with 23 touchdowns. Vattiato was also recently named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works team, the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List and the Golden Arm Award Watch List.

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 includes the candidates’ postseason performances in its balloting.

Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Transfers and other newcomers at schools were not eligible for the preseason Watch List, but additional quarterbacks will be added to the Watch List during the season. Finalists will be selected prior to the postseason and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

This year’s Watch List includes players from eight Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The Big 12 and the SEC lead the way with six selections, followed by the ACC with five. The American and the Mountain West each have three.