Aug. 2, 2013
San Jose State University's David Fales is one of 30 quarterbacks named to the 2013 Manning and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch Lists.
Both awards are named after outstanding quarterbacks spanning 60 years of college and professional football.
The Manning Award honors the football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. The Allstate Sugar Bowl created the award and is the only award for a college quarterback that takes bowl game performance into account.
For the first time, the Manning Award will use ESPN's Total Quarterback Rating (QBR) - a measurement that factors in contributions in each play, accounting in the game context and opponent strength of schedule. The Spartans quarterback had the fourth highest QBR at 78.4. Texas A&M's and defending Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel (90.5), Marcus Mariota (87.3) from Oregon; Tajh Boyd (82.2) and A.J. McCarron (81.1) of Alabama had a higher rating than Fales. In 2012, Fales (78.4) completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 4,193 yards and 33 touchdowns. The San Jose State quarterback was tied with Georgia's Aaron Murray.
The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is presented to the top quarterback based on character, citizenship, scholastic achievement, leadership qualities and athletics accomplishments.
Johnny Unitas (1933-2002) played 17 seasons in the NFL and was best known as the Baltimore Colts' highly-successful quarterback. The Colts won Super Bowl and three NFL championships (1958, 19959 and 1968). Unitas was named to the league's 75th anniversary all-time team and was a 10-time Pro Bowl selection.
Earlier, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Spartan was named to the College Football Performance Awards Watch List for outstanding quarterback play, the Maxwell Award and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award.
Click here for the complete Manning Award Watch List.
Click here for the complete Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List.