After helping lead UCF to a 35-34 comeback win at TCU on Saturday, quarterback KJ Jefferson has been named to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 List and a Manning Award Star of the Week. Jefferson spearheaded a second-half rally for the Knights, as the Black and Gold overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat the Horned Frogs in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
Hailing from Sardis, Mississippi, Jefferson finished the game 13-of-22 for 230 yards passing with three touchdowns and contributed 46 yards rushing to end the game with 276 total yards. He was at his best in the second half, as he was 9-of-11 for 166 yards with two touchdowns.
Jefferson had a 191.9 quarterback rating for the game, connecting on nine of his last 11 passes, including his first five passes of the second half. On UCF’s game-winning drive, he was 4-of-5 for 54 yards and found wide receiver Kobe Hudson across the middle on a post route to knot the score at 34-34 before Colton Boomer’s extra point split the uprights to give UCF the one-point victory.
After an extraordinary number of notable quarterback performances across the country, the Davey O’Brien Foundation’s Great 8 committee has elected to use its “Davey Double” option in Week 3, thereby increasing the number of Great 8 honorees this week from eight to 16.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week, selected from the Great 8 list, will be announced Tuesday at 11 a.m. (CT).
The Davey O’Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award, the oldest and most prestigious college quarterback award, was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.
In 1938, O’Brien, who wore No. 8 as a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.
College football fans can follow the Manning Award on social media (@ManningAward) to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. After voting closes on Wednesday at 9 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.
https://allstatesugarbowl.org/news/2024/9/16/manning-stars.aspx
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. Since the Manning Award started recognizing Stars of the Week in 2011, 519 different quarterbacks from 133 schools have been recognized. Sixty-six players were honored during the 2023 season.