STARKVILLE – Mississippi State junior quarterback Will Rogers was selected as one of the Manning Award Stars of the Week following his performance in Saturday’s win over Memphis, it was announced by the organization on Tuesday. The same afternoon, Rogers was named to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 List, which honors exceptional quarterback play across the country.

Rogers completed 38 of 49 passes for 450 yards and five touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 49-23 over Memphis in the season opener. The 450 passing yards ranks fifth in MSU history, while it was Rogers’ sixth career 400-yard game.

The Brandon, Mississippi, native connected with 12 different receivers on Saturday and was one of only two Power 5 quarterbacks with five passing touchdowns in Week 1 of the season.

Additionally, Rogers totaled 10 explosive passing plays (longer than 15 yards) for a total of 242 yards with four resulting in touchdowns.

The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, named eight quarterbacks as its “Stars of the Week,” while college football fans can now go to the Allstate Sugar Bowl Facebook page to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. When voting closes on Thursday at 11 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.

Rogers shares the Manning Award Star of the Week honor with fellow signal callers Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Todd Centeio (James Madison), Drake Maye (North Carolina), Tanner Mordecai (SMU), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), Anthony Richardson (Florida) and Spencer Sanders (Oklahoma State).

The quarterbacks on this week’s Davey O’Brien Great 8 List include: Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, Chase Brice of Appalachian State, James Madison’s Todd Centeio, Sean Clifford of Penn State, Arizona’s Jayden de Laura, KJ Jefferson of Arkansas, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Tanner Mordecai of SMU, Western Kentucky’s Austin Reed, Anthony Richardson of Florida, Kurtis Rourke of Ohio, Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders, Dorian Thompson-Robinson of UCLA, Houston’s Clayton Tune and Bryce Young of Alabama.

The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week, selected from the week one Great 8 list, will be announced on Wednesday.

 

---

For more information on the Bulldog football program, visit HailState.com, or search for “HailStateFB” on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.