Texas' Arch Manning lands on Davey O’Brien Award watch list

No. 1 Texas Football sophomore quarterback Arch Manning was placed on the preseason watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award, the Davey O’Brien Foundation released Thursday. The Davey O’Brien Award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback.

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Last season, former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was named a semifinalist for the award. Texas has had three players receive the Davey O’Brien Award, including a pair of quarterbacks. Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell was the first to do so in 1977 when the O’Brien Award recognized the top player in the southwest, while Vince Young (2005) and Colt McCoy (2009) make up the pair of Longhorn quarterbacks to win the award. McCoy was also a finalist for the O’Brien Award in 2008.

In addition to the Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list, Manning has also earned spots on preseason watch lists for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award and Maxwell Award. A preseason Third-Team All-SEC selection in a vote by the media, Manning was also on The Sporting News preseason First-Team All-America on offense, which was announced on Aug. 6. 

A third-year player who has appeared in 12 games with two starts, Manning sports a 2-0 record as a starter during his time on the Forty Acres. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, Manning saw action in 10 games with the two starts, completing 61-of-91 passes (68 percent) for 939 yards and nine touchdowns. He was named the SEC’s Co-Freshman of the Week on Sept. 16, was placed on the Davey O’Brien’s Great 8 list on Sept. 16, and named the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose National Player of the Week on Sept. 17. The New Orleans native also added 25 carries for 108 yards and four touchdowns. He entered the game in the second quarter vs. UTSA for an injured Quinn Ewers and completed 9-of-12 passes (75 percent) for 223 yards and four touchdowns. He accounted for five total touchdowns against UTSA after recording a career-long 67-yard rushing touchdown. Making his first career start in the victory over ULM, he connected on 15-of-29 pass attempts for 258 yards and two scores. He guided Texas to its first-ever SEC win on Sept. 28, 2024, with his performance against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He went 26-for-31 (83.9 percent) for 325 yards and two touchdowns, while running the ball six times for 33 yards and a touchdown.

The official Davey O’Brien Midseason watch list will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and will contain active quarterbacks from the Preseason Watch List, players honored as weekly Great 8 recipients through the season’s first eight weeks and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee.

The 35-player Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2025 will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 28. For the fifth straight year, fan voting on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) will earn players bonus selection committee votes during the semifinalist, finalist and winner voting rounds. First-round fan voting will begin Oct. 28 following the QB Class announcement.

The list of semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later (Tuesday, Nov. 25). The 2025 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 11, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.

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Manning and Texas kick off the 2025 season on the road at No. 2 Ohio State at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, Aug. 30, inside Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The game will broadcast as part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, and ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast live from the Ohio State University campus. College GameDay will air for three hours from 8-11 a.m. CT, hosted by Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit and other ESPN personalities. It will be the final show for longtime ESPN personality Lee Corso as he is set to retire following Week 1 of the 2025 season.

(via Texas release)