Toledo quarterback John Alan Richter has been added to the watch list for the Manning Award, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced Friday. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college quarterback and is the only quarterback award that includes postseason performances in its voting.
Richter, a fifth-year quarterback in his first season as Toledo’s starter, has thrown for 1,853 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 66.1 percent of his passes this season. He has thrown just one interception in 2026, a mark of the efficiency that has powered one of the Mid-American Conference’s most productive offenses.
His signature performance came in a 49-48 overtime win over Temple, when Richter threw for 429 yards and four touchdowns and earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He ranks ninth nationally and first in the MAC in passing yards heading into this weekend’s games.
The Rockets have backed their quarterback with one of the country’s higher-scoring offenses. Toledo ranks in the top 30 nationally in scoring offense at 36.3 points per game, passing offense at 273.4 yards per game and total offense at 458.4 yards per game. Toledo carries a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark in MAC play into Saturday’s home game against Western Michigan at the Glass Bowl.
The Manning Award honors the accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning, and its winner is selected by a panel of national college football media members along with the Mannings themselves. Finalists for this year’s award will be announced on December 4.
The winner will be revealed following the College Football Playoff National Championship, a timetable that reflects the award’s practice of counting bowl and playoff performances alongside the regular season. That structure could help a quarterback like Richter if Toledo makes a run through the MAC championship race and into the postseason.
For now, Richter’s focus is on the conference race in front of the Rockets. Saturday’s noon kickoff against Western Michigan at the Glass Bowl matches Toledo against one of only two teams still unbeaten in MAC play, and another efficient outing from the Rockets’ quarterback would strengthen both his team’s title hopes and his place in the national award conversation.
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