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NEW ORLEANS – Graduate student quarterback Parker Navarro is representing Ohio on the 2025 Manning Award Preseason Watch List, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. 
 
The list features 27 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2025 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the postseason. 
 
Navarro (Tempe, Ariz.) made 13 starts during the 2024 campaign, tallying 2,423 passing yards on 295 passes with 195 completions. Also a force to be reckoned with on the ground, he rushed for 1,054 yards on 160 attempts with 18 touchdowns, becoming the second quarterback in program history to log over 1,000 yards on the ground in a single season as well as the first quarterback to record over 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in the same season. A four-time 2024 Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 30, Nov. 15, Nov. 25, Dec. 2), Navarro also earned Davey O'Brien Great 8 recognition twice (Dec. 2 and Jan. 22), All-MAC Second Team Offense accolades and was named both the MAC Championship Offensive Player of the Game and 2024 StaffDNA Cure Bowl MVP honors.
 
Navarro has also been featured on the Walter Camp 2025 Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, the 2025 Maxwell Award Watch List and the 2025 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Preseason Watch List.
 
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' postseason performances in its balloting.
 
"We're looking forward to another exciting year of college football," said Archie Manning. "I'd like to thank the Sugar Bowl for continuing to build the tradition of the Manning Award which now has over 20 years of honoring the top quarterbacks in the country for the entire football season. This year we have another great group on our preseason Watch List; in October, we'll review the transfers and other newcomers and then boost the Watch List with the best from that group."
 
Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Transfers and other newcomers at schools were not eligible for the preseason Watch List, but additional quarterbacks will be added to the Watch List during the season. Finalists will be selected prior to the postseason and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship. 
 
"It's an honor for the Sugar Bowl to partner with the Manning family in recognizing the best college football quarterbacks in the country," said Jeff Hundley, CEO of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. "We've been able to recognize a great list of Manning Award winners for two decades now, and we're all looking forward to another exciting year of great quarterbacks and great games capped off by the College Football Playoff, which includes a Playoff Quarterfinal here in the Sugar Bowl."
 
This year's Watch List includes players from nine Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The Big 12 leads the way with seven selections, followed by the SEC with five, and the ACC with four representatives.
 
For full Manning Award information, follow @ManningAward on X (FKA Twitter) and Instagram; or visit AllstateSugarBowl.org.
 
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