RENO, Nev.  – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced Nevada quarterback Carson Strong as one of 10 finalists for this year's award on Friday.

"There have been so many quarterbacks who've had outstanding seasons. They're making this year's competition for the Manning Award as wide-open as I can remember," said Archie Manning. "This is definitely a year where we're very pleased to have the opportunity to see how everyone plays for the full season – right through the bowl games and the playoff – before deciding who will be the winner."

Strong leads the nation's 4th-ranked passing attack and the Wolf Pack paced the Mountain West Conference in points per game (36.7). He set program records in passing touchdowns with 36, 2nd all-time in single-season passing yards (4,175) which was also 4th in the nation. Strong is 3rd nationally in completions per game (30.4), 5th nationally in passing yards per game (347.9), 6th in passing touchdowns (36), 8th in completion percentage (69.9), and total offense (330.6). 

He was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and became the first back-to-back winner since 2015-16 (San Diego State; RB, Donnel Pumphrey) and fifth back-to-back winner overall. It was the 17th time a quarterback has won the award. He leads the Mountain West with nine 300-yard passing performances, tying for second-most in a single season in league history and most since 2013. 

Among the finalists, Strong is third in passing yards (4,175), touchdown passes (36), tied for third in completion percentage (70.0), and third in completions (367). 

The finalists for this year's Manning Award are:

In its first 17 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 13 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with six Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy, and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Burrow and Russell), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Young) are the only schools with two different winners.

Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide range of quarterbacks. Fourteen of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Burrow, Griffin III, Jones, Marcus Mariota, Mayfield, Murray, Ryan, Watson (twice), and Winston. On the other hand, Manziel, Murray, Newton, Watson (in 2015), and Young were all 1,000-yard rushers during their Manning years.

Perhaps most impressive among the statistics of the quarterbacks recognized by the Manning Award is touchdowns scored. Twelve of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons – Burrow's 65 touchdowns (60 passing, five rushing) broke Mariota's record (58 in 2014) for touchdowns by a Manning Award winner.

One of the more unique aspects of the Manning Award is the fact that it takes account of the quarterbacks' bowl performances, in addition to the regular season. Fourteen of the 17 Manning Award winners won bowl games during the season they won the honor. Twelve Manning Award honorees led their teams to the CFP Semifinals or a BCS Championship game appearance (Burrow, Jones, Matt Leinart, Mariota, Mayfield, McCoy, Murray, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston, and Young). Eight won national championships (Burrow, Jones, Leinart, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston, and Young).

Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Six honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Burrow, Mayfield, Murray, Newton, Russell, and Winston), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Griffin, Mariota, Ryan, and Young).

All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Manning's themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton, and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.

In addition to the Manning Award's yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Quarterbacks of the Week. Sixty-seven different quarterbacks were honored this season and 464 different quarterbacks from 129 schools have been recognized since 2011.

The winner will be announced after the bowls in January. 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 takes the candidates' bowl performances into consideration in its balloting.