The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 5/4 Football’s Manning tabbed to Davey O’Brien Award watch list
08.20.2026 | Football
The senior quarterback landed on the award’s watch list for the second-straight year.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 5/4 Texas Football senior quarterback Arch Manning was named to the preseason watch list for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award for the second-consecutive year, the Davey O'Brien Foundation announced Thursday.
The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback.
After last season, Manning was selected to the O'Brien Award's Postseason Great 8 following his performance in the victory over No. 18/17/18 Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Manning received three O'Brien Award Great 8 honors in 2025.
In 2024, 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 the preseason watch lists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award and the Maxwell Award. Manning was named to Walter Camp's All-America Preseason First Team and is a Preseason All-SEC Second-Team selection by the league's media and coaches.
Starting in all 13 games in 2025, Manning completed 248-of-404 passes (61.39 percent) for 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns, averaging 243.31 yards per contest. Also a threat with his legs, the New Orleans native was Texas' second-leading rusher in 2025 after recording 399 yards (92 attempts) and a team-best 10 rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per run. Manning had three games with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes without an interception, which tied for the most such games by any Power Conference quarterback during the regular season (Baylor's Sawyer Robertson and Ohio State's Julian Sayin) and is the most in a season by a Longhorn since Major Applewhite in 1999. He also holds the highest career passing touchdown percentage at home by an active Power Four Conference quarterback at 9.5 percent. Manning was tabbed one of 15 finalists for the Manning Award and was named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Postseason Great 8 for his performance in Texas' victory over No. 18/17/18 Michigan on Dec. 31 at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Leading the Longhorns to a 41-27 win against Michigan to conclude the season and earning the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl's MVP honors, Manning connected on 21-of-34 passes for 221 yards and two scores while adding a career-high 155 yards on the ground with two touchdowns, accounting for 376 yards of total offense and four touchdowns vs. the Wolverines. Over the final six games of the 2025 campaign, he generated 1,714 passing yards (286 per game) and 205 rushing yards while averaging 320 yards of total offense per game and 20 total touchdowns (14 passing, five rushing and one receiving). With the performance vs. Michigan, Manning became the only FBS or NFL QB in the last 30 seasons to have a game with 200-plus passing yards, 150-plus rushing yards, multiple passing touchdowns, multiple rushing touchdowns, no sacks, and no turnovers while averaging 15-plus yards per rush.
In his first full season as a starter at Texas, Manning guided the Longhorns to a 10-3 overall record to clinch UT's third-straight 10-win season – its most since 2007-09. Texas finished the season winning seven of its last eight games in addition to four AP Top-20 wins. The Longhorns went 5-2 against Top-20 opponents this season, with three of those wins coming against top-10 teams.
The official Davey O'Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and will contain active starting 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.
Semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Foundation will announce the three finalists one week later (Tuesday, Nov. 24). The 2026 Davey O'Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Friday, Dec. 11, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.
Manning and Texas open the 2026 season vs. Texas State at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 5, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will broadcast on ESPN.
