University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Nick Mullens Picks Up Seventh Preseason Honor
8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
NEW ORLEANS - Southern Miss senior quarterback Nick Mullens has been named to the 2016 Manning Award Watch List, his seventh of an eventful final preseason. The Golden Eagles have had at least one player on 11 watch lists so far.
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' bowl performances in its balloting.
Mullens has a personal connection with the Manning legacy. This past June, he tied for the top honors among 38 collegiate quarterbacks at the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La, where he worked alongside the esteemed football family.
Mullens is the defending Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year and earned the same honor in this preseason. He has tremendously improved each year, including a 38-touchdown campaign in 2015 that marked 13 more scoring passes than he had in the previous two seasons combined. His 4,476 yards through the air nearly doubled what he had in 2014 (2,470).
In his final three outings of Southern Miss' six-game winning streak at the end of the year, Mullens threw for 1,074 yards and 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. The Golden Eagles averaged 59.7 points in that trio, winning two of those games on the road.
Mullens had 10 300-yard passing games as a junior, including tossing for a career-high 447 at Nebraska.
Southern Miss, which was picked to win the C-USA West Division, begins its season on Sept. 3, facing Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Preseason Watch List Honorees
Rimington Trophy (best center) - Cameron Tom
Maxwell Award (college player of the year) - Nick Mullens, Ito Smith
Ray Guy Award (best punter) - Tyler Sarrazin
Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) - Cameron Tom
Award (best wide receiver) - D.J. Thompson
Wuerffel Trophy (exemplary community service with academic and athletic excellence) - Nick Mullens
Allstate AFCA Good Works Team ("good works" extending beyond the football field) - Nick Mullens
Davey O'Brien Award (best quarterback) - Nick Mullens
Walter Camp Player of the Year - Nick Mullens
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award - Nick Mullens
Manning Award - Nick Mullens
