NEW ORLEANS — UTSA redshirt junior Owen McCown has been selected for his third preseason watch list of the year, as the quarterback was named to the Manning Award Watch List on Thursday.
Earlier this summer, McCown was chosen for the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award watch lists. He is one of 27 FBS players, including one of three from the American Conference, who made this year’s Manning Award Watch List.
A product of Rusk High School, McCown started all 13 games last year and completed 294 of 467 passes for 3,424 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also rushed for 340 yards and three TDs to tally 3,764 yards of total offense. The left-hander logged four 300-yard passing games, including a school-record 434 yards and four touchdowns against Tulsa, and topped the 200-yard mark in seven additional contests.
McCown opened the 2024 season by throwing for 340 yards and three scores on 28-of-38 passing in the 28-16 victory over Kennesaw State and was named Manning Award QB of the Week. He landed on the Davey O’Brien Great 8 list after completing 20 of 37 passes for 280 yards and four TDs in the 44-36 win over No. 25 Memphis. He racked up 379 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-43 passing and added 88 rushing yards to help UTSA tally a school-record 681 yards of offense in the 48-27 win versus North Texas, earning a spot on the Davey O’Brien Great 9 and Manning Award Stars of the Week list. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 220 yards and a TD and added a 75-yard rushing touchdown — the longest by any Roadrunner quarterback — in the 51-27 home triumph over Temple. The son of former NFL quarterback Josh McCown closed the campaign by passing for 254 yards and a TD and dashing for a 35-yard score on the ground in the 44-15 victory over Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Bowl en route to being named the game’s MVP.
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.
UTSA will kick off its 15th season of football and sixth year under head coach Jeff Traylor against Texas A&M at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, in what will be a national televised matchup on ESPN live from Kyle Field in College Station.
The Roadrunners then will return home to host back-to-back games at the Alamodome where they boast a 29-3 record in the Jeff Traylor era, tied for the third-most home victories among FBS teams since 2020. UTSA will face Texas State in the Battle for I-35 at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, before they match up with crosstown foe UIW at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13.
UTSA has four league games on the home slate with Rice (Oct. 11), Tulane (Oct. 30), East Carolina (Nov. 22) and Army (Nov. 28 or 29) scheduled to visit the Alamodome.
Fans can purchase season or single-game tickets online or by calling the UTSA Ticket Office at 210-458-UTSA (8872) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays. Current UTSA football season-ticket holders may renew their tickets by logging into their UTSA Account Manager.
Current UTSA students receive free admission to all home games by downloading tickets via their Account Manager.
Merchandise commemorating UTSA Football’s 15th season and featuring the official logo of the milestone campaign is available for purchase.
Roadrunners on 2025 Preseason Watch Lists
Camron Cooper — Allstate AFCA Good Works Team; Allstate Wuerffel Trophy
Robert Henry Jr. — Shrine Bowl 1000; Doak Walker Award
Owen McCown — Davey O’Brien Award; Manning Award; Maxwell Award
Willie McCoy III — Paul Hornung Award
Venly Tatafu — Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award
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2025 Manning Award Preseason Watch List
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Drew Allar, Sr., Penn State |
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Luke Altmyer, Sr., Illinois |
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CJ Bailey, So., NC State |
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Rocco Becht, Jr., Iowa State |
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Tucker Gleason, Sr., Toledo |
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Taylen Green, Sr., Arkansas |
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Josh Hoover, Jr., TCU |
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Blake Horvath, Sr., Navy |
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Katin Houser, Jr., East Carolina |
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Keyone Jenkins, Jr., FIU |
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Kevin Jennings, Jr., SMU |
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Avery Johnson, Jr., Kansas State |
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Colton Joseph, So., Old Dominion |
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Haynes King, Sr., Georgia Tech |
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Cade Klubnik, Sr., Clemson |
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Sam Leavitt, So., Arizona State |
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Maddux Madsen, Jr., Boise State |
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Owen McCown, So., UTSA |
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Behren Morton, Sr., Texas Tech |
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Parker Navarro, Sr., Ohio |
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Garrett Nussmeier, Sr., LSU |
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Diego Pavia, Sr., Vanderbilt |
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Marcel Reed, So., Texas A&M |
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Sawyer Robertson, Sr., Baylor |
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LaNorris Sellers, So., South Carolina |
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Brendan Sorsby, Jr., Cincinnati |
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Nicholas Vattiato, Sr., Middle Tennessee |