NEW ORLEANS – A true leader on and off the field for Michigan State, junior Kirk Cousins is the 14th quarterback to be named to the Manning Award Watch List for 2010-11.

Cousins, who led the Spartans to the Alamo Bowl last year, was the second sophomore in school history to be named a team captain and has also been nominated for the Allstate Good Works Team (recognizing his tremendous work in the community).

The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, is releasing the Watch List one player per day through its official Facebook and Twitter pages. The award has honored the top quarterback in the nation for the past six years.

Cousins, who saw limited action as a freshman, started 12 games last season for the Spartans. His pass efficiency rating of 142.6 ranked third in the Big Ten and 25th nationally while he threw for over 2,600 yards and 19 touchdowns with just nine interceptions. Cousins registered eight 200-yard passing games in 2009, including a 220-yard effort against Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl.

He produced a career-high 353 yards passing on 22-of-25 throws (88 percent) with two touchdowns in a win over Western Michigan. His most clutch performance may have come against Purdue when he led the Spartans to a comeback victory which assured their bowl eligibility. He completed a career-long 73-yard TD strike to B.J. Cunningham in the fourth quarter that sparked the 11-point fourth-quarter comeback victory over the Boilermakers. The Spartans and Cousins will look for another big game against Western Michigan as they open the season against the Broncos on Sept. 4 at home.

The members of the Watch List are being released in a completely random order.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates’ bowl performances. Ten finalists will be selected in late-November and the winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans.

The preseason Watch List recognizes some of the top quarterbacks in the nation based on previous collegiate performance, however, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible for the honor. Additional quarterbacks may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Monday, Nov. 29. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

The Manning Award will be recognizing its seventh winner this year. USC’s Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas’ Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU’s JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick. Boston College’s Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2009, Florida star Tim Tebow earned the honor – he also went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Last year’s winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history. McCoy was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 NFL Draft.