KTUL.com - Tulsa's Channel 8 - News, Weather & SportsGJ Kinne on Manning Award Watch List

Tulsa starting quarterback GJ Kinne is one of 31 quarterbacks named to the Manning Award Watch List.

Kinne earned Conference USA's Offensive Player of the Year honors while leading the league in total offense with 4,111 yards for a 323.9-yard average.

He led the Golden Hurricane to a 10-3 record and No. 24 final national AP  ranking a year ago.

"College football is the greatest sport out there and it's always fun to take a look at all the quarterbacks in the country and speculate on who will be the best," Archie Manning said. "But even the process of narrowing it down to 31 guys was challenging and I have no doubt that plenty of other quarterbacks will jump into the picture as the season goes on. I'm looking forward to simply sitting back and enjoying another great season."

Kinne and the University of Tulsa open the season on the road at top-ranked Oklahoma Saturday, September the 3rd.