Washington linebacker Jacob Manu is in the running for one of college football’s top academic honors.
The fifth-year Husky was announced Wednesday as one of 206 semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, an award that goes to the nation’s best all-around student-athlete. The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame will determine the winner, and the trophy is now in its 37th year.
Manu had already landed on the preseason watchlist, and now he’s moved another step forward in a field that spans both the NCAA and NAIA levels. Among the semifinalists, there are 130 captains, 95 players from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 87 players with a 3.7 GPA or better.
That academic recognition comes with strong production on the field. Manu, one of seven captains on the Huskies, has played in all three games this season after missing most of last year with an injury.
He has 22 total tackles, 15 of them solo, along with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He ranks third on the team in tackles for loss and second in sacks.
Fourth-year safety and fellow captain Alex McLaughlin leads Washington in both categories with three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Manu is in his second season with Washington after beginning his career at Arizona. He played three seasons for the Wildcats from 2022 through 2024 and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2023, the final year of the conference’s old format before all but two teams left for other leagues in a wave of realignment.
His first year in the Pacific Northwest didn’t fully show what he could do, but the opening three games this season have put that ability back on display. It’s the kind of start that reminded people why he was viewed as one of the most disruptive defenders in the old Pac-12 and one of the bigger transfer portal additions last offseason.
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