ECU’s Katin Houser named to Manning Award preseason watch list

NEW ORLEANS – East Carolina senior Katin Houser is one of 27 quarterbacks named to the 2025 Manning Award Watch List, according to an announcement by the Allstate Sugar Bowl Ton hursday. Houser is the fourth Pirate since the award’s inception in 2004 to earn inclusion on the watch list, following Dominique Davis (2011), Shane Carden (2014) and Holton Ahlers (2020). Ahlers was also named to the midseason watch list in 2022.

Katin Houser (Career and 2024 Biographical Sketches)
Senior in the classroom with two years of eligibility remaining … Two-year letterman (1/East Carolina, 1/Michigan State) … Played in 21 career games making 14 starts (7 in 2023, 7 in 2024) … Completed 262 of 438 passes (59.8 pct.) for 3,138 yards … Thrown 24 touchdowns to 16 interceptions … Rushed 171 yards on 98 carries (1.7 ypr) with six additional scores … Transferred to East Carolina from Michigan State University enrolling in January of 2024.

2025 (East Carolina): Named to Manning Award Watch List

2024 (East Carolina): Played in nine games (seven starts) during initial year with the program where he earned varsity letter … Logged 544 total plays all on offense … Completed 149 of 245 passes for 2,006 yards (60.8 pct.) … Threw 18 touchdowns with 11 interceptions … Registered a 144.9 pass efficiency rating … Rushed for 170 yards on 49 carries (3.5 ypr) with four scores … Tallied 2,176 all-purpose yards and averaged 241.8 yards of total offense per game … Made ECU debut against Norfolk State completing all three pass attempts for 50 yards … In second outing, which was in a reserve role, completed 11 of 28 passes for 84 yards and one interception against Charlotte … First start for the Pirates came at Army where he threw for 282 yards on 24 of 28 passing with three scores … After taking over the starting job against Army (Oct. 19) guided the Pirates to a 5-2 record which included a 26-21 win over NC State in the Go Bowling Military Bowl … During that stretch, completed 135 of 214 passes for 1,872 yards and has thrown 18 touchdowns to 10 interceptions with a 155.0 efficiency rating … Passed for 300 or more yards in a game twice (343/FAU, 314/Tulsa) … In all, passed for 200 or more yards in a game six times … Had a TD pass in six of nine games played (all coming in starts) … Rann for 29 or more yards in a game on three occasions … Established new career-highs in carries (13/NC State), rushing yards (84/NC State), rushing TDs (2/NC State), longest rush (35/FAU), passing yards (343/FAU), passing TDs (5/Temple, 5/FAU) and longest completion (64/FAU) … Stood 47th nationally in passing TDs and 92nd in passing yards … Thrown TDs against Army (53, 11 and 12 yards), Temple (42, 17, 9, 45 and 16 yards), Florida Atlantic (50, 47, 8, 46 and 2 yards), Tulsa (4 yards), North Texas (50 and 28 yards) and Navy (9 and 52 yards) … Rushed for 1-yard score at Army (4Q) … Career-long rush of 35 yards came against FAU (2Q) resulting in a touchdown … Scored a pair of ground TDs against NC State (19 and 4 yards) against the Wolfpack in the Military Bowl game … Named game day captain against North Texas … Registered a pair of 5-TD passing games against Temple (Oct. 26) and Florida Atlantic (Nov. 7) in consecutive games … Became third QB in school history throwing five touchdowns in consecutive games (others: Dominique Davis in 2010, Shane Carden in 2013) … One of six quarterbacks in program history to throw at five or more aerial scores in a game … Topped the ESPN’s Total QBR for Week 11 (vs. Florida Atlantic) with a 99.7 rating … Garnered national weekly honors by Davey O’Brien Great 8 and Manning Star of the Week on Nov. 11 following Florida Atlantic contest … Earned AAC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 11) and Honor Roll (Oct. 28) accolades.

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.

The Pirates will open the 2025 season on Thursday, Aug. 28 when it travels to Raleigh, N.C. to take on NC State at Carter-Finely Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. (ET) and will be televised on the Atlantic Coast Conference Network (ACCN). Season ticket orders are on sale now with packages starting as low as $115 each. Purchases may be made via ECU’s Online Ticket Center or by calling the Athletics Ticket Office at (252) 737-4500.