THIBODAUX, Louisiana – ACU junior quarterback Luke Anthony will serve as a counselor this weekend at the Manning Passing Academy, joining the best quarterbacks in college football, including Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Georgia’s Jake Fromm, among others.

Lawrence and Tagovaiola squared off in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game last January with the Tigers claiming a 44-16 win over the Crimson Tide to win their second national title in the last three seasons. Lawrence threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns in the game, while Tagovaiola threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

Those two players – as well as Fromm and another camp counselor, Oregon’s Justin Herbert – enter the 2019 season as four of the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy.

Anthony – an honorable mention All-Southland Conference selection last year as a sophomore – led the Wildcats to a 6-5 overall mark and 5-4 conference record as a sophomore in 2018, ACU’s first winning season at the Division I FCS level and its most conference wins since moving up to Division I football prior to the 2013 season.

The 2018 Southland Conference Football Student-Athlete of the Year will be one of four quarterbacks from the conference who will serve as camp counselors, joining reigning Player of the Year Chase Fourcade, Southeastern Louisiana’s Chason Virgil and Northwestern State’s Shelton Eppler.

Anthony was contacted by the camp after he emailed Cooper Manning – the older brother of Peyton and Eli Manning – and sent him film and stats. He was selected to be one of 38 camp counselors, including 30 quarterbacks from the FBS level. Not only will Anthony serve as a counselor, he will be involved in two throwing sessions with other collegiate players that the campers will watch.

Aside from that, he and the other quarterbacks will serve as captains for the teams that are put together and will run drills. He also said he hopes to have some down time to speak to both Peyton and Eli Manning about certain aspects of playing quarterback.

“I’d like to have some time to ask them about their preparation for both practices and games,” Anthony said. “Their work habits – especially those of Peyton – are legendary, and I’d like to have a chance to pick their brains about what they do and how they prepare during the season and what they do during the offseason to get ready to play the next season.”

The camp will run Thursday-Sunday at Guidry Stadium on the campus of Nicholls University, which is where the New Orleans Saints had training camp when Archie Manning was the team’s starting quarterback.

Sponsored by Nike, Gatorade, Wilson, and Riddell, The Manning Passing Academy is run by one of the most prominent families in football. Archie Manning, the patriarch of the family, was a standout at Ole Miss and then with the New Orleans Saints in the NFL. Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL and Eli Manning is still the quarterback for the New York Giants. Both Peyton and Eli have won two Super Bowls and were selected No. 1 overall in their respective drafts.