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The 2024 Iowa Hawkeyes college football season could be described by a two-word adjective. That adjective would be star power.
A team known for all 11 guys doing their jobs had a year that saw a star on each side of the ball shine brightly for all of the college football world to see.
Those stars, running back Kaleb Johnson and linebacker Jay Higgins, shined brightly enough to land on ESPN’s final top 100 players of the college football season.
Cracking the list as the No. 64 best player of the season is Jay Higgins, Iowa’s heart and soul on defense who was a brick wall during his time with the Hawkeyes.
64. Jay Higgins
LB, Iowa, Senior
Stats: 53 solo tackles, 1 sack, 2 FFs, 4 INTs
Preseason ranking: NR
Higgins earned unanimous All-American honors and was named the Big Ten’s Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year. He finished second in the league with 120 tackles and four interceptions — no player in college football had more than 100 tackles with four picks. He topped the Big Ten with 120 tackles and a tackling rate of 92.3%. He also led the Hawkeyes with four interceptions and two forced fumbles. — Trotter
Ascending the list and cracking the top 20 is Kaleb Johnson, Iowa’s running back who put together a historic, record-breaking year for the Hawkeyes.
17. Kaleb Johnson
RB, Iowa, Junior
Stats: 240 carries, 1,537 yards, 21 TDs
Preseason ranking: NR
Johnson didn’t enter the season as Iowa’s starter, but he soon emerged as one of the nation’s best backs. He had 685 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in the first four games, averaged 5.6 yards per carry or better in the first nine games and reached the end zone at least once in the first 11 contests. Johnson was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and a second-team AP All-America selection. He set single-season team…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/two-iowa-football-stars-crack-230018286.html
Author : Hawkeyes Wire
Publish date : 2025-01-22 23:00:00
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