The Hawkeyes have had many great playmakers over the years at the cornerback position, most of them coming in more recent times under Kirk Ferentz. We take a look at the list of outstanding pass defenders in Iowa Football history and give you our list for the Mt. Rushmore of Iowa cornerbacks.
As you can imagine, it was difficult to narrow the field down to a list of nominees and finally pick the four faces of the Hawkeye Football program at each position. Our voting panel consisted of Tom Kakert and Blair Sanderson from HawkeyeReport.com, Lyle Hammes, who has written two books on the history of Hawkeye Football, and Mike Hlas, Marc Morehouse and Scott Dochterman from the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Our thanks to Lyle Hammes for helping complete some of the bios for this project.
Here are our four picks for Iowa's Mt. Rushmore at cornerback
Micah Hyde
Micah Hyde was another great find by then Iowa assistant coach Phil Parker. The Hawkeyes stayed in contact with the under the radar prospect out of Ohio and offered him in January and he proved to be a great find for the program. Hyde played immediately when he arrived in Iowa City, seeing action as a reserve defensive back and special teams player as a true freshman. In his sophomore season he took over as Iowa's starting cornerback. His interception return in the Insight Bowl that season helped Iowa clinch a win over Missouri. Hyde opened the 2011 season starting at safety, but moved back to cornerback two games in and never left that spot the rest of the way. That season he also added punter returner to his list of duties. As a junior, he earned 2nd team All Big Ten honors. In his senior year, Hyde had 78 tackles, one interception, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries, earning the Tatum-Woodson Award from the Big Ten, signifying he was the best defensive back in the conference. He was also named first team All Big Ten. Hyde finished his Iowa career with 240 tackles and 8 pass interceptions. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 6th round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Lou King
Lou King was another outstanding player that the Hawkeyes plucked off the east coast and brought to Iowa City during the late 70's and early 80's. King was a taller cornerback at 6-foot-2 and had a very impressive career, especially in his final two seasons. Heading into his senior year, King had 56 tackles and two career interceptions for the Hawkeyes. King's senior year was about as big of a breakout season as you will find. He intercepted a school record 8 passes in 1981, which tied Nile Kinnick single season mark. That single season record still stands today. Perhaps his biggest interception in 1981 came against Nebraska. The Huskers were huge favorites over the Hawkeyes that day and Iowa held on for a 10-7 win in Kinnick Stadium. King intercepted a pass late in the game to seal with win over Nebraska. That season he earned 1st team All Big Ten honors.
Jovon Johnson
Johnson came to Iowa as a lightly recruited prospect out out of Erie, PA and played immediately for the Hawkeyes. He wasn't big, standing just 5-9, but he made a lot of big plays for the Hawkeyes over his four year career. Johnson stands alone in third place all time in Iowa Football history with 17 Interceptions. Johnson was also known for his flashy post game suits that he would wear during interviews. In his freshman year, he was named to the first team All Big Ten Freshman team by The Sporting News and honorable mention freshman All American by Rivals.com after picking off four passes that season. In his sophomore year he moved full time into the starting lineup for the Hawkeyes and had six interceptions. Johnson added four more interceptions to his total in his junior season and earned honorable mention All Big Ten honors. In his senior campaign, he had three more interceptions and led the Big Ten in punt returns, averaging 17 yard a return, including one for a touchdown. Johnson earned 1st team All Big Ten honors as a senior and finished his career with 181 tackles. Johnson signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers and played once season with them. He is currently still playing in the Canadian Football League.
Craig Clemmons
Craig Clemons was a ferocious hitter in the defensive backfield. Clemons' career got off to a dubious start, as he was caught up in the "Black Boycott" of the 1969 Hawkeye football team. But Clemons was reinstated by a vote of the team for his sophomore season, and he quickly earned a starting spot at cornerback. He led the Hawkeyes in interceptions each of his final two seasons, and he finished his career third on Iowa's all-time interceptions list. He also finished with 261 career tackles, which was just three short of the school record at the time. Clemons was named team captain and MVP as a senior in 1971, and he was voted All-Big Ten and a First Team All-American that year. He was selected 12th overall in the 1972 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, and he played six seasons in the NFL. He was voted to the University of Iowa's all-time football team in 1989.
Here's the rest of the nominees:
Sean Prater
The Omaha native came to Iowa with his twin brother, Shane in the fall of 2008 and Sean Prater saw playing time as a true freshman for the Hawkeyes. Prater's highlight of his freshman season was a pass deflection in the end zone against Iowa State that helped to secure a win over the Cyclones. In his sophomore season, Prater started 10 games for the Hawkeyes at cornerback, recording 41 tackles and 2 interceptions. Prater started every game in his junior campaign and had a career high ten tackles in a win over Michigan State. Prater also returned an interception for a 33 yard touchdown in a win over Penn State. He was named 1st team All Big Ten in 2010. In his senior season, Prater again earned 1st team All Big Ten honors, racking up 51 tackles, 4 forced fumbles, and one interception. He returned an interception 89 yards against Tennessee Tech for a score early in the year. Prater was once again named 1st team All Big Ten. He was a 5th round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Amari Spievey
Amari Spievey was another in a line of under the radar secondary players who went on to an outstanding career at the University of Iowa. The Connecticut native arrived at Iowa in the fall of 2006 and redshirted in his freshman year. He encountered academic issues that year and transferred to Iowa Central Community College for one season, earning JUCO All American status that season. In 2008 he returned to the fold in Iowa City and immediately found himself in the starting lineup at cornerback for the Hawkeyes. That season he had four pass interceptions and 68 tackles and earned 2nd team All Big Ten honors. In his junior year, Spievey again started every game at cornerback for the Hawkeyes. He had 56 tackles and a pair of interceptions that season and also earned 1st team All Big Ten honors. Spievey opted for the NFL Draft following the season and was a 3rd round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2010.
Tom Knight
The New Jersey native arrived in Iowa City in the fall of 1992 and found himself on the field immediately as a true freshman, playing in 11 games for the Hawkeyes. In his sophomore year, Knight saw his season cut short due to a knee injury that limited him to just three games played and ended up gaining a medical redshirt out of that season. The following season he was limited to just six games after another knee injury. In his junior season, Knight was finally able to stay healthy and his production really picked up at cornerback. He missed two games due to injury and then had 39 tackles and 4 interceptions in 1995 season, including returning to interceptions for touchdowns. One of those interception returns, against Indiana, helped secure a win for the Hawkeyes. In 1996, Knight earned 2nd team All Big Ten honors, and more importantly, he stayed healthy for the entire season. For his career, he had 125 tackles and 10 interceptions, along with 22 pass breakup's. Knight was a 1st round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in the 1997 NFL Draft and played 9 years in the league.
Earl Douthitt
Earl Douthitt played defensive back for Iowa from 1972-1974. He came to Iowa from Cleveland, Ohio, to play for Coach Frank Lauterbur, and he made his biggest impact on the team by returning kicks. He averaged 24.6 yards per kick return as a sophomore, which ranked seventh in the nation. During Iowa's miserable 0-11 season of 1973, Douthitt set an NCAA record for kick return yards. He also led the team in interceptions as a junior. New Hawkeye head coach Bob Commings selected Douthitt as Iowa's team captain in 1974, and Douthitt earned All-Big Ten and Honorable Mention All-American honors that season. His 1,762 career kickoff return yards remain a school record. As a defensive back, Douthitt recorded 221 career tackles, which, at the time, ranked seventh in school history
