Award season remains in full swing in college football and end-of-season recognition continues to flow into Iowa City, with the latest notable honors coming in the form of All-America teams. Tory Taylor and Cooper DeJean followed up their All-Big Ten honors (and Ray Guy award win for Taylor) with a deluge of first team All-America honors as well.
Those first team All-America honors added up to another crowning achievement for Taylor and DeJean: unanimous All-America status. They are the 30th and 31st Hawkeyes to achieve consensus All-America status and the 14th and 15th Hawkeyes to become unanimous All-Americans. All Iowa players who achieve consensus All-America status are honored with a portrait on the wall at the Hansen Performance Center.
16 of Iowa's 31 consensus All-Americans have played during the Kirk Ferentz Era at Iowa and 12 of the 15 Hawkeyes to achieve unanimous All-America status have played for Ferentz; nine of those 12 unanimous All-Americans have played during the last 10 seasons. Iowa fans have been witness to some truly remarkable individual talents in recent years.
In order to be a "consensus All-American," a player must be named to the first team by at least half of the official selectors. To be a "unanimous All-American," a player must be named to the first team by all five official selectors. The five official selectors are the Walter Camp Foundation, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), the Associated Press, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), and the Sporting News.
Tory Taylor was previously named first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media and honored as the Big Ten Punter of the Year. Last week, he also received the Ray Guy Award as the best punter in college football. This season, Taylor has punted the ball 86 times for 4,119 yards, a 47.9 yard average. Of Taylor's 86 punts, 36 have traveled 50+ yards (6 went 60+ yards), 30 were downed inside the 20, 11 inside the 10, and six inside the 5-yard line.
When his career is officially over after the Citrus Bowl, Taylor's career average of 46.2 yards per punt will become a new Iowa career record -- and a new NCAA career record (shattering the previous record of 42.5 yards, set by Baylor's Daniel Sepulveda). Taylor is also 20 yards away from breaking an 85-year old NCAA record for punting yards in a season (currently held by Michigan State's Johnny Pingel with 4,138)
No one punted more than Tory Taylor this season, but more importantly than that -- no one punted the ball better than Tory Taylor this season, and certainly not at the rate of punting Taylor was called upon to provide. Taylor's booming, field position-flipping kicks were a critical part of Iowa's complementary football approach.
Cooper DeJean's season ended abruptly after 10 games when he suffered a leg injury during practice on November 15. DeJean's body of work in the 10 games that he did play was evidence of his excellence this season, though. He ended the year with 41 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, and five pass break-ups, despite rarely being tested through the air. DeJean allowed zero touchdowns on 388 coverage snaps this season.
Like Taylor, DeJean was also named first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media and earned Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year honors as well. He was also a finalist for the Jim Thorpe and Bronco Nagurski Awards and a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. DeJean was also a sensational punt returner, earning Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year honors while averaging 11.5 yards per return and recording two game-winning touchdowns on returns (though only the return against Michigan State officially counted).
Linebacker Jay Higgins also received All-America recognition. The FWAA and Sports Illustrated named him a first team All-American, while the AFCA, Associated Press, Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News, and CBS all named him a second team All-American. Higgins' 155 tackles led the Big Ten and rank 3rd nationally and he's served as a critical leader and organizer for a defense that's allowed just 13.2 ppg this season.
CASH Sebastian Castro was named a third team All-American by the AP. Castro finished the year with 61 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 8 pass break-ups, a forced fumble, and innumerable clutch plays for Iowa's defense.
