IOWA CITY -- Two members of the 2024 Iowa football team earned Associated Press (AP) All-American honors on Monday.
Linebacker Jay Higgins and running back Kaleb Johnson represented the Hawkeyes on the list.
Higgins earned first team All-American honors after receiving second team honors in 2023. Higgins has also been distinguished as a first team All-American by Walter Camp and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) in addition to claiming the 2024 Big Ten Linebacker of the Year award.
Ahead of Iowa's season finale against Nebraska, head coach Kirk Ferentz praised Higgins' resolve and willingness to wait his turn behind former superstar and current Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell.
"There is a lot of cutting and running going on just everywhere in life right now," Ferentz said. "... He never (pouted). No matter what he did, he was just trying to get better. Played tremendously on special teams. Took a leadership role that way. It is just who he is.
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"None of us knew he would be as productive as he was when he got his chance to play. That kind of exceeded any expectations. ... The way he does things, his commitment to the team, his attitude, leadership, all those things, his mental toughness, (I) cannot say enough about him."
Higgins finished second in the league with 118 total tackles (49 solo) and recorded 2.5 tackles for loss, including one sack, five passes defended, four interceptions and two forced fumbles. He is the only player in the nation with more than 100 total tackles and four or more interceptions.
Johnson received a spot on the second team. The junior running back from Hamilton, Ohio also earned second team honors from the AFCA but earned first team honors from Walter Camp.
The 2024 Big Ten Running Back of the Year, Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards and a single-season program record 21 touchdowns this season. He also became the first Hawkeye to score a touchdown in all 12 regular season games.
Johnson declared for the 2025 NFL Draft early this month and will not play in Iowa's matchup against Missouri in the 2024 Music City Bowl.
Following the end of the regular season, Ferentz praised Johnson's approach to the season and willingness to play the entire regular season.
"I want to really compliment Kaleb and the way he has done things," Ferentz said. "If somewhere in the last month, he had walked in and said he is done, I would have been really disappointed, and I would have felt bad for him because it would have been a terrible decision. But, at the same time, I would have understood because of the world we are living in.
"The people on the outside are really aggressive right now. ... He has done a great job this year. This has been a year for him to blossom as a player. ... He has done a really nice job handling it because not everybody can handle that well. ... If you are not going to finish it out, which in this case he is not, he did it in a wat that really, I think, is admirable and did it in a really good way."
The Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) cap off their 2024 season against the No. 19 Tigers (9-3, 5-3 Southeastern) at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 30 in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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University of Iowa Athletics Beat Reporter
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