IOWA CITY, Iowa – Two University of Iowa football student-athletes – junior Cooper DeJean and senior Tory Taylor – were recognized with Big Ten Conference positional player of the year awards on Tuesday.

DeJean was named the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year, while Taylor was recognized as the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year.

The Hawkeyes had a total of 12 players earn all-conference recognition on defense and special teams.  The conference office will announce the offensive honors Wednesday.

DeJean was tabbed first-team All-Big Ten as a defensive back and return specialist by both league head coaches and voting media. Joining DeJean with first-team accolades are LB Jay Higgins (coaches; media) and Taylor (coaches; media). DB Sebastian Castro was second team (media) and honorable mention by the coaches. Three Hawkeyes earned third-team all-conference recognition: DE Joe Evans (media), LB Nick Jackson (media) and PK Drew Stevens (coaches) with each player being recognized as honorable mention by the other voting group.

Iowa had four additional players garner honorable mention recognition, including DL Yahya Black (coaches; media); DL Deontae Craig (media); DL Logan Lee (coaches; media); DB Quinn Schulte (coaches; media).

DeJean is the sixth Hawkeye to be voted the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year since the award was introduced in 2011. Other honorees include: Micah Hyde (2012), Desmond King (2015), Josh Jackson (2016), Amani Hooker (2017) and Riley Moss (2021).  DeJean joins former Hawkeyes Ihmir Smith-Marsette (2018) and Charlie Jones (2021) as winners of the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year.

Taylor was named the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year for a second time, having previously won the award as a freshman in 2020.  He is the first punter in league history to earn the distinction more than once.

DeJean was one of top defensive players in the nation before going down with a season-ending injury in Week 12.  The Odebolt, Iowa, native had 41 tackles, two TFL, two interceptions and five pass breakups in 10 games. He didn’t allow a touchdown pass in nearly 400 snaps in coverage in 2023.

As a punt returner, DeJean was one of the nation’s best.  He had a 70-yard punt return for a game-winning touchdown against Michigan State and he had a second touchdown return for the game-winning score negated because of an “illegal fair catch” penalty against Minnesota.  DeJean leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally, averaging 11.5 yards per return.

Taylor leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with a 47.7-yard punting average on 79 punts – the most in FBS – in 2023.  The Australian has boomed 31 punts 50 or more yards (five punts of 60+), 26 have been fair caught and 29 have been downed inside the 20, 11 inside the 10 and six inside the 5.  Taylor, who set the Iowa single-season punt yardage mark for a third straight season and both the career punts and career yardage records, only has five touchbacks in 2023.

Higgins has been a tackling machine for Iowa’s defense, racking up 141 tackles – the most in the Big Ten, the third-most nationally (most by a Power 5 player) and the sixth-most in a single season in school history.  The Indianapolis native has led the team in tackles in 10 of 12 games with two 15+ tackle games and eight games with 10 or more stops.

Castro has 52 tackles, nine tackles for loss, one sack and a team-best three interceptions out of the CASH position.  The Illinois native had a 30-yard pick six in Iowa’s road win at Iowa State and he had the game-sealing interception in the road win at Wisconsin.

Evans earns All-Big Ten honors for a second straight year after accumulating 41 tackles and team-bests in sacks (5.5) and TFL (9.5) during the regular season.  The Ames, Iowa, native has 24 career sacks, which are tied for the sixth-most in a single season in school history.

Jackson garners his second straight all-conference nod (first in the Big Ten) after earning second-team All-ACC honors in 2022.  The Georgia native has 91 tackles in 2023 to rank second on the team and eighth in the Big Ten.   He also has accumulated eight TFL, four sacks, two forced fumbles and seven hurries in his first season as a Hawkeye.

Stevens has made 18-of-26 field goal attempts during his sophomore season, including a four-field goal game in the win over Michigan State and a three-field goal contest in the victory over Rutgers.  The South Carolina native also drilled a 53-yard game-winner with 14 seconds remaining in the road win at Northwestern.

Black, Craig and Lee have each started every game on the defensive line in 2023, while Schulte has been the leader of Iowa’s defensive secondary throughout the season.

Black has 46 tackles, four TFL and a forced fumble that resulted in a safety at Wisconsin, Craig has 48 tackles, four TFL and two sacks, and Lee has 49 tackles, 4.5 TFL and two sacks.  Lee also blocked a field goal in the road win at Iowa State.

Schulte has 59 tackles as Iowa’s free safety, which are third-most on the team.  The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native also has 2.5 TFL, three pass breakups and one interception, which came in the shutout victory over Rutgers.

Iowa’s defense has been one of the nation’s best in 2023, ranking fourth nationally with a 12.2 scoring defense.  The Hawkeyes have allowed one touchdown or less in 10 of their 12 games this season.  The 12.2 scoring average would be the best for the program since 1981.

Iowa, the Big Ten West Division champion for the second time in three years, will face No. 2 Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. (CT) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  The game will be televised on FOX.

2023 ALL-BIG TEN (DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS) 

FIRST TEAM 

LB Jay Higgins (coaches; media)

DB Cooper DeJean (coaches; media)

P Tory Taylor (coaches; media)

RS Cooper DeJean (coaches; media)

SECOND TEAM 

DB Sebastian Castro (media)

THIRD TEAM 

DL Joe Evans (media)

LB Nick Jackson (media)

PK Drew Stevens (coaches)

HONORABLE MENTION 

DL Yahya Black (coaches media); DB Sebastian Castro (coaches); DL Deontae Craig (media); DL Joe Evans (coaches); LB Nick Jackson (coaches); DL Logan Lee (coaches; media); DB Quinn Schulte (coaches; media); PK Drew Stevens (media)

Iowa defensive end Joe Evans says the 18th ranked Hawkeyes have embraced the role of underdog as the prepare for the Big Ten Championship game against second ranked Michigan. The Wolverines are a better than three touchdown favorite as they bid for a third straight league title and third straight trip to the college football playoff.

The Hawkeyes have overcome a string of injuries and a struggling offense to reach the title game for the second time in three years.

Evans admits to being star struck two years ago when Iowa lost to Michigan 42-3 in Indianapolis.

The Northern Iowa men open the Missouri Valley race on Wednesday night at home against Belmont. The Panthers are 2-4 and after losses to North Carolina and Texas Tech closed the Battle 4 Atlantis with a lopsided win over Stanford.

That’s UNI Ben Jacobson who likes the progress his team made during the tournament.

Belmont enters the Valley race with a record of 4-3.

Jacobson says the Bruins are difficult to defend.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery is not ready to insert any of the four freshman getting significant minutes into the starting lineup. The Hawkeyes take a 4-2 record into Wednesday night’s final preconference game at home against North Florida.

Owen Freeman, Brock Harding, Ladji Dembele and Pryce Sandfort have combined for about 19 points per game and Freeman is averaging better than nine points per contest.

McCaffery says the tournament in San Diego was a good test for the Hawkeyes. They followed a loss to Oklahoma with a win over Seton Hall.

North Florida is 4-3 after a 75-63 loss at LSU and will force the Hawkeyes to guard the three-point line.

Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly is preaching consistency to his team as the Cyclones get ready for Wednesday night’s game at St. Thomas of Minnesota. ISU is 2-3 after losses to Vanderbilt and Syracuse at a holiday tournament in Las Vegas.

Fennelly says it is also about being consistent away from the court.

Fennelly says the Cyclones need to do a better job of getting to the line.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Two University of Iowa football All-America candidates have been named finalists for national awards on Tuesday. Defensive back Cooper DeJean was named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, while punter Tory Taylor is a finalist for the Ray Guy Award. The Jim Thorpe Award is given to the nation’s top defensive back, while the Ray Guy Award is given to the best collegiate punter.

Joining DeJean as Jim Thorpe finalists are senior safety Trey Taylor (Air Force) and sophomore safety Malaki Starks (Georgia).

Joining Taylor as Ray Guy finalists are senior Matt Haybell (Vanderbilt) and redshirt junior Alex Mastromanno (Florida State).

Winners of both awards will be announced on Dec. 8, during the College Football Awards Show televised live on ESPN.

JIM THORPE AWARD
DeJean, a dynamic threat on defense and special teams, played 388 snaps in coverage this season without giving up a touchdown prior to suffering a season-ending injury on Nov. 15. He allowed only 22 completions for 209 yards, including just one completion greater than 15 yards all season. DeJean had a 70-yard game-deciding touchdown late in the fourth quarter versus Michigan State.

The Odebolt, Iowa, native ranks second on the Hawkeyes in interceptions (2), is third in pass break-ups (5) and 10th in tackles (41) this season. One of his two interceptions thwarted a scoring threat in the end zone against the Spartans. DeJean (6-foot-1, 209 pounds) and the Hawkeyes rank fourth in the country in scoring defense (12.2) and red zone defense (0.708), fourth in passing efficiency defense (99.46) and seventh in total defense (279.9). Iowa is the only team to allow two rushing touchdowns in the 2023 regular season.

DeJean, who is also a Bronko Nagurski finalist, is second in the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally with an 11.5 punt return average and he is second nationally in punt return touchdowns.

He was a midseason first-team All-America selection by the Associated Press, The Athletic, ESPN and FOX.

Iowa’s Desmond King won the Thorpe Award in 2015 and was a semifinalist the following season. Josh Jackson was a finalist for the award in 2017, while Riley Moss was a semifinalist in 2021.

RAY GUY AWARD
Taylor becomes the first Hawkeye to be voted a Ray Guy Award finalist. He broke Iowa’s single season punting yardage record for a third consecutive season in 2023 and has punted more times than any other Hawkeye (281). Taylor has an NCAA-best 79 punts for 3,766 yards in 2023. He leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with a 47.7-yard punting average as a senior.

Thirty-one of his punts have traveled 50+ yards (five punts of 60+), 26 have been fair caught and 29 downed inside the 20, 11 inside the 10 and six inside the 5. The native of Melbourne, Australia, only has five touchbacks and opponents average just 5.7 yards per return.

Taylor (6-foot-4, 232 pounds) was recognized as the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week three times this year (Oct. 9; Oct. 16; Nov. 20) and the Ray Guy National Punter of the Week on Oct. 24.

Taylor, who was also a Ray Guy Award semifinalist in 2020 and 2021, was a first-team All-America honoree by six publications (Associated Press, ESPN, FOX, The Athletic, Sporting News, CBS).

The Hawkeyes return to action on Saturday, traveling to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game. Iowa will face No. 2 Michigan at 7:17 p.m. (CT) at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FOX and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.