Good News During Idle Week: 5 Hawkeyes Named to Midseason All-America Teams
Five members of the University of Iowa football team have been recognized on college football’s midseason All-America teams.
Junior center Tyler Linderbaum, Senior defensive back Matt Hankins, Sophomore punter Tory Taylor, Senior defensive back Riley Moss, and Junior linebacker Jack Campbell all were named by various publications to the lis.
Linderbaum (6-foot-3, 290-pounds) is one of 12 semifinalists for the 2021 Rotary Lombardi Award. Tyler was named preseason first-team All-Big Ten and preseason first-team All-America by five media outlets, including Associated Press, The Athletic, Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and Sporting News.
He has started 28 consecutive games at center for the Hawkeyes after playing as a defensive lineman as a true freshman and is considered a first round draft pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Linderbaum was also named to the Big Ten Conference preseason honors list, as well as the Rimington Trophy and Outland Trophy watch lists.
Hankins has started 34 straight games in the Iowa secondary and this season has recorded three interceptions and 25 tackles. He was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week, the Rose Bowl Game Big Ten Conference Player of the Week and the Bronko Nagurski national Defensive Player of the Week following Iowa’s 23-20 win over No. 4 Penn State.
Moss is tied for the national lead with four interceptions, despite missing Iowa’s most recent game due to injury. Moss had two interceptions returns for touchdowns in Iowa’s opening win over Indiana. He has 10 career interceptions, with three returned for touchdowns.
Taylor has been at his best in the biggest games. For the season he is averaging 46.2 yards on 43 punts, with 21 of those landing inside the opponent 20-yard line. Six of nine punts against No. 4 Penn State were inside the 20, including four inside the five-yard line. In Iowa’s win at Iowa State Taylor dropped three of his punts inside the 10-yard line.
Campbell earned national Player of the Week honors when he recorded 18 tackles in Iowa’s win over Colorado State. Campbell leads the Hawkeyes with 67 tackles. He returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown at Iowa State and his fumble recovery against Colorado State led directly to a Hawkeye touchdown.
Iowa will play at Wisconsin on October 30th. The 11:00 AM kickoff will be televised on ESPN.