IOWA CITY, Iowa - Several members of the University of Iowa football team have earned additional All-America and All-Big Ten recognition as a number of media outlets have recently released their postseason awards.
 |
| Iowa junior LT Brandon Scherff named to several all-American teams. |
 |
Scherff started all 12 games at left tackle. Scherff was earlier named first team All-Big Ten by league coaches and has earned that same honor from Sporting News and College Sports Madness, while being named second team by Athlon's.
The Sporting News also named senior defensive back B.J. Lowery and punt return specialist Kevonte Martin-Manley to its All-Big Ten first unit. Lowery is tied for third in the nation in pass break-ups (1.6); while Martin-Manley ranks seventh nationally in punt return average (16.2). As a wide receiver, Martin-Manley leads the Hawkeyes with 39 receptions for 384 yards and four touchdowns.
Senior tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz was named first team All-Big Ten by Athlon's, while junior defensive lineman Carl Davis and senior linebackers James Morris and Anthony Hitchens earned second team recognition from that news outlet.
Fiedorowicz has at least one reception in 30 consecutive games. This season he has 26 receptions for 253 yards and six touchdowns, improving his career totals to 87 catches for 853 yards and 10 touchdowns. Hitchens leads Iowa in tackles (102) for the second straight season. Morris ranks sixth in career tackles (392) and this season leads the team in tackles for loss, sacks and interceptions. Davis registered 39 tackles while starting all 12 games at tackle.
In addition to Scherff, College Sports Madness recognized Martin-Manley as a first team All-Big Ten performer for his punt return skills. College Sports Madness also named Fiedorowicz and Morris to its second unit, while giving third team mention to Davis, Hitchens and senior offensive lineman Brett Van Sloten. Van Sloten started all 12 games at right tackle and has started all 24 games over the past two seasons.
True freshman defensive back Desmond King was named to Athlon's Freshman All-America third team and was named first team on the BTN.com Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team. King started 11 games, recording 63 tackles, seven pass break-ups and two recovered fumbles.
In addition, 14 members of the Iowa football program were recently named to the 2013 Academic All-Big Ten team. Van Sloten was named to the Big Ten academic team for the fourth straight year, while Morris and senior long snapper Casey Kreiter were named for the third straight year. Morris was named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team.
Earning the league recognition for the second time were sophomore linebackers Cole Fisher and Travis Perry, senior wide receiver Don Shumpert, junior defensive lineman Louis Trinca-Pasat and junior running back Mark Weisman. Those recognized for the first year include senior offensive linemen Conor Boffeli and Nolan MacMillan, redshirt freshman tight end George Kittle, sophomore defensive back Jordan Lomax, sophomore defensive lineman Drew Ott and sophomore quarterback Jake Rudock.
Players are not eligible for academic All-Big Ten recognition in their first year on campus.
Iowa (8-4) will meet 16th ranked LSU (9-3) in the 2014 Outback Bowl on Jan. 1. Game time is 12:03 p.m. Central Time for the contest that will be televised on ESPN.
 |
| Junior LSU wide receiver/return specialist Odell Beckham Jr. Photo by:Steve Franz, LSU Athletics Staff Photographer |
LSU junior wide receiver/return specialist Odell Beckham Jr. added to his collection of postseason honors as he was named to the Football Writers Association of America’s All-America first team as a kick returner, the organization announced Wednesday.
This honor marks the second first-team selection for Beckham Jr. as he was named a first-team All-American as an all-purpose player by CBSSports.com. He also earned a spot on the AP All-America third team as an all-purpose player.
Six LSU Tigers were named to the SEC Coaches Football team, after the 2013 regular season.
In addition, five other Tigers were recognized on the Coaches All-SEC Second Team: junior wide receiver Jarvis Landry, sophomore running back Jeremy Hill, junior offensive left tackle La'el Collins, junior defensive tackle Anthony Johnson and senior weakside linebacker Lamin Barrow. Beckham Jr. earned recognition as a second-team All-SEC wide receiver as well.
 |
| 2005 Capital One Bowl: "The Catch" by Iowa senior WR Warren Halloway sealed the game for Iowa on the final play. |
Iowa is 14-11-1 in bowl games. The Hawkeyes are 6-4 under coach Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz is in his fifteenth season as head coach at Iowa.
LSU is 22-21-1 in bowl games. The Tigers are 5-3 in bowl games under coach Les Miles. Miles is in his ninth season at LSU.
The Tigers will play on New Years Day for the 23rd time in school history, and will meet a Big Ten opponent in a postseason bowl for the fifth time, all since the 2001 season.
Following its dramatic comeback over Arkansas, it was announced that senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger would miss the bowl game with a knee injury. True freshman Anthony Jennings, who led the Tigers on a 99-yard game-winning drive against the Razorbacks, is expected to make his first start.
Jennings capped the comeback with a 49-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Travin Dural with 75 seconds to play.
LSU running back Jeremy Hill led the Tigers with 1,185 yards on the ground with 14 touchdowns, while Terrence Magee added 614 yards and eight scores.
The Tigers receiving duo of Jarvis Landry (75 catches for 1,172 yards) and Odell Beckham Jr. (57 catches, 1,117 yards) became the first at LSU to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.
“I know that Coach Kirk Ferentz has done a great job there," Miles said about the match up with Iowa. "I think he has been there for 15 years. He has been one of the most successful coaches in the Big Ten conferences for years. It is a meticulous organization. As you see, they are very talented and capable. I can remember a bowl game when we were preparing for Penn State. We watched how they played. They will be prepared and a very quality team.”
Penn State beat LSU in the 2010 Capital One Bowl 19-17. Iowa had beat Penn State during the 2009 regular season.
Miles said about preparing for the 2014 Outback Bowl, “We have always done good versus good to get the speed of the game up. Not necessarily go and practice the specifics of Iowa, but get our legs back underneath us. That has always been the fastest way for us to get back. We institute the pieces of the Iowa game plan as we go forward. We take a break going into game week and then go play.”
LSU is making its school-record 14th consecutive bowl trip, but it’s playing in the Outback Bowl for just the second time and the first since the 1988 season.
Iowa is 2-1 in the Outback Bowl, while LSU lost their only meeting 23-10 to Syracuse during that 1988 season. Iowa's won the last time in the Outback Bowl, with a 31-10 win over South Carolina, during the 2008 season. This year's Iowa team has been compared to the 2008 team.
No comments:
Post a Comment