Tag: Tory Taylor

2023 Buckeyes Wire Preseason All-Big Ten team: Specialists

There are some intriguing specialists in the Big Ten and one special Buckeye returner. #GoBucks #B1G

The 2023 college football season is right around the corner and the Big Ten is loaded with top-notch talent and predicting who will end up on the All-Big Ten has proven challenging. Not only was it hard to choose one player over another, but it was also hard to admit that some of Ohio State’s most prominent rivals have some serious dogs on their squad.

This list will dive into the specialists — and as expected — the Big Ten has some dominant specialists that make it very hard to narrow it down to just one at each position. This list may appear biased considering the amount of Buckeyes who made the list, but it would be hard for the most objective fan to deny the insane talent that was chosen.

In the age of the transfer portal, it is possible for a complete dark horse to rise as a frontrunner, but we will do our best to provide the most educated guess based on previous performances and situations.

11 Hawkeyes garner preseason honors from Athlon Sports

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a hearty presence among Athlon Sports’ preseason honors. The Hawkeyes find themselves with 11 players recognized.

Athlon Sports recently released their preseason All-American and All-Big Ten teams and the Iowa Hawkeyes have their hearty presence felt up and down both teams.

Highlighting the names of the Hawkeyes is punter Tory Taylor making an appearance as a preseason first-team All-American. Along with him is Cooper DeJean finding himself as a preseason second-team All-American. DeJean also finds himself among the All-Big Ten teams in another position, exemplifying his versatility and what he means to this team.

The Hawkeyes have an offensive presence that includes the offensive line, running back, and of course, the tight end position. One glaring omission is transfer tight end Erick All as he doesn’t appear among any of the teams.

Defensively, the Hawkeyes are represented at every level from defensive line to linebacker to the secondary. One name not included defensively is bright up-and-comer Xavier Nwankpa.

Below is a look at the Hawkeyes appearing with these preseason honors and a glance at their production in 2022.

Iowa Hawkeyes punter Tory Taylor named a preseason All-American

Punting is winning at Iowa and Tory Taylor does it better than just about anyone else. He finds himself as a preseason All-American.

Tory Taylor was the secret weapon for the Iowa Hawkeyes last season and his performance often changed games. His ability to constantly pin opponents deep and make them try to navigate a long field against the Hawkeyes’ top defense paid time and time again last year.

Due to his success last year and his decision to return to Iowa to continue giving Big Ten offenses fits, Tory Taylor has been named a 2023 Walter Camp Preseason Football Bowl Subdivision All-American.

As a junior, Taylor earned first-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America, Phil Steele and Pro Football Focus and a second-team accolade from the Associated Press. Taylor was also a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the conference media and Phil Steele and a third-team honoree by the Big Ten coaches.

In a year that featured 82 punts, which is a number much higher than Hawkeyes’ fans would have hoped for, the silver lining is that Taylor averaged 45.4 yards per punt which completely flipped the field. His season-long was a punt of 70 yards.

Taylor doesn’t only have a monster leg as noted by his 27 punts of 50 or more yards, he has pinpoint accuracy as well. Of Taylor’s 82 punts, a whopping 38 of them or 46.3% pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line making them stare down 80-plus yards to punch one in the end zone.

As Iowa looks to make leaps and bounds of offensive improvement in this 2023 season, having Taylor ready to go is always a nice safety blanket in the back pocket. Paired with a dominant defense, Taylor epitomizes how important special teams are as a third of the game. He will look to capitalize on his 2022 season and continue the Iowa way that is punting is winning.

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Report card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ dominant 33-13 win over Northwestern

Finally, a report card Iowa can safely bring home. The Hawkeyes get high marks across the board after a 33-13 thumping of Northwestern.

A three-game losing streak reminds everyone just how sweet winning is. As Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

Truly, it’s the tonic for plenty of woes. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said as much leading into the Hawkeyes’ Homecoming game against Northwestern and he said as much afterwards.

“Just one thing that never changes in football, losing stinks, and winning is a really good feeling. So our guys needed to experience that. So we’re right back. We have four weeks left in conference play. But the biggest thing is we’re moving in November. And November is about playing your best football. That’s what it’s all about. So that has to be our goal,” Ferentz said.

Iowa (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) heads to Purdue next week looking to get the record back over the .500 mark. Before that, let’s hand out some grades that Iowa can actually feel comfortable taking home to mom and dad. Pull up a chair, class is in session.

Iowa botches fake punt against Ohio State

Iowa’s punter with an awful decision against Ohio State

Iowa has had every possible trouble on offense in 2022 and years prior.

So, it goes to figure the Hawkeyes wouldn’t be able to execute a fake punt.

This is about as botched as botched can get by a team.

Tory Taylor seems indecisive about whether to kick the football or take off and try and gain the 6 yards needed for a first down.

He makes the decision to fake the punt and pays for it, dearly.

Jack Campbell, Tory Taylor represent Iowa Hawkeyes as CBS midseason All-Americans

The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of just four teams in the country with multiple players on the CBS midseason All-American team.

The Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves with two players on CBS Sports’ midseason All-American team, one of just four programs in the country that can boast that distinction. The other three teams with multiple players named are the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the USC Trojans.

Unsurprisingly, the two Hawkeyes named come from the defensive and special teams unit. On defense, CBS Sports named Jack Campbell to the midseason All-American team at linebacker along with Alabama’s Will Anderson and Arkansas‘ Drew Sanders.

Campbell leads the entire Hawkeyes defense with 62 total tackles through just six games. He also has three tackles for loss to go with it. Campbell is doing everything right to perform at a high level and lead this defense in his final year at Iowa before the inevitable move to the NFL.

The second Hawkeye finding their name on this list is punter Tory Taylor. The Aussie native has punted 41 times and is averaging 46.1 yards per punt with 15 of them traveling 50-plus yards and nearly half pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line. Taylor also found himself on College Football Network’s midseason All-American team.

One bit of note is that the upcoming opponent for the Hawkeyes, the Ohio State Buckeyes, have locked down the wide receiver position in this bit of recognition. Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. were the two receivers selected. The Buckeyes didn’t stop there as their quarterback C.J. Stroud was also selected.

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College Football Network recognizes two Hawkeyes as midseason All-Americans

College Football Network released their midseason All-American teams and the Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves with two players among the group.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have done two things extremely well this season. Their defense and their special teams unit have been two bright spots amidst somewhat of a rollercoaster season up to this point.

While there is room to improve and room to grow, there are a couple of Hawkeyes performing at very high levels that have earned them some national recognition.

In College Football Network’s midseason All-American report, two Hawkeyes’ names made the cut. The Iowa Hawkeyes special teams unit is led by punter Tory Taylor. He was named to the midseason first team All-Americans team.

Joining Taylor on the list is defensive back, Cooper DeJean. Playing defensive back, there is much stiffer competition, yet DeJean still finds himself on the midseason All-Americans honorable mentions list.

Tory Taylor has single-handedly won games for the Iowa Hawkeyes this season, pinning opponents back inside the 20-yard line on 21 of his 52 kicks. Taylor averages nearly 46 yards per punt and hasn’t allowed more than 40 return yards on his kicks.  – Mellor, CFN

DeJean 37 tackles (third on the team), five pass breakups, and three interceptions (both tops on the Hawkeyes) through their first six games of the season. In just his second season with Iowa, DeJean has plenty of room to grow but has already shown the fanbase that he has all the potential to blossom into the next great defensive back in black and gold.

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Iowa Hawkeyes’ Kaevon Merriweather, Tory Taylor named Big Ten Players of the Week

The Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves with two players named as Big Ten Players of the Week after a strong outing against Rutgers.

After an impressive defensive effort on Saturday night against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, the Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves touting the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in safety Kaevon Merriweather and Big Ten Special Teams player of the Week in punter Tory Taylor.

In a performance that saw the Hawkeyes defense score two touchdowns and force three turnovers, Merriweather was at the very forefront of the effort. Taylor continued to pin the Scarlet Knights deep the entire evening making it a constant uphill battle to move the ball out of deep in their own territory.

Merriweather picked up a fumble caused by Jack Campbell and Sebastian Castro in the second quarter that he ran back 30 yards for a touchdown. He also added on an interception in the third quarter. Merriweather finished the game with three tackles. Merriweather has 17 tackles, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, one interception, and one defensive touchdown on the year.

Tory Taylor delivered the show that many expected when he was called upon to punt. Taylor punted five times for an average of 42.6 yards per punt, a long of 51 yards, and dropped four of them inside the 20-yard line.

On the season, Taylor is averaging 47.25 yards per punt, and has put 17 of his punts, over 60%, inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

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5 stars from the Iowa Hawkeyes’ loss to the Iowa State Cyclones

Despite Iowa losing the Cy-Hawk game for the first time in the past seven meetings, there were standout performers. Here were five stars.

Pretty much everything you are going to read after this 10-7 loss to rival Iowa State—at home no less—will be negative. How could it not be? All the fears and worries that could be chalked up to first-game jitters were now confirmed in Week 2.

This offense looks like the worst in the nation right now. Every single article this week will hammer that point into your head. I’ve got nothing to say about the offense, I’d instead like to appreciate yet another great performance by the defense and special teams. Lost in the offensive ineptitude, the Iowa Hawkeyes only allowed 10 points and blocked two punts.

Those Iowa stars will not be forgotten here. Here are the five Hawkeye stars from Week 2.

WATCH: Iowa uses blocked punt, pair of turnovers to lead at halftime over Iowa State 7-3

One big special teams play and one big defensive play have the Iowa Hawkeyes in front of the Iowa State Cyclones at half.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are hosting the Iowa State Cyclones for the first time since 2018. After one half, it’s the Hawkeyes that are getting the better of it. Iowa leads Iowa State at recess, 7-3.

As you might have guessed, it’s been driven by defense and special teams. At halftime, the Hawkeyes have just 86 yards of total offense. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras completed 5-of-11 passes for 33 yards. He also had a third-and-8 pass intercepted after it was deflected off intended target Alec Wick’s hands.

Leshon Williams finished the first half with 11 carries for 36 rushing yards to lead Iowa in that department. Meanwhile, in the receiving category, Iowa’s five completions went to its two tight ends in Sam LaPorta and Luke Lachey. LaPorta finished with three grabs for 19 yards while Lachey had a pair for 14 yards.

After a John Waggoner sack of Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers on the Cyclones’ first drive, Iowa electrified the crowd with this blocked punt.

Lukas Van Ness blocked it and Reggie Bracy scooped it up to set the Hawks up with their first possession of the day at the Iowa State 16-yard line. Then, finally, Iowa delivered its first offensive touchdown of the season with a 9-yard touchdown trot from running back Leshon Williams.

Later on in the first half after a Petras fumble on a sack, Iowa State drove it all the way down to the Hawkeyes’ 1-yard line. Then, a terrific defensive play saved Iowa from surrendering points.

Last but not least, Iowa had one more turnover to preserve their first-half lead. Cooper DeJean picked off this Dekkers pass following Petras’ interception in the closing two minutes.

The Hawkeyes need to find a way to get their offense going, but it’s nice to see the special teams and defense once again delivering for Iowa to keep Iowa in front.

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