Leading all Big Ten players in Heisman Trophy chances this season is Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy leads the Wolverines to a 6-0 record this year and has the second-highest completion percentage in the country (78.2%). Tory Taylor of Iowa is the most indispensable player in the country, according to former Ohio State standout and current NBC Sports commentator Joshua Perry, and is just as deserving of the Heisman Trophy as McCarthy.
“We all know J.J. McCarthy is the front-runner to win the Heisman out of any of the guys in the Big Ten, but we need to put Tory Taylor, the Iowa punter, in that conversation,” Perry told reporters on Wednesday. “He affects winning for his team more than any player in America.”
Taylor has previously won the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week award twice. Taylor punted the ball 10 times for a career-high 506 yards in Iowa’s 15-6 victory over Wisconsin last week. Five of his punts covered more than 50 yards, and two of them covered more than 60 yards, one of which equaled his 62-yard season-best. Three of his punts were pinned within the Badgers’ 6-yard line, while four were downed inside the 20.
“When you have confidence in your punter, it gives you some options in terms of play-calling and situational awareness,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said following the Wisconsin game. The way everything was going, it didn’t seem like there would be a lot of scoring. He has the same effect on our squad and the games that Reggie Roby did in 1981, when we were very successful. It’s a true privilege to have a guy that is that good, though.
Taylor gave LeVar Woods, the special teams coordinator, praise for his outstanding performance this year.
“I wasn’t performing to the best of my ability the first few weeks,” Taylor stated. “He assisted me in emerging from that rut. He simply allows us to be ourselves. “I know no better punter than you.” Just do that; you’re the best punter in the world. He simply allows us to be ourselves, and when that happens, performance on the pitch is often maximised.
Following his effort in the Hawkeyes’ 20-14 victory over Purdue, Taylor was named Special Teams Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career. With six punts totaling 284 yards, he averaged 47.3 yards per punt. Two of his six punts (61 and 57 yards) and two that were downed inside the 20-yard line each covered more than 50 yards. His six punts did not result in any touchbacks.
After completing 14 of his 17 pass attempts for 222 yards and three touchdowns in Michigan’s 52-7 victory over Indiana on Saturday, McCarthy was named the Big Ten Player of the Week. Despite being 10th in the nation in terms of pass attempts (142), he is top five in the Big Ten in terms of passing yards (1,512) and passing touchdowns (14) and is second in the country in completion percentage (78.2%). He now holds the No. 10 spot in terms of throwing yards for Michigan (4,747) and, barring an injury, will overtake Jim Harbaugh (5,214) and Tom Brady (4,773) in the upcoming games.
Football at Iowa is currently working to assemble a strong recruiting class for 2025.
Burke Gautcher, a three-star linebacker out of Illinois’ Sycamore High School, gave his pledge to the Hawkeyes during the past weekend, giving them their third commitment in the class.
There are still a few places in this class where Iowa has not presented many prospects, but there are other positions where the board is starting to become clearer, and we can start to look at where Iowa is with its top targets.
