IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior running back Kaleb Johnson has been honored as a finalist for the 2024 Doak Walker Award, it was announced Tuesday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.

In its 33rd year, the award is named after SMU’s three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. The other finalists are Ashton Jeanty of Boise State and Omarion Hampton of North Carolina.

Johnson, who is also a Walter Camp and Maxwell semifinalist, is having a record-breaking year for the Hawkeyes. He has posted school single-season records in points (132), total touchdowns (22) and rushing scores (21). Johnson has rushed for 1,492 yards in 11 games in 2024, the second-most in the country and third most in program history.

The native of Hamilton, Ohio, has scored at least one touchdown in 11 straight games — the longest stretch in school history. He has seven games this season with two or more rushing touchdowns, believed to be the most in a single season in program history.

He is joined as a Doak finalist by Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton. The 2024 Doak Walker Award honoree will be announced Dec. 12.

Former Hawkeye Shonn Greene was the recipient of the 2008 Doak Walker Award.

Iowa (7-4, 5-3) returns to action Friday, hosting Nebraska (6-5, 3-5) in the Pioneer Heroes Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on NBC and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Kaleb Johnson | National Rankings
Rushing Yards Per Game: 2nd (135.6)
Total Touchdowns: 4th (22)
Total Points scored: 4th (132)
Rushing Touchdowns: 4th (21)
All-Purpose Yards: 7th (146.1)
Rush Yards Per Carry: 9th (6.7)

Kaleb Johnson | 2024 Honors
Doak Walker Award Finalist
Maxwell Award Semifinalist
Walter Camp National POY Semifinalist
CBS Sports, Sporting News, The Athletic Midseason All-America
Doak Walker National RB of the Week (Sept. 24)
Big Ten Co-Offensive POW (Sept. 23)
Big Ten Offensive POW (Nov. 4)
Senior Bowl Co-Offensive National POW (Oct. 14)
UI September Male Athlete of the Month

Nine Big-12 teams are mathematically alive for a spot in the conference championship game and the league is looking at numerous tie breaking scenarios heading into the final weekend. For Iowa State the only scenario that matters involves a win. The 17th ranked Cyclones host Kansas State Saturday night and with a victory are likely headed to Dallas.

That’s Cyclone coach Matt Campbell who says their only focus is the Wildcats.

After back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Kansas the Cyclones have battled back into contention.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says all three quarterbacks are practicing leading up to the Black Friday game against Nebraska. Jackson Stratton is listed as the starter after leading the Hawkeyes to a victory at Maryland but Brendan Sullivan and Cade McNamara could play.

Sullivan missed the Maryland game with an ankle injury suffered in a loss to UCLA.

Ferentz says there is no plan to rotate quarterbacks against the Huskers.

The Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the Jet Award Foundation.

The other two finalists are Keelan Marion of BYU and Kam Shanks of UAB.

Wetjen, who was also a Burlsworth Trophy Semifinalist, leads the nation with 807 combined kick return yards (next most is 600 yards). He is third in the FBS in punt return yards (287) and seventh in kickoff return yards (520). The native of Williamsburg, Iowa, native had an 85-yard punt return for a score against Northwestern, the seventh-longest in school history. He had 100+ kickoff return yards in three straight games (Washington, Michigan State and Northwestern) in 2024, a first by a Hawkeye since at least 1978.

The award is named in honor of Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers. The winner of the 2024 Jet Award will be selected by a panel of voters, including media members from the Football Writers Association of America, former recipients of the Jet Award, and two of our founders, Johnny Rodgers and William Reed.

Iowa (7-4, 5-3) returns to action Friday, hosting Nebraska (6-5, 3-5) in the Pioneer Heroes Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on NBC and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Kansas State coach Chris Klieman says the Wildcat defense will face a tough challenge in Saturday night’s regular season finale at Iowa State. A year ago the Cyclones shredded the K-State defense for 258 yards of rushing and 488 yards of total offense in a 42-35 win in Manhattan.

Klieman says the Wildcats don’t want to get into a shootout.

Klieman says the Cyclone secondary does a good job of limiting big plays.

Nine teams are still mathematically alive for a spot in the Big 12 title game but the bigger concern for Klieman is access to the new 12-team playoff. Right now the Big-12 appears to be a one bid league and Klieman says that needs to be addressed.

The Griswold Tigers girls basketball team will look for continued improvement this year under first year coach Aaron Houser. Last year the Tigers went 6-16 and placed 5th in the conference. With Ryan Lockwood now coaching the boys, Houser who was an assistant last year, now takes over a team that is returning an experienced group including their top three scorers and a number of seniors. Houser says he is looking to continue and expand upon the improvements made over the last few seasons.

In sports it can be easy for anyone to get caught up in wins and losses. However, when discussing his expectations for the Tigers this year Houser thinks there is more to the Tigers improvements than just a number.

Part of the returning roster for the Griswold Tigers are five seniors. This includes Addison Adams who was the team’s top scorer a year ago. Putting up 7.6 points per game she was also the Tiger’s most efficient three-point shoot hitting 32.1% from beyond the arc. Houser will be looking for senior leadership out of Adams and other seniors like Abby Gohlinghorst (who finished second in scoring last year) but will also look to Adams for point production.

Despite having five seniors, the Tigers’ also have a number of younger players. The Tigers sport a 16-player roster which includes a strong sophomore and freshman class that Houser thinks is ready to produce.

As the season is fast approaching the Tigers are ready to get the season under way. Houser has been proud of his team’s practices over the last few weeks and says that the girls are ready to start competing.

The Tigers will open up the season at home December 6th against a conference foe in Fremont Mills.

A tip in rebound with just over a second remaining was the difference as fourth ranked Auburn edged number five Iowa State 83-81 in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. It was a game the Cyclones led by 16 at halftime.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger. The Cyclones shot a sizzling 58 percent in the opening half to lead 49-33 at the break.

Keshon Gilbert led four Cyclones in double figures with 23 points. The Cyclones play Dayton in tonight’s consolation round. The Flyers lost an 18 point halftime lead in a 92-90 loss to 12th ranked North Carolina.

The Iowa Hawkeye men return to action on Tuesday night by hosting South Carolina Upstate. The Hawkeyes are coming off a 77-69 loss to Utah State in Kansas City while Upstate enters with a record of 2-6.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. Freshman guard Mister Dean leads Upstate by averaging 18 points and more than six rebounds per game.

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule does not feel the Huskers are satisfied as they get ready for a Black Friday game at Iowa. The Huskers clinched their first bowl bid since 2016 with a 44-25 win over Wisconsin and they have lost eight of nine games to the Hawkeyes.

Rhule says both teams will be motivated.

Rhule says the Hawkeyes are good at making the game a battle of field position.

Rhule says Kaleb Johnson and the Iowa run game has succeeded with three different quarterbacks.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the teens Friday night.

MADISON, Wis. – For the second time in four years, the Iowa State men are NCAA Cross Country Runners-Up. The Cyclones had four runners earn All-America status, the most since 1994.

Iowa State, ranked fourth nationally entering the 10K Championship race, got out to a solid start as Robin Kwemoi Bera and Joash Ruto both ran with the top five runners through the first 3K. ISU was third as a team at the checkpoint, as Said Mechaal, Sanele Masondo and Gable Sieperda ran between 24th and 86th to keep the Cyclones within striking distance.

Between the 4K and 5K checkpoints, Ruto was tripped up and fell 70 spots from 13th to 83rd place. Kwemoi Bera and Mechaal remained in the top 20, but ISU needed runners to step up with key finishes behind its leaders to ensure a podium finish.

Ruto rallied, surging from 83rd at 5K, to 51st at 6K and 36th at the 8K check. Masondo also steadily climbed from 40th at the halfway mark to 26th at 8K. With 1K to go, the Cyclones had four runners in the top 30 and Sieperda, ISU’s fifth scorer, was gaining as well, picking off over 20 runners between 7K to 9K to move into the top 60.

But the nation’s top-ranked team and Big 12 foe, BYU, held its team lead to the end and kept Iowa State from its first team title since 1994. The Cougars claimed two top 15 finishes and bested ISU by 13 points, 124-137.

All seven Iowa State runners finished in the top 100 while Mechaal, Masondo, Ruto and Kwemoi Bera earned All-America honors. It is the first All-America awards for Mechaal, Ruto and Kwemoi Bera and the second for Masondo after his 16th-place finish in Charlottesville a year ago.

Team Results
1. No. 1 BYU, 124; 2. No. 4 Iowa State, 137; 3. No. 3 Arkansas, 202; 4. No. 7 Wisconsin, 212; 5. No. 6 NAU, 237; 6. No. 10 North Carolina, 246; 7. No. 14 Wake Forest, 256; 8. No. 2 Oklahoma State, 256; 9. No. 5 New Mexico, 272; 10. No. 13 Notre Dame, 337; 11. No. 17 Syracuse, 342; 12. No. 9 Stanford, 356; 13. No. 19 CBU, 376; 14. No. 15 Oregon, 387; 15. No. 16 Villanova, 416; 16. No. 12 Washington, 436; 17. No. 24 Furman, 462; 18. No. 8 Alabama, 467; 19. No. 28 Colorado, 477; 20. No. 21 Butler, 481; 21. No. 11 Virginia, 487; 22. No. 23 Utah State, 554; 23. No. 25 Georgetown, 571; 24. No. 18 Princeton, 587; 25. No. 27 Ole Miss, 593; 26. No. 26 Virginia Tech, 597; 27. No. 21 Harvard, 598; 28. No. 30 Tulane, 691; 29. No. 19 Eastern Kentucky, 698; 30. No. 29 Wyoming, 707; 31. Tulsa, 754

Individual Results
1. Graham Banks, Harvard, 28:37.2; 10. Said Mechaal, Iowa State, 28:59.8; 23. Sanele Masondo, Iowa State, 29:16.8; 34. Joash Ruto, Iowa State, 29:22.4; 37. Robin Kwemoi Bera, Iowa State, 29:23.9; 49. Gable Sieperda, Iowa State, 29:31.7; 93. Devan Kipyego, Iowa State, 29:51.9; 94. Tim Sindt, Iowa State, 29:52.4