IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa freshman punter Tory Taylor has been named the Big Ten’s Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year. The announcement was made Thursday by the league office.

Taylor is the first Hawkeye and first freshman to be named Punter of the Year in the Big Ten in the award’s 10-year history.

Taylor was also a first-team All-Big Ten selection by league coaches and media. In addition to Taylor’s honor, three more Hawkeyes – redshirt junior Charlie Jones, and seniors Keith Duncan and Ihmir-Smith Marsette – earned All-Big Ten honors.

Jones was named second-team All-Big Ten by league coaches and third-team All-Big Ten by the media. Duncan was a third-team All-Big Ten selection (coaches & media) and Smith-Marsette was an All-Big Ten honorable mention (coaches & media).

Taylor, a Melbourne, Australia native, earns his first career postseason honors in his first season as a Hawkeye. The Ray Guy Award semifinalist averaged 44.1 yards on 40 punts this season, including nine punts of 50 yards or longer and 18 punts downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Taylor’s 44.1-yard average ranks third in the Big Ten and 20th in the NCAA.

Taylor has only one touchback in 40 attempts and opposing returners are averaging only 4.6 yards on six punt returns. Opponents have lost two fumbles while fielding punt returns.

Jones, a wide receiver from Deerfield, Illinois, earns his first career postseason honor. As Iowa’s primary punt returner, Jones averaged 10.5 yards per return – the best in the Big Ten and 11th-best in the nation – on 21 punt returns.

In Iowa’s 49-7 win over Michigan State, Jones had a 54-yard punt return for his first career touchdown to earn Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. Jones totaled 105 punt return yards (21.0 average) against the Spartans.

Duncan earns Big Ten postseason honors for the second straight year. Last season, Duncan was named the Big Ten’s Bakken-Anderson Kicker of the Year, along with earning consensus All-America honors.

Duncan is 14-of-18 on field goal attempts in 2020, with three of his four misses from 50 yards or more. Duncan earned his fifth career Big Ten Player of the Week honor following Iowa’s win over Nebraska. He connected on 4-of-5 field goals, including the game-winner from 37 yards. Duncan is a perfect 26-of-26 on PATs this season.

Duncan was recently named one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is presented to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on.

Smith-Marsette, a Newark, New Jersey, native, earns his third straight postseason honor of his career as a return specialist. He earned the Big Ten’s Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year in 2018.

As Iowa’s primary kick returner, Smith-Marsette averaged 22 yards on eight returns in 2020. His 28.7-yard career kickoff return average ranks second all-time in Big Ten history. Purdue’s Stan Brown (1968-70) holds the record with a 28.8-yard average.

Smith-Marsette also ranks 10th all-time in school history in career all-purpose yards (3,415).

Iowa’s game against Michigan on Saturday has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Michigan football program. The Hawkeyes will learn their postseason bowl destination on Sunday, Dec. 20.

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 football coaches announced their All-Big 12 teams this morning, and 22 Cyclones received postseason honors for their performance on the field in 2020.

Iowa State had a historic season. The Cyclones claimed first place in the Big 12 regular-season standings and earned a spot in the Big 12 Championship for the first time in school history.

ISU also set school marks for conference wins in a season (8) and highest ranking in any poll (No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings).

Of the 22 Cyclone players, nine of them were All-Big 12 First Team selections, the most in the league and the highest total in school history.

The Cyclones had a slew of individual award winners. Breece Hall was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and Mike Rose was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Matt Campbell was the Chuck Neinas Big 12 Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four years and newcomers Xavier Hutchinson (Offensive Newcomer of the Year) and Isheem Young (Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year) were honored.

Junior Brock Purdy (QB), sophomore Breece Hall (RB), junior Xavier Hutchinson (WR), junior Charlie Kolar (TE), junior Colin Newell (OL), senior JaQuan Bailey (DE), sophomore Will McDonald (DE), junior Mike Rose (LB) and senior Greg Eisworth II (DB) were named All-Big 12 First Team, while senior Chase Allen (TE) and junior Derek Schweiger (OL) were second-teamers.

The following Cyclones made All-Big 12 Honorable Mention: Latrell Bankston (DL), Jake Hummel (LB), Anthony Johnson Jr. (DB), Tayvonn Kyle (DB), Isaiah Lee (DL), Kene Nwangwu (KR), Darrell Simmons (OL), Dylan Soehner (TE), Eyioma Uwazurike (DL) and Rory Walling (ST).

Purdy is the first Cyclone QB to earn first team all-league honors since John Quinn in 1981. The leader of the potent Cyclone offense, Purdy is the winningest QB in school history with 22 victories.

Purdy, who is third in the league in passing touchdowns with 17, has been elite down the stretch for the Cyclones, passing for 903 yards on 70-of-91 passing (76.9%) with 10 touchdowns in the last 14 quarters.

Hall was the biggest offensive threat in the Big 12 and one of the most lethal in the country while becoming the second Cyclone in school history to win the league’s top offensive player award (Troy Davis in 1996).

The Wichita, Kan., native leads the nation in rushing yards (1,357) and 100-yard rushing games (8).

Hall, a Maxwell and Doak Walker Award semifinalist, has rushed for over 90 yards and scored at least one touchdown in all 10 contests, scoring 114 points to rank third on ISU’s single-season list. His 19 touchdowns on the season is third nationally and second in school history.

Hutchinson made an incredible transition from junior college by emerging as one of the top receivers and the best offensive newcomer in the Big 12.

The Jacksonville, Fla., native led the Cyclones in receptions (50) and receiving yards (612), ranking second in the Big 12 in catches per game (5.0) and third in receiving yards per game (61.2).

Hutchinson was also second on the team in touchdown catches with four.

Hutchinson caught a pass in all 10 games, including three games with eight or more snares. He went over the 80-yard mark four times, including a career-high 111 receiving yards vs. Kansas State.

Kolar was a repeat recipient on the first team, joining Ennis Haywood, A.J. Klein, Allen Lazard and Greg Eisworth as the only Cyclones in school history to be an All-Big 12 first-teamer multiple times.

A native of Norman, Okla., Kolar led all Big 12 tight ends in receptions (33), receiving yards (446) and touchdown catches (five), ranking in the top-10 nationally among tight ends in all three categories.

Kolar, a Mackey Award semifinalist, has the most receptions by a tight end in school history (95) and his 15 career touchdown grabs ties for fourth on the Cyclone record lists.

Newell was the leader of ISU’s strong offensive line, a unit that is a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the nation’s best offensive line.

The hometown product of Ames has started all 10 games at center, directing the Cyclone offense to one of their most productive seasons in school history. ISU is on pace to set school records in points per game (34.0) and total offense (441.7).

The Rimington Trophy nominee has paved holes for the nation’s leading rusher (Hall) and aided in protecting All-Big 12 QB Purdy, who has been sacked the fewest in the league (10) to rank ninth nationally.

Bailey wrapped up his phenomenal Cyclone career as ISU’s all-time leader in sacks (25.5) and tackles for loss (44.5). He has 47 starts in his career, tying for the fourth-best total in the history of the program.

A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Bailey led the Cyclones in TFL (13.0), ranking third in the league, and was second in sacks (7.0), the fourth-best total in the Big 12. His 3.5-sack and 4.0-TFL effort vs. TCU tied single-game school marks in both categories and earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week kudos.

McDonald proved to be one of the best pass rushers in the Big 12 in 2020, tying for first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally with 8.5 sacks. His sack total set a new Cyclone season standard.

The Pewaukee, Wis., native, who was second on the team with 11.0 TFL, had a sack in seven of 10 games this season and has 13.5 sacks in the last 14 games dating back to last season.

Rose was the lynchpin of an outstanding Cyclone defense, leading the team in tackles (81), interceptions (4) and QB hurries (4) to become the second Cyclone to receive the league’s best defensive player award (A.J. Klein in 2011).

Rose, who is fourth in the Big 12 in tackles per game (8.1), leads the Big 12, is tied for fifth nationally and is tied for first among FBS linebackers with four interceptions.

The Brecksville, Ohio native has 10.0 TFL on the season and was responsible for securing a pair of victories with interceptions late in the fourth quarter.

Eisworth, the two-time team captain and leader in the Cyclone secondary, is the first Cyclone in school history earn All-Big 12 First Team accolades three times. The last Cyclone to be a three-time first-teamer was punt returner James McMillion (Big Eight) from 1991-93.

Eisworth, who has 31 career starts, has 41 tackles, four PBU and one interception on the season.

The Grand Prairie, Texas native has tallied nearly 200 tackles, has 9.0 TFL and three interceptions in his incredible Cyclone career.

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is the most successful coach in the modern era of Iowa State football (1928-present). His school-best 55.7 percent career winning percentage (34-27) affirms this.

Campbell started his rebuilding project for the Cyclone program in 2016, piecing together four-straight winning seasons for the first time in the modern era.

However, it was his efforts during the 2020 campaign that has solidified him as one of the top coaches in the nation, and the Big 12 Conference noted his work this afternoon by naming him its 2020 Chuck Neinas Big 12 Coach of the Year.

It marks the third time in his Cyclone coaching career he’s received the award: 2017 (Big 12 Coach of the Year) and 2018 (Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year).

Campbell has elevated the Cyclone football program to unprecedented heights. His 2020 team became the first team in school history to claim sole possession of first place in the final conference regular-season standings, compiling a school-record eight league wins (8-1) in the rugged Big 12 Conference.

Iowa State will now compete in its first-ever Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday, facing No. 12 Oklahoma to vie for its first conference title since 1912.

There were many firsts in 2020 behind Campbell’s efforts. The Cyclones reached their highest ranking in any poll in school history (No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings) and rattled off five-straight wins over league opponents for just the second time in program history.

Campbell, who became the only coach in school history to defeat Oklahoma and Texas in the same season, relied on a special group of seniors who will leave Ames as the winningest class in school history (31 victories).

The Cyclones played as a ranked team a school-record nine times in 2020 thanks to a balanced effort from the offense and defense. The Cyclones are on pace to set a school record for points per game (34.0) and the defense ranks in the top-three in scoring defense (2^nd– 21.3) for the fourth-straight season.

Campbell continued his success against the nation’s best. The Cyclones defeated two ranked teams (Oklahoma, Texas) to give Campbell eight wins over rated teams since 2017.

Campbell is the only coach in school history with an above-.500 record vs. conference competition, owning a 26-19 record vs. Big 12 teams, just one win shy from the school record in victories over league teams.

The Audubon Wheelers will host the Boyer Valley Bulldogs for a varsity basketball doubleheader tonight and we’ll have coverage on KJAN.

The girls game matches the 1-5 Bulldogs against the 1-4 Wheelers. Aleah Hermensen has averaged 15 points for the Wheelers and Jaci Christensen has dropped in 14 points per outing. Boyer Valley has been led by 15 points per game from Katelyn Nielsen.

The boys game matches a 5-0 Bulldogs team against the 0-5 Wheelers. Gavin Reineke has dropped in 13.4 points per game and Jaiden TenEyck has scored 11.4 per outing for BV. Audubon’s leading scorer is sophomore Carson Bauer at 9.7 points per game and Ethan Klocke has averaged 9 per game.

Catch the action on AM 1220, FM 101.1, and audio online at kjan.com Chris Parks has the call starting at 5:50 p.m. with the girls set to start at 6:00 p.m. with the boys to follow.