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Iowa football: Multiple Hawks claim yearly Big Ten awards

By Andrew Wade

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 03: Ihmir Smith-Marsette #6 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball and is tackled by Markell Jones #8 of the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 3, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 03: Ihmir Smith-Marsette #6 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball and is tackled by Markell Jones #8 of the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 3, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 23: Kicker Miguel Recinos #91 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after kicking the winning field goal against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on November 23, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 23: Kicker Miguel Recinos #91 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after kicking the winning field goal against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on November 23, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

Special Teams Awards

Sophomore return man Ihmir Smith-Marsette cleaned up on special teams awards despite not taking a kick back to the house once this year.

In just 19 attempts, Smith-Marsette finished third in the Big Ten in kick return yards with 557. He also led the conference in average yards per return with 29.3.

Today, he was named 2018 Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year.

His 29.3 yards was the second best in the nation and almost a full-yard greater than legendary return man Tim Dwight (28.7 yards per return in 1997) who this award is partly named after.

The honors didn’t stop there as the sophomore from New Jersey proceeded to be named First Team All-Big Ten by the media.

The coaches continued their disappointing trend by voting a tier down for Iowa football players as Smith-Marsette was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten by them.

The special teams awards weren’t over though. Senior Miguel Recinos, who kicked the game-winning field goal against Nebraska proceeded to be named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten after a season in which he hit 75% of his field goal attempts and 100% of his 44 extra point attempts good for 89 total points.