Scherff wins Outland Trophy

A suit and tie is most decidedly not Brandon Scherff's preferred look.

There he was on Thursday night, on a stage, on ESPN, shaking Rece Davis' hand and accepting the 69th Outland Trophy. It's safe to say the 6-5, 323-pound offensive tackle is more comfortable in hunting gear in the middle of an Iowa field looking for whatever creature is in season, but you need to look the part when it's your time.

With his parents, Cindy and Bob, by his side Thursday night during The Home Depot College Football Awards at the Disney Boardwalk in Orlando, Fla., the Denison native became the University of Iowa's fourth Outland Trophy winner, joining Calvin Jones (1955), Alex Karras (1957) and Robert Gallery (2004). The Outland is awarded to the nation's top interior lineman.

Scherff was a finalist with Auburn center Reese Dismukes and Texas defensive tackle Malcom Brown.

Only players from Nebraska (eight different ones, nine total) and Oklahoma (five) have won more Outland Trophies than Iowa, with Ohio State players also claiming four.

'I would like to thank Coach Kirk Ferentz, Brian Ferentz as my position coach, every member of the Iowa coaching staff, my parents and family, and especially my Hawkeye teammates,” Scherff said. 'This award is the result of a lot of hard work by all of those people who are dedicated to the Iowa football program.”

Also Thursday, Scherff was named to the Walter Camp first team All-American squad and named first team All-America by CBSSports.com and USA Today. Scherff was named the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big Ten Conference, while earning first-team all-Big Ten honors for the second straight season. He also was a semifinal candidate for the Rotary Lombardi Award.

'Brandon came back for his senior year with a mission to prove, and I think he has done that,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who also was also the Hawkeyes' head coach when Gallery claimed the honor. 'From a leadership standpoint, having a guy play at an NFL level on a college playing field has been important to our football team. The toughness he brings, the attention to detail, the physical nature of his play, he's pretty special. At the end of the day it is all on the tape. The tape doesn't lie, he is the best.

'His enjoyment is evident in his approach and how he plays every day. The way he plays in every practice, in games, the way he prepares, the way he trains; if you don't think this guy is enjoying himself, you're probably not paying attention.”

Scherff started all 12 games this season, including the Iowa State game five days after having arthroscopic knee surgery. He has started 25 consecutive starts since missing the final five games of the 2012 season after suffering a broken fibula and dislocated ankle. He has 35 career starts.

The award puts Scherff in a class with some of Iowa's all-time best. Kirk Ferentz and Brian Ferentz began that conversation last spring.

'There's not a better offensive lineman in college football, that's my opinion,” O-line coach Brian Ferentz said. 'I think you guys know after two years and some of you knew me well before then [Brian Ferentz was an offensive lineman for the Hawkeyes from 2002 to 2005], I don't say things like that lightly.”

During his prep days at Denison High School, Scherff was a big guy doing little guy things. Scherff started at quarterback for Denison his sophomore year and threw for 1,200 yards. On the basketball court, Scherff averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds his senior year. He had a decent 85 mph fastball, but his killer pitch was a curveball that broke a foot (he called it a half curve, half slider). He also played tennis for the Monarchs.

'I didn't come back for my senior year because of the Outland,” said Scherff, who notes Denison is also the hometown of the late Academy Award-winning actress Donna Reed. 'But I started thinking about it toward the end of the season.”

There's a tie among Scherff, Gallery and also the 1987 Outland Trophy winner, Chad Hennings from Air Force. They are the only three native Iowans to win the Outland and they have all been coached by Reese Morgan, Iowa's defensive line coach at Iowa and Hennings' former high school coach at Benton Community High School. Morgan recruited both Gallery and Scherff to Iowa and was previously the Hawkeyes' offensive line coach.

'I'd say I have no regrets at all,” Scherff said about coming back for his senior season. 'I play smarter, faster. And obviously you get more time to study film and just go out and play football.”

The Outland Trophy, which has been awarded annually by the Football Writers Association of America since 1946, is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. It is the third oldest player award in major-college football behind the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award.

The FWAA All-America committee selects the winner with input from the membership. Here's a link to the list of all the winners.

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