Iowa’s Jay Higgins, Kaleb Johnson named Walter Camp first-team All-Americans

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson and Jay Higgins are officially 2024 All-Americans.

The Walter Camp Football Foundation named the pair of Hawkeyes to its All-America first team on Thursday evening. It is the first of the five preeminent All-America selections used to determine whether a player is a consensus All-American.

The only other teams with multiple first-team selections were Ohio State and Colorado. Iowa has had at least one first-team Walter Camp All-American every year since 2019, which is the longest active streak across the country.

Johnson also was the Big Ten’s 2024 Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year and was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award. (Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty ended up winning the Doak Walker Award, though.) Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards this season and set Iowa program records with 21 rushing touchdowns and 23 total touchdowns.

Higgins, this year’s Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year recipient, is no stranger to All-America honors. The 6-foot-2 linebacker was a first-team FWAA All-American in 2023, and he was named a 2023 second-team All-American by the Associated Press, Sporting News, Walter Camp and AFCA.

Johnson and Higgins will need first-team recognition from at least two of the other four All-America teams — Associated Press, FWAA, AFCA and Sporting News — to be a consensus All-American. The AFCA will release its All-America team on Friday.

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