Iowa football’s 2024 seniors ‘left things in a better place’ after experiencing some ups, downs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As Deontae Craig sat at the dais in the Nissan Stadium interview room minutes after his team’s Music City Bowl loss, he used the towel draped around his shoulders to wipe away the tears.

“When you commit so much to something and you got so many other guys that are out there doing what they love with you,” Craig said, “and you see how hard they work and you see how much they give to the game and to this team and to this university — I mean, this is why games like this suck so much because you want to go out on top.”

As much as Iowa football’s loss in the Music City Bowl ended Craig and others’ college careers on a less-than-harmonious note, Iowa’s outgoing seniors left Nissan Stadium with quite the legacy.

For those who arrived in 2020 (and redshirted a season), the Hawkeyes had a combined .732 regular-season winning percentage with five bowl invitations and two Big Ten West titles during their tenures. (Iowa’s only other division title in program history was in 2015.) The Hawkeyes also went 14-5 in trophy games during the five-year stretch.

“I think the senior class going out was really special,“ Craig said.

Linebacker Jay Higgins tied the Iowa program record for total tackles in a single season in 2023 — a record that had stood for 51 years — and then was a unanimous All-American in 2024. Higgins did all that after being behind unanimous All-American Jack Campbell on the depth chart for his first three seasons.

“He stuck it out,” Higgins said earlier this year regarding what he wants his legacy to be. “He was his own person. He learned. He learned from Coach (Seth) Wallace, from the guys who came before him. … I don't know, he was a good linebacker. I'll take that.”

Offensive lineman Mason Richman started a whopping 52 games in his career — an accomplishment by itself before considering those were all at left tackle.

“I came in as a defensive lineman not worth the crap at that, so I had to go play O-line and put on knee braces,” Richman said in November. “I wasn’t the most athletic guy. I wasn’t the most physically gifted guy. … I gave it all I could, and every day I came with a lot of energy.”

Linebacker Nick Jackson — between his four years at Virginia and two years at Iowa — ended his college career with more total tackles (555) than any other power-conference player in NCAA history.

“I just hope that when people look back, I’m a Virginia Cavalier and I’m a Hawkeye,” Jackson said in November.

That’s not to mention Luke Lachey, who appears to be the next tight end from Iowa to find a home in the NFL. Sebastian Castro, Quinn Schulte and Jermari Harris — all in their final seasons in 2024 — anchored a Hawkeye secondary that had ups and downs in 2024, but finished second in the country in 2023 with only 5.06 passing yards allowed per attempt.

“I know some guys have already left and gone on, but I think we left things in a better place for sure,” Craig said.

The senior class did not lack hardships — on or off the field — while in Iowa City. In most cases, their Iowa tenures included the uncertainty around the canceled-then-reinstated-and-shortened 2020 season, which also was the first season following a reckoning around the culture of the Iowa football program.

“We came into college at a pretty crazy time back there in 2020 and COVID,” Craig said. “Every day it was, OK, the season is canceled. Oh, it's back on. It's back on, but it's four games. It's a full game season. It was crazy.”

On the field, the 2022 and 2024 seasons were setbacks after winning division titles in the previous seasons. On the offensive line in particular, many players were thrust into major roles early in their careers.

“The down years really — we all stayed, we all worked, and I think the work paid off for us at the end,” said offensive lineman Connor Colby, who started as a true freshman in 2021.

Then there was the lack of success against top-tier competition. Iowa has lost its last nine games against ranked opponents, dating back to the latter half of the 2021 season. It was most recently on display in the 27-24 loss to No. 19 Missouri that preceded Craig’s heartfelt final postgame interview as a Hawkeye.

“Some teams might lose in a bowl game and it might not mean anything, but just hearing you say that's the end of the road, it's like something that I still haven't even been able to comprehend yet,” Craig said, not long before going out of his way to shake the hands of the Iowa beat reporters on his way out of the interview room. “I'm just blessed and thankful to have experienced it and went through it all.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.