Luke Elkin, Jay Higgins named 2024 AFCA first-team All-Americans

IOWA CITY — Three Iowa football players — linebacker Jay Higgins, running back Kaleb Johnson and longsnapper Luke Elkin — received All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Assocation (AFCA) on Friday.

Higgins and Elkin were first-team All-Americans while Johnson was a second-team pick.

Higgins and Johnson also were named Walter Camp All-Americans on Thursday evening. (They were both first-team honorees.) This is Elkin’s first All-America recognition.

Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards in 2024 and finished with a program-record 21 rushing touchdowns and 23 total touchdowns. He also was the Big Ten’s Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year.

Higgins, the Big Ten’s Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, has 118 total tackles and four interceptions ahead of the bowl game. It marks his second consecutive season with 100-plus tackles. Elkin, meanwhile, is in his fourth season as Iowa’s first-team longsnapper.

Higgins now only needs one more All-American recognition to become a consensus All-American. Johnson needs two more All-America nods to become a consensus All-American.

The remaining three preeminent All-America teams — from the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America and Sporting News — will be released next week.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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