Jay Higgins (born February 14, 2002) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

Early life and high school

Higgins grew up in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

and attended

Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (BJPS) is a private college-preparatory school founded by the Jesuits and located on the northwest side of Indianapolis. It is a part of the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus and geographically located w ...

. Higgins committed to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

College career

In Higgins first season in 2020 he notched just two tackles. In 2021, Higgins totaled five tackles and a fumble recovery. In week nine of the 2022 season, Higgins recorded a career-high 11 tackles versus Northwestern. Higgins finished the 2022 season with 39 tackles with one and half going for a loss, and half a sack. Higgins opened the 2023 season strong, during week one against

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

he tallied 16 tackles. In week four, Higgins notched a new career-high 18 tackles versus

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. Higgins was named one of the 12 semi-finalists for the 2023

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

. He was also named first team all Big-Ten by both the coaches and the media.

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Jay 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Indianapolis American football linebackers All-American college football players Iowa Hawkeyes football players