IOWA CITY – Two University of Iowa football student-athletes – junior center Tyler Linderbaum and senior defensive back Matt Hankins – were named to the Walter Camp All-America Team on Thursday. Linderbaum was selected to the first-team, while Hankins was a second-team honoree.
Linderbaum (6-foot-3, 290-pounds) has started 34 consecutive games at center after starting his Hawkeye career at defensive lineman as a true freshman. Iowa has posted a 26-8 record during that span.
Iowa won its final six games in 2020 and began the 2021 season with six straight wins. The Hawkeyes closed the regular season with four straight victories to earn the Big Ten’s West Division championship.
The Solon, Iowa, native was named the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big Ten, while earning first-team All-Big Ten honors for the second straight season. He won the Rimington Trophy awarded to the nation’s top center and was a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy.
Hankins started 37 consecutive games in the Iowa secondary from 2018-21 before going down with a season-ending injury following the Hawkeyes’ 27-22 victory over Minnesota. The Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist has four interceptions in 2021.
The Lewisville, Texas, native was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week, the Rose Bowl Game Big Ten Conference Player of the Week, the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week, and the Thorpe Award Player of the Week following Iowa’s 23-20 win over No. 4 Penn State. Hankins had five tackles and a fourth quarter interception in Iowa’s win over Penn State. He had two interceptions in Iowa’s 27-17 win at No. 9 Iowa State.
The 15th-ranked Hawkeyes will face No. 22 Kentucky in the 2022 VRBO Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Florida. Kickoff is set for noon (CT) from Camping World Stadium. The game will be televised on ABC.
