By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – In nine games as a starter for the Iowa football team this season, Jay Higgins has established himself as one of the best college linebackers in the nation, and as media favorite.

The Indianapolis native has a gift for making tackles and a gift for gab.

The media always flocks to Higgins for interviews because for one, he’s a key piece to Iowa’s rock-solid defense, and because he always has a lot of interesting things to say.

Higgins leads the Big Ten, and he ranks second nationally with an average of 12.6 tackles per game heading into Saturday’s game against Rutgers at Kinnick Stadium.

“It kind of feels like high school again,” Higgins said Tuesday. “I’m just happy that our defense is still maintaining the standard. That was my number one focus is maintaining the standard.”

Higgins faced a daunting task as the replacement at linebacker for 2022 Butkus Award winner Jack Campbell.

Three-year starter Seth Benson also had to be replaced at linebacker.

Higgins was determined to take what he learned from playing behind Campbell and Benson and use it as motivation for this season.

The media also has helped to motivate Higgins to perform at a high level.

“What I didn’t want to happen is Campbell leaves and then you guys (in the media) were like, oh, why are you guys giving up so many points,” Higgins said. “Is it the linebacker play?

“So, as long as I don’t get any questions like that from the media, I’m pretty happy with what’s going on.”

Higgins has reason to be happy with Iowa in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West Division at 4-2 and 7-2 overall.

He is also a semifinalist for the 2023 Butkus Award.

“It means a lot,” Higgins said. “They had me help present the award to Campbell last year. So, I was there for that moment with him and his family and how much he sacrificed to get to that point.

“And I remember telling myself that I want to do the same thing.”

Campbell was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft, and the Cedar Falls native is now a key member of Detroit’s defense.

Higgins studied Campbell closely when they were Iowa teammates because Higgins knew that Campbell set the right example as a player, and as a leader.

“Campbell was definitely a do what I do and look how I work. He never asked for attention,” Higgins said. “He never had to tell people to listen to him. It was kind of one of those things where you just watched how he worked and how he carried himself, and it was a thing that I always admired.

“So, I made sure that I paid close attention.”

The Iowa defense has earned a reputation for being tough, physical and fundamentally sound under veteran defensive coordinator Phil Parker.

The Iowa defense has only allowed one rushing touchdown this season, which is tied for the national lead.

Higgins and his defensive cohorts also had a goal-line stand against Northwestern last Saturday in which the Wildcats gained just one yard on four attempts.

Higgins credits his teammates and the coaching he has received from Phil Parker, and from linebacker coach Seth Wallace, for helping to put him in this position.

“When you’re coached by coach Wallace and when you play for coach Parker’s defense, any defensive award is a realistic thing to try to get here,” Higgins said.

Higgins is being reward for his loyalty as he waited until his senior season to be a starter in an era in which players transfer at a high rate through the transfer portal.

He wanted to honor his commitment and finish what he started as a Hawkeye.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz spoke highly about Higgins in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Ferentz mentioned that Higgins, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds, was lightly recruited coming out of high school, which is often the case for Iowa players.

“All the credit goes to Jay, in my opinion,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Just like Jack, Jay is a good story in that I don’t think he had a Big Ten offer. Pretty sure he didn’t anywhere. But he is just one of those guys when you meet him, he makes you feel good. You feel like this guy is all about football and all about team. That’s what he’s been.

“I tell our guys all the time, if you’re trying to learn how to get good, follow guys that are good, pay attention. He clearly paid attention to guys like Campbell, Benson. He’s playing at such a high level. He’s been bumped up during the season, too. You can’t get him out of there. It’s hard to get him out of practice. Great attitude. He’s done a great job.

“It’s nice to see him get attention. I think he’s more worried about Saturday than he is any of that stuff right now, like I hope everybody is.”

Higgins and fellow senior linebacker Nick Jackson, a graduate transfer from Virginia, have combined for 185 tackles, which is the highest by a Power 5 tandem in the nation.

Higgins has remained humble despite all his success this season.

It isn’t hard for him to stay humble, partly because that’s how he was raised by his parents, and because his father, Roy Higgins, still might be more popular with Hawkeye fans than Jay due to Roy’s presence on social media.

Roy Higgins III posts under the handle @higginized and he often uses the phrase “hawk, hawk, hawk” when posting on social media.

Jay Higgins was reminded of his father’s popularity following the 10-7 victory over Northwestern last Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Jay Higgins was standing with members of his family outside Wrigley Field after the game, but it was his father, who often wears a cowboy hat and who is a frequent poster on X, which was formerly known as Twitter, who drew most of the attention.

“We were outside of Wrigley and people were coming to him,” Jay Higgins said of his father. “And I was right there. If I don’t have my jersey on, they don’t even know me.

“But they know him because he’s probably got a cowboy hat on.”

Jay Higgins suggested a way to test who is more popular between he and his father, though, Jay thinks he knows how it would turn out.

“We should do an experiment: if I put out a tweet and he puts out a tweet and we say the exact same thing, his would still get more,” Jay Higgins said.