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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former Hawkeye All-American defensive end Matt Roth will serve as Iowa’s Honorary Captain this weekend as the University of Iowa opens the home season by hosting Iowa State (2:42 p.m., BTN) in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game.
Roth earned second team All-American honors as a senior in 2004 while helping the Hawkeyes claim a share of the Big Ten championship. Roth was also named second team All-America by the Walter Camp Foundation. He was named first team all-Big Ten as both a junior and senior and is a four-year letterman. He was a team captain as a senior and was drafted in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins.
The native of Villa Park, Ill., helped the Hawkeyes post a 38-12 record in his four seasons. Iowa shared the Big Ten title in both 2002 and 2004 and won bowl games following the 2001 (Alamo), 2003 (Outback) and 2004 (Capital One) seasons.
As a senior, Roth led the Big Ten in quarterback sacks (7), tackles for loss (13) and forced fumbles (3) in league games only. Roth’s final game as a Hawkeye was the 2005 Capital One Bowl, a last-second 30-25 victory over defending national champion LSU.
Roth led an Iowa defense in 2004 that ranked fifth nationally in rushing defense, sixth in turnover margin, 11th in total defense and 16th in scoring defense.
Roth enjoyed a seven-year career in the NFL, playing for Miami, Cleveland and Jacksonville while playing both defensive end and linebacker. He started nine games for Jacksonville in 2011 in his final season and currently resides in Iowa City.
Roth will accompany the Iowa captains to the center of the field for Saturday’s pregame coin toss. He will also be with the Hawkeyes in the locker room before and after the game and on the sidelines during the contest.