Scherff Earns Outland Trophy, All-America Honors

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Senior offensive lineman Brandon Scherff is the fourth Iowa Hawkeye to earn the Outland Trophy, an award that is given to the outstanding interior lineman in college football. Scherff was announced as the recipient of the award here Thursday evening on The Home Depot College Football Awards show at the Walt Disney World Resort. The show was televised live on ESPN.

In addition, Scherff has been named to the Walter Camp first team All-American squad and named first team All-America by CBSSports.com and USA Today.

“I am honored to receive this award and would like to congratulate Reese Dismukes of Auburn and Malcom Brown of Texas as finalists,” said Scherff. “I would like to thank Coach Kirk Ferentz, Brian Ferentz as my position coach, every member of the Iowa coaching staff, my parents and family, and especially my Hawkeye teammates. This award is the result of a lot of hard work by all of those people who are dedicated to the Iowa football program.”

“We are proud of Brandon and thank him for being a great teammate and leader of our football program,” said Kirk Ferentz. “He’s played his best football as a senior. Brandon is clearly one of the most exceptional players I have had the pleasure of working with during my 25 years at Iowa and six in the NFL. He comes from a great family that knows about hard work and dedication. Congratulations to Brandon and his entire family.

“The Walter Camp Foundation is a well-respected organization,” added Ferentz. “Being named to the first All-America team is an outstanding accomplishment. Being recognized on the first team of these selected All-America teams is a tribute to how well is known and respected for his play.”

Scherff is a 6-foot-5, 320-pound left tackle who has started all 12 games this season. The native of Denison, Iowa has started 25 consecutive starts since missing the final five games of the 2012 season because of a major injury. He has 35 career starts.

Scherff helped the Hawkeyes post a 7-5 record this season, including a 4-4 Big Ten Conference mark. The Hawkeyes are bowl eligible for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons and will play Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl Friday, Jan. 2 (2:20 p.m., CT, ESPN).

Scherff was named the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big Ten Conference, while earning first-team All-Big Ten honors for the second straight season. He was also a semifinal candidate for the Rotary Lombardi Award.

Scherff was named a Permanent Team Captain and Most Valuable Player at Iowa’s recent awards banquet. He was also the recipient of the Hayden Fry “Extra Heartbeat” Award, the Iron Hawk Award and the Coaches Appreciation Award. He has been a member of Iowa’s Leadership Group the last four years.

Earlier this season Scherff was named a first-team mid-season All-American by ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, SportingNews.com and Phil Steele. Prior to the season, Scherff was one of five players named to the Big Ten Conference West Division Players to Watch list.

Scherff started all 13 games in 2013 as Iowa posted an 8-5 record. He was named second-team All-America by the Football Writers Association (FWAA) and third-team All-America by both Athlon Sports and Lindy’s. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from league coaches and was Iowa’s offensive Most Valuable Player. He has been a member of Iowa’s Leadership Group the last four years.

Three Hawkeyes have previously won the Outland Trophy; Calvin Jones (1955), Alex Karras (1957), and Robert Gallery (2003). Mike Devlin was a semifinalist in 1992.

Scherff is also the third Iowa native to earn the trophy. Chad Hennings of Elberon (Air Force Academy) won the 1987 Outland Trophy and Iowa’s Robert Gallery of Masonville earned the 2003 award. Iowa assistant coach Reese Morgan has ties to all three. He coached Hennings at Benton Community High School and was Iowa’s offensive line coach during Gallery’s career. Morgan recruited Scherff out of Denison High School and was his position coach for two years before taking over as Iowa’s defensive line coach.

The Outland Trophy, which has been awarded annually by the FWAA since 1946, is named after the late John Outland, an All-American lineman at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest award in major college football behind the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award.

For the 18th consecutive year, the presentation banquet of the Outland Trophy will occur in Omaha, Nebraska. The official 2014 Outland Trophy presentation to the winner will be on Jan. 15, 2015, at a banquet sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee.

Members of the Walter Camp All-America team are recognized in New Haven, Connecticut, from Jan. 15-17 at the Walter Camp All-America Weekend.

Scherff is the 17th Hawkeye to earn Walter Camp first-team All-America honors. Previous Hawkeyes to be recognized are Aubrey Devine (1921), Nile Kinnick (1939), Calvin Jones (1954 & 1955), Alex Karras (1957), Randy Duncan (1958), Reggie Roby (1981 & 1982), Larry Station (1984 & 1985), Chuck Long (1985), Dave Haight (1988), Jared DeVries (1998), Brad Banks (2002), Dallas Clark (2002), Eric Steinbach (2002), Robert Gallery (2003), Shonn Greene (2008), and Adrian Clayborn (2010).

Randy Duncan was named the Walter Camp Player of the Year in 1958 and Banks was a finalist for that honor in 2002. Ferentz was the Walter Camp National Coach of the Year in 2002.