Anthony Nelson Earns Academic All-America Honors

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa junior defensive end Anthony Nelson has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America second team.  The announcement was made Dec. 10 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Nelson (6-foot-7, 271 pounds) is a graduate of Waukee (Iowa) High School. He earned first-team Academic All-America honors in 2017. A member of Iowa’s Leadership Group the past two years, Nelson is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Nelson holds a 3.86 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and is an accounting major. He started all 12 games during the regular season  and has 25 consecutive starts. Nelson was named second-team All-Big Ten by conference media and third-team by coaches. He was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after wins over Minnesota and Nebraska.

Nelson has recorded 41 tackles, including 20 solo stops. He is tied for the conference lead (with teammate A.J. Epenesa) in sacks with 9.5, and has 11 tackles for loss. Nelson scored the first touchdown of his career in Iowa’s win over Maryland with a fumble recovery in the end zone.

In 20 seasons under Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, 27 Iowa football student-athletes have combined on 50 occasions to earn academic All-District and All-America recognition.

Iowa (8-4, 5-4) will face Mississippi State in the 2019 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 1 (11 a.m. CT, ESPN2). For ticket and bowl game information, visit hawkeyesports.com/bowlcentral.

42662