In his debut season in the Black and Gold, freshman punter Tory Taylor has won the Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year Award, per a conference release. In the award’s 10-year history, Taylor is the first freshman and the first Hawkeye to be honored.

Taylor is a 23-year-old native of Melbourne, Australia. On the season, he has averaged 44.1 yards per punt, good for third in the Big Ten and 20th nationally. In 40 attempts, Taylor has only netted one touchback.

The punter from down under is also a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award – given annually to the best punter in the country. Taylor has booted nine punts of at least fifty yards, and backed opponents up inside their own 20-yard line on 18 occasions.

In addition to the Big Ten Punter of the Year Award, Taylor was named a first-team All-Big Ten special teams player.

Kicker Keith Duncan and punt returner Charlie Jones were also honored. Jones was named second-team all-conference by the coaches and third-team by the media. On 21 returns, the transfer wide receiver put up 10.5 yards per attempt – good for the top spot in the Big Ten and 11th-best nationally.

Jones earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors after his breakout performance against Michigan State Nov. 7. In that game, the Deerfield, Illinois, native accrued 105 punt return yards that included a 54-yard touchdown.

Duncan was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media, marking the second-straight year he’s taken home postseason all-conference honors. Last year, Duncan won the Bakken-Anderson Big Ten Kicker of the Year Award on his way to consensus All-America honors.

This season, Duncan is 14-of-18 on field goal tries and 26-of-26 on extra point attempts. After Iowa’s Nov. 27 matchup with Nebraska, the Weddington, North Carolina, native was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his 4-of-5 day on field goal attempts. One of Duncan’s makes came from 37-yards and ultimately proved to be the game-winner.

Wide receiver and kickoff returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette was also honored by the Big Ten Conference for his efforts on special teams with an all-conference honorable mention designation. The Newark, New Jersey, native has been honored as an all-conference kick returner on three occasions, and in 2018, he was named the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year. The Rodgers-Dwight Award is, in part, named after former Hawkeye return man Tim Dwight.

On eight returns in 2020, Smith-Marsette averaged 22 yards per attempt. His 28.7 yards per return career average is good for second-best in Big Ten history. The wide receiver also ranks 10th all-time in school history for all-purpose yards with 3,415 on his career.

The Hawkeyes’ final conference game of the season was canceled earlier this week as the Michigan Wolverines continue to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak in their program. Iowa will learn its bowl designation on Sunday.