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Linebacker, Iowa, 2020–24
Jay Higgins
- Number
- No. 34
- Height
- 6′2″
- Weight
- 232 lb
- Class (2024)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Indianapolis, IN
- Born
- Feb 14, 2002
Wikipedia readers: about 1,288 a month over the past year
Jay Higgins played linebacker at Iowa (2020–24). He was a consensus All‑American in 2024.
At a glance
Career highs
18tackles, career highat Penn State, 2023Honors
All-America: consensus 2024; FWAA 2023; Fox Sports 2023; Phil Steele 2023; Sports Illustrated 2023; USA Today 2023
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Defense
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. A dash: the source has no number for that season (often an FCS season), and career totals count only the numbers on file.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Iowa | 34 | LB | Yr 1 | ||
| 2021 | Iowa | 34 | LB | Yr 2 | ||
| 2022 | Iowa | 34 | LB | Yr 3 | ||
| 2023 | Iowa | 34 | LB | Yr 4 | ||
| 2024 | Iowa | 34 | LB | Sr. (Yr 5) | 6′2″ | 232 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2024 Iowa 13 games, 124 tackles, 1 sack, 4 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. Illinois State | W 40–0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 7 | vs. Iowa State | L 19–20 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 14 | vs. Troy | W 38–21 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 21 | at Minnesota | W 31–14 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Oct 5 | at Ohio State | L 7–35 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 12 | vs. Washington | W 40–16 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 19 | at Michigan State | L 20–32 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 26 | vs. Northwestern | W 40–14 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 2 | vs. Wisconsin | W 42–10 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 8 | at UCLA | L 17–20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 23 | at Maryland | W 29–13 | 8 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Nov 29 | vs. Nebraska | W 13–10 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 30 ✦ | vs. Missouri | L 24–27 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 Iowa 14 games, 171 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2 | vs. Utah State | W 24–14 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 9 | atIowa State | W 20–13 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 16 | vs. Western Michigan | W 41–10 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 23 | at Penn State | L 0–31 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 30 | vs.Michigan State | W 26–16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 7 | vs. Purdue | W 20–14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 14 | atWisconsin | W 15–6 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 21 | vs.Minnesota | L 10–12 | 14 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 4 | vs.Northwestern | W 10–7 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 11 | vs. Rutgers | W 22–0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 18 | vs. Illinois | W 15–13 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 24 | atNebraska | W 13–10 | 8 | 3 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 2 | vs. Michigan | L 0–26 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. Tennessee | L 0–35 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2022 Iowa 9 games, 38 tackles, 0.5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | vs. South Dakota State | W 7–3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 17 | vs. Nevada | W 27–0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 24 | atRutgers | W 27–10 | 5 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 1 | vs.Michigan | L 14–27 | 7 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 8 | atIllinois | L 6–9 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 29 | vs.Northwestern | W 33–13 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 5 | atPurdue | W 24–3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 12 | vs.Wisconsin | W 24–10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 19 | atMinnesota | W 13–10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2021 Iowa 4 games, 5 tackles
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4 | vs. Indiana | W 34–6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 18 | vs. Kent State | W 30–7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 25 | vs. Colorado State | W 24–14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 1 | atMaryland | W 51–14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2020 Iowa 1 game, 2 tackles
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 13 | atMinnesota | W 35–7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2025 | Combine or pro day 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′0⅛″ | |
| Weight | 224 lb | |
| Arm length | 31″ | |
| Hand size | 9½″ | |
| Wingspan | 75″ | |
| 40-yard dash | 4.82 s | |
| 10-yard split | 1.64 s | |
| Vertical jump | 33″ | |
| Broad jump | 9′2″ | |
| Bench press | 20 repsW | |
| 3-cone drill | 7.01 s | |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.35 s |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
2 seasons, 10 games with a stat; latest team: Baltimore Ravens.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Baltimore Ravens | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 (so far) | Baltimore Ravens | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| NFL career | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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