College football is littered with star power in today’s era of NIL and players getting their name out there. It is easier than ever to become a popular name for many reasons, not including on-field play.

For the Iowa Hawkeyes, they have two popular names, one on each side of the ball, that have become popular the old-fashioned way by letting their play do the talking.

Those two stars are junior running back Kaleb Johnson and senior linebacker Jay Higgins. Each is the leader of their side of the ball and is putting up numbers to match.

Their performances through six games have been good enough to land them on CBS Sports’ midseason All-American team.

Kaleb Johnson is joined at running back by Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty who is having a monster year for the Broncos.

Jay Higgins is accompanied by Buffalo’s Shaun Dolac and Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman at linebacker.

Offensively, Kaleb Johnson has rushed for 937 yards on 118 carries averaging 7.9 yards per carry with 12 rushing touchdowns. He has also tripled his career-high in receptions as he has hauled in 12 catches so far with one receiving touchdown.

After a monster year last year, Jay Higgins has picked up right where he left off. He leads Iowa with 62 total tackles. He has also tallied one tackle for loss, a sack, two interceptions, two pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

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