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11 N ot much happens when opponents throw Desmond King's way. Plenty happens when they kick to him. King, a University of Iowa senior cornerback, won the Jim orpe Award in 2015 as the top defensive back in the nation. Aer five games this season, he should also be considered for the Rodgers- Dwight Trophy, presented to the Big Ten's top return specialist. Aer the Oct. 1 Homecoming game against Northwestern, King has been targeted 13 times, allowing seven recep- tions for 47 yards. e average depth of route run against him is 3.6 yards and King allowed an average of just 1.1 yards aer reception. Against the Wildcats, King made four tackles with a game-high two pass breakups. As stout as he was on defense, he was equally swi in the return game. e first time he received a punt, King went 32 yards to the Wildcat 5-yard-line. Iowa scored on the next play. e second time he received a punt, King again returned it 32 yards; seven plays later, the Hawk- eyes were back in the end zone. "We had opportunities because we had guys blocking and doing the best they could to make open lanes for me and I seized the opportunity," King said. "I felt that helped our offense a lot." King returned four punts for 77 yards. UI head coach Kirk Ferentz called the kicking game the "biggest positive" of the day for the Hawkeyes. Even when King wasn't the returner, he made things interesting. e Hawkeye defense forced a three-and-out to begin the second half and Northwestern punted away from King toward senior Riley McCar- ron. King ran upfield and away from McCarron with his arms outstretched giving the appear- ance he was ready to make a catch. While several Wildcats covered King, McCarron took the punt and returned it 38 yards to the Northwestern 28. Freshman kicker Keith Duncan made the second field goal of his career six plays later and Iowa led, 24-17. "We punted the ball to the right and he ran a nice little decoy move, that was kind of cool," North- western head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "I might steal that." King was equally explosive on kickoffs, returning three for 83 yards. And once again, McCarron was an excel- lent complement, returning one for 54 yards. "It looked from my vantage point and from my eyes up- stairs that we just got our butts whipped," Fitzgerald said. "It looked like we got blocked everywhere." ere was no denying that Iowa's blocking in the kicking game was superb. "We thought we would have an opportunity in the return game in both phases, but still, the guys have to block well, and then Desmond and Riley both did a good job returning," Ferentz said. King is the first Hawkeye with 75-plus return yards on both kickoff and punt returns since Kahlil Hill in 1998. (Hill had 88 kickoff return yards and 86 punt return yards during a 38-0 win over Central Michigan on Sept. 5, 1998). King's 162 combined return yards were the third-most all-purpose yards in the game behind Wildcat Justin Jackson's 184 and McCarron's 170. "When you watch him throughout his career, he has zero issues with going and getting a ball in a crowd," Fitzgerald said. "He has great confidence with the ball in his hands. I think we gi-wrapped it a little bit, but credit him. He is smooth and has great ball skills." For the season, King has 10 kick returns for 295 yards (29.5 average) and 10 punt returns for 114 yards (11.4). He is Iowa's leader in all-purpose yards with 409 (81.8 per game). OCTOBER SCHEDULE Oct. 8 at Minnesota 11 a.m. Oct. 15 at Purdue 11 a.m. Oct. 22 Wisconsin TBA