Three Iowa State football players have been invited to participate in the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl. The game will take place on Feb. 1 from Mobile, Alabama, airing live on NFL Network at 1:30 p.m. CT.

Higgins and Noel are both wide receivers while Porter transitioned from that position to defensive back before this past season. 

Higgins, a Florida native, has 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns, earning second team all-Big 12 and third team all-Associated Press honors. He formed the first-ever 1,000-yard duo with Noel this past season for the Cyclones.

Noel, a Kansas City native, hauled in 72 passes for 1,077 yards with seven TDs. He was named the conference co-special teams player of the year and owns a 45-game streak with at least one reception. 

Porter, from Bettendorf became a starter, picking off three passes while also blocking five kicks in his career.

Iowa State has had at least one played invited to the Senior Bowl each of the past four seasons. 

Played annually since 1950, the Reese’s Senior Bowl is one of the nation’s best collegiate all-star games. This marks the second time in school history that ISU has had three players invited to the game (2021).

1955- Max Burkett
1962- Dave Hoppmann
1962- Chuck Walton
1963- Dave Hoover
1964- John Van Sicklen
1966- Eppie Barney
1968- Tom Busch
1972- Dean Carlson
1973- Merv Krakau
1974- Matt Blair
1975- Tom Goedjen
1977- Luther Blue
1979- Mike Stensrud (DNP)
1981- Kenny Neil
1983- Bruce Reimers
1986- Dennis Gibson
1991- Blaise Bryant
2000- Sage Rosenfels
2001- Ennis Haywood
2002- Seneca Wallace
2003- Jordan Carstens
2007- Ahtyba Rubin
2011- Leonard Johnson
2011- Kelechi Osemele
2013- Kirby Van Der Kamp
2014- E.J. Bibbs (DNP)
2017- Allen Lazard

2019 – Steve Wirtel

2021 – Charlie Kolar, Andrew Mevis, Mike Rose (DNP)

2022 – Xavier Hutchinson, Will McDonald IV (DNP)
2023 – TJ Tampa (DNP)
2024 – Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Darien Porter

On Sunday evening, we learned that Iowa officially missed out on Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula, a big target out of the transfer portal. After visits to Iowa, Missouri, UCF and Ole Miss, the former Nittany Lion elected to take his talents to Mizzou.

So what’s next for the Hawkeyes? What other available targets are worth looking into? Is their best option not in the portal (yet)?

Let’s take a look at what Iowa could do next at the QB position, with its top target off the board.

(FOX 9) – The holidays are much brighter for a Twin Cities couple who were recently reunited with their mini goldendoodle. Their dog ran away more than two years ago.

Corduroy the dog goes missing

The backstory: Some of you may remember when Corduroy went missing two years ago. His owners searched everywhere but no dog.  Their search ended last month when Corduroy was found in Iowa.

“I went up to him, bent down, and had him smell me, and I said, Do you remember me?,” said Chris Hoefer, Corduroy’s dad.

October 22, 2022 is a day the couple will never forget.

“A friend of ours was dog sitting room. Our friend was taking him on a walk, and he was actually attacked by another dog. He broke loose of his collar and ran away,” said Hoefer.

Finding a missing dog

What We Know: It’s a moment Chris Hoefer and his husband have been waiting for since Corduroy went missing. They’re now embracing the love and joy of having him again.

“He’s so comfortable with us, and he’s still just such a sweet and gentle dog that you know, the same dog that he was two years ago,” said Christiaan Montgomery, Corduroy’s dad.

What followed was nearly 500 tips and two years of searching led nowhere.  That is, until this one voicemail:

We had a stray dog come in and we scanned for microchips, and checking that chip, it came registered to you.

It was on November 10 by the Dubuque Iowa Humane Society.

“I was in disbelief. And I couldn’t believe that it was in Dubuque, Iowa, which is almost 300 miles away from here,” said Montgomery.

The couple took the drive, and Corduroy was able to come home for the holidays because of his microchip.

“I’ve been keeping his chip active since he went missing, just in the hopes that one day he might show up at a location where they had a scanner,” said Montgomery.

What’s next: Lindsay Koopmann with The Retrievers Volunteer Last Dog Team says if you find a stray dog, get it scanned. So, dogs like Corduroy can enjoy Christmas with their parents. 

“There’s no way he ever would have made his way home here and be reunited without being microchipped,” said Koopmann.