National awards are flying around fast and furious now that the 2016 college football regular season is in the books (give or take an Army-Navy game, anyway). Most of them were handed out last night at the College Football Awards in Atlanta. Iowa had no representation there this year -- Desmond King, last year's Jim Thorpe Award winner, was not named a finalist this season (USC's Adoree' Jackson ended up winning the award this year). Iowa's Josey Jewell was a finalist for the Butkus Award, but that award seemingly wasn't part of the College Football Awards. Regardless, he didn't win the award for Best Linebacker -- Alabama's Reuben Foster did.

But Iowa's not going home empty-handed this year when it comes to national recognition. Today it was announced that the Iowa offensive line won the Joe Moore Award:

It's a tremendous honor to receive the @JoeMooreAward for the most outstanding offensive line unit in college football | #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/BgTjP14l7C — Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) December 9, 2016

What is the Joe Moore Award? It's given out to annually to the "toughest, most physical offensive line in the country." It's also the only major award given to a unit or group rather than an individual player. It's a newer award as well -- it was first handed out last year, in 2015. Iowa becomes the second-ever recipient of the award, after Alabama won the inaugural edition last year, while the Hawkeyes edged out Bama and Ohio State for the honor this season.

I think it's fair to say that Iowa's win comes as a bit of a surprise. Although Iowa's offensive line was generally good this year -- and sometimes very good -- it never seemed to be a thoroughly dominant unit that was sweeping aside opponents. Iowa gave up 29 sacks this year, 90th nationally (10th in the Big Ten) and while Iowa's running game was excellent at times (particularly in the last three games of the season), it wasn't one of the top in the nation -- Iowa averaged 171.9 yards per game, 71st in the nation (8th in the Big Ten) and their 4.45 yards per carry average was good for 65th nationally (5th in the Big Ten). Of course, statistics don't often tell the full tale when it comes to line play and offensive line play is notoriously difficult to assess.

Aaron Taylor, the Chairman of the Joe Moore Award Voting Committee, explained the decision to award Iowa thusly:

"Ultimately, while the other units may have had a few standout individual players, many of the voters felt Iowa personified the fundamental principle that drives this award: Teamwork. Iowa excelled in that this season."

Iowa did have to integrate a lot of new faces this year and didn't have a lot in the way of continuity for much of the season, so the fact that they were as effective as they were is certainly impressive. It's still certainly a surprise to see Iowa's line be honored with this award, but congratulations to them all -- they worked their tails off, overcame multiple injuries, and improved throughout the season, delivering some of their best efforts in some of Iowa's toughest games. And it's certainly exciting to note that all five current starters are slated to return for Iowa next season -- experience and continuity could go from being two of the Iowa line's biggest weaknesses to being two of their biggest strengths next year.

On another note, the Iowa offensive line receiving this award likely means a great deal to Kirk Ferentz. First, because the offensive line is his baby and still the area of the team that he's most involved with during the season. Second, and more importantly, because the award is named after Joe Moore, who coached Ferentz during his high school playing days, and served as one of his first (and most influential) coaching mentors. He's spoken highly of Moore and his impact on his life and career on numerous occasions, so I'm sure this honor means a little extra to him. Congrats to Ferentz and all the coaches and players involved in Iowa's offensive line play.