The Iowa Hawkeyes football team has been playing on behalf of the University of Iowa for well over a century.
During that time, the Hawkeyes have seen some incredible football players passing through their ranks, secured some famous victories and also have had difficult moments and losses that have shaken the fans. So what are some of the most important details of the Hawkeyes story to date?
Their History – The First Few Decades
Iowa students have been playing football since 1872, and some 10 years after that they had their very first encounters with other college teams. However, we need to go back to 1889 to see the University of Iowa football team officially accepted as a varsity team. Three years later, they started playing in the Western Interstate University Football Association along with three rival colleges.
The first season where they went undefeated came in 1899, and this feat caused the team to receive an invitation to join the Western Conference, which went on to become the league that we now know as the Big Ten Conference.
Their first season in the conference was undefeated and they shared the title. A few years later, they were part of the movement that started the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association but remained in the Western Conference.
The 1920s, 30s, and 40s
The Iowa team had success in the early 1920s, winning two Big Ten titles in a row and even having a run of 20 consecutive wins. This was with legendary coach Howard Jones in charge as the team became one of the most powerful in the region. However, Iowa was suspended from the Big Ten for a season in 1929 but then reinstated, with the reasons never fully explained.
After this, the 1930s were a difficult time for the University of Iowa team. Yet, right at the end of the decade, new coach Eddie Anderson brought back the good times. The 1939 team earned the Ironmen nickname and after some spectacular victories missed out on the Big Ten title by a single win. This was the year in which Nile Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy and many other coveted awards.
Herky the Hawk first appeared in 1948 and was immediately loved by Iowa fans. The name was created following a contest run by the college’s Athletics Department, and he quickly become the symbol of the team. However, it wasn’t until the 50s that Herky first appeared at football games as a real-life mascot.
The 1950s and 60s
The next major period in the history of Iowa began in 1952 when Forest Evashevski entered the scene as the new head coach. He persuaded Outland Trophy-winner Calvin Jones to join the program and led them to consistently high finishes in the Big Ten. With a couple of Rose Bowl win and three Big Ten titles together with the FWAA national championship, this was a period of great achievements.
The 1960 Hawkeyes team is one of the most famous in their history, with the season often called the Forgotten Season. Iowa was number 1 in the ranking during most of the 1960 season and claimed some big victories along the way, and a single loss to Minnesota. This means that they shared the title with Minnesota, but they missed out on the Rose Bowl and didn’t take part in any postseason play.
As for the rest of the 1960s, after Evashevski left, the team started to falter badly. 1961 was to be their last winning season for 2 decades, and several coaches were unable to halt the slide. The program was in freefall and no one know when or how it could recover.
Former Iowa Hawkeyes Duke Slater and Alex Karras will be posthumously inducted into the @ProFootballHOF on May 1st.
Duke Slater was the first black lineman in NFL history when he made his debut in 1922
Alex Karras was 2nd in the 1957 Heisman Trophy voting as a defensive lineman pic.twitter.com/wyWkh24Ohy
— Barstool Iowa (@BarstoolUIowa) April 15, 2021
The 1970s, 80s, and 90s
In the end, it was Hayden Fry who brought the Hawkeyes program back to a competitive level again. He joined at the end of the 1978 season and by his 3rd year had them holding a winning record after a 20-year wait. In fact, they shared the Big Ten title and made it to their 3rd bowl appearance that year.
The success enjoyed by Fry included 3 Big Ten titles and trips to 14 bowl games. 1985 turned out to be his best year, as the Hawkeyes set a new record of 10 wins and won the first outright Big Ten title in 27 years.
The 1985 team was number 1 in the rankings for most of the season. This period also saw the iconic Tiger Hawk logo and the pink locker room first appear.
The 21st Century
Kirk Ferentz took over from his old mentor in 1999 and the team made 3 top-10 finishes at the start of the new century. The Ferentz era has also included 19 bowl games: The long-service coach has led Iowa to a couple of Big Ten West division titles and cemented them as one of the top college programs. It also saw some of the most incredible unique football uniforms the Hawkeyes ever had.
2021 saw mixed fortunes for the Hawkeyes, with a 7-2 record in the Big Ten and 10-4 overall.
Iowa won the West Division and a storming 6-0 start to the season saw them climb as high as 2nd in the rankings. However, the postseason was disappointing, thanks to a 3-42 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game and a 17-20 loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl.
A Look at The Team’s Record
Bearing in mind what we’ve seen so far, it’s clear that the Iowa Hawkeyes have a long and fascinating history. Among their most interesting records, we can see that the team has made 34 appearances in bowl games, with most of them coming from the 1980s onwards. Out of those games, they have a record of 17-16-1,
In terms of national championships, Iowa has claimed 5 of them, with the earliest one in 1921 and the latest in 1960. As we’ve seen, the 1958 team is arguably the best in the program’s history, winning the Grantland Rice trophy and setting a series of Rose Bowl records in a convincing win.
Their record in conference championships is 13 wins. However, it’s worth pointing out that only 5 of them were won outright with the rest of them on a shared basis. Almost all of these titles have been in the Big Ten Conference, but the very first one was in the Western Interstate conference.
Moving on to the team’s record in division championships, there have been a couple of Big Ten games, both in the last few years. The first one came in 2015 when Iowa lost to Michigan State 13-16. The next one was in 2021, and this time it was Michigan who won by 42-3.
The list of All-Americans to come through the University of Iowa football program is impressive. The first consensus All-American was Lester Belding in 1919 and the last one was Tyler Linderbaum in 2021.
This honor has been given to Hawkeyes players on 30 occasions, with Larry Station and Cal Jones the only players to be awarded it twice.
If we look at unanimous All-Americans now, the list is shorter at just 12. In this case, it begins with Randy Duncan in 1958 and it also ends with Tyler Linderbaum in 2021. Some of these same players have their names on the Kinnick Stadium Wall of Honor. There are currently 10 names on this list, with Duke Slater, Aubrey Devine, Nile Kinnick, Cal Jones, and Chuck Long among them.
Iowa's current weight room records, some seriously impressive numbers on there. The one that stands out the most to me is the 680lb squat at ~240lbs for Amani Jones, freakish stuff. pic.twitter.com/nKdz1iuFXP
— Hawkeye Gamefilm (@hawkeyegamefilm) March 18, 2020
Their Main Rivals
For Iowa fans, there’s nothing more exciting than a game against one of their main rival programs. There are no surprises in the fact that Iowa State is their biggest rival.
The Cy-Hawk trophy game began in 1977, and the Hawkeyes lead the Cyclones 30-14. This rivalry goes back to the end of the 19th century and the overall record is 46-22 to Iowa. The last edition was played in September and Iowa State left the game victorious.
Another annual rivalry sees Iowa take on Minnesota. This game is for the Floyd of Rosedale and with a history going back to the 1930s it’s Iowa’s longest-standing trophy game. These teams have been playing each other since 1891, making Minnesota one of the program’s oldest rivals. The trophy series is extremely close, with Iowa leading 43-42-2.
Other major rivals include Wisconsin and Nebraska. Iowa is trailing in the overall series in both cases. They play Wisconsin each year for the Heartland Trophy, while the annual Nebraska encounter is for the Heroes Trophy.
Trophy Week 🏆 | #CyHawk pic.twitter.com/UmPvbPrMQJ
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) September 9, 2019
The Future
We’ve seen here that the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team has a long and proud history going back a lot longer than perhaps some fans realize. This long history has had some amazing periods that older fans love to reminisce about and younger supporters wish they had seen. Yet, the program has had long periods of mediocrity too. And the future is sure to hold mixed fortunes for the team as well.
As always, the fans will be looking forward to some thrilling games at the Kinnick Stadium. The 2022 season has started with a 3-3 record at the time of writing, including a loss to Iowa State but impressive wins against Rutger and Nevada.
Offensive performances have been a worry and it’s looking unlikely that this will be a season that lives as long in the memory as some from the past.
Week 7⃣ #NFLHawks Schedule pic.twitter.com/nOLBW6MBla
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) October 23, 2022
Credits on Featured Image: Phil Roeder from Des Moines, IA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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