# 1979 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1979 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. It was the first season for new head coach Hayden Fry, who arrived in Iowa City after spending the previous six years at North Texas State.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 8 | Indiana | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | L 26–30 | 59,700 |
| September 15 | at No. 3 Oklahoma* | Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | L 6–21 | 72,531 |
| September 22 | No. 7 Nebraska* | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | L 21–24 | 60,055 |
| September 29 | Iowa State* | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (rivalry) | W 30–14 | 60,100 |
| October 6 | at Illinois | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | W 13–7 | 51,044 |
| October 13 | at Northwestern | Dyche StadiumEvanston, IL | W 58–6 | 27,224 |
| October 20 | Minnesota | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (Floyd of Rosedale) | L 7–24 | 60,050 |
| October 27 | at Wisconsin | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | W 24–13 | 79,026 |
| November 3 | Purdue | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | L 14–20 | 59,940 |
| November 10 | at No. 3 Ohio State | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | L 7–34 | 87,835 |
| November 17 | Michigan State | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | W 33–23 | 58,320 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||

## Game summaries
### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hoosiers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 30 |
| Hawkeyes | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
On October 22, 2016, former Indiana University coach and current ESPN College Football analyst Lee Corso described the game on College Gameday. He said at halftime he told the Hoosiers (who were losing the game 26-3) to not bother coming out for the 2nd half unless they were prepared to win the game. Indiana would then go on to win the game, 30-26, spoiling the debut of head coach Hayden Fry.
| Game statistics | INDIANA | IOWA |
| First downs | 25 | 22 |
| Total yards | 479 | 389 |
| Passing yards | 316 | 227 |
| Rushing yards | 143 | 162 |
| Penalties | 6–53 | 8–87 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 3 |

### At No. 3 Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawkeyes | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| • No. 3 Sooners | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Game statistics | OKLAHOMA | IOWA |
| First downs | 23 | 12 |
| Total yards | 452 | 202 |
| Passing yards | 183 | 139 |
| Rushing yards | 269 | 63 |
| Penalties | 4–40 | 5–36 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 2 |

### No. 7 Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 7 Cornhuskers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| Hawkeyes | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
For the second week in a row, the Hawkeyes faced a Big 8 opponent ranked in the top 10. Iowa led 21-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter, but Nebraska tied the game then recovered a fumble before kicking the winning field goal late.

### Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cyclones | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 30 |
This game marked Hayden Fry's first win as head coach of the Hawkeyes.
| Game statistics | ISU | IOWA |
| First downs | 14 | 30 |
| Total yards | 162 | 429 |
| Passing yards | 56 | 51 |
| Rushing yards | 106 | 378 |
| Penalties | 4–35 | 7–63 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 3 |

### At Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| Fighting Illini | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 28 | 0 | 23 | 58 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
* Gordy Bohannan, a junior college transfer, made his first career start
| Game statistics | IOWA | NW |
| First downs | 25 | 16 |
| Total yards | 509 | 320 |
| Passing yards | 145 | 202 |
| Rushing yards | 364 | 118 |
| Penalties | 3–35 | 4–52 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 8 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Golden Gophers | 10 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Hawkeyes | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| Badgers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
Dennis Mosley broke Ed Podolak's single-season rushing record and caught a 75-yard touchdown pass in the win over the Badgers.

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Boilermakers | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| Hawkeyes | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### At No. 3 Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawkeyes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • No. 3 Buckeyes | 13 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 34 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 6 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 33 |
| Game statistics | MSU | IOWA |
| First downs | 17 | 23 |
| Total yards | 395 | 444 |
| Passing yards | 244 | 204 |
| Rushing yards | 151 | 238 |
| Penalties | 3–28 | 1–20 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 3 |

## Team players in the 1980 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Dennis Mosley | RB | 9 | 232 | Minnesota Vikings |
| Jim Swift | OT | 9 | 238 | Seattle Seahawks |