# 1983 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1983 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Hawkeyes, led by head coach Hayden Fry, were members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa finished the season 9–3 (7–2 Big Ten), capped by a loss to Florida in the Gator Bowl.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 10 | | at Iowa State* | No. 16 | Cyclone StadiumAmes, IA (rivalry) | ABC | W 51–10 | 54,066 |
| September 17 | | at Penn State* | No. 13 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | | W 42–34 | 84,628 |
| September 24 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 3 Ohio State | No. 7 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | CBS | W 20–14 | 66,175 |
| October 1 | | at Illinois | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | | L 0–33 | 73,351 |
| October 8 | | Northwestern | No. 15 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 61–21 | 66,125 |
| October 15 | | Purdue | No. 14 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 31–14 | 66,105 |
| October 22 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 10 Michigan | No. 12 | Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI | ABC | L 13–16 | 104,559 |
| October 29 | | Indiana | No. 17 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 49–3 | 66,055 |
| November 5 | | at Wisconsin | No. 15 | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI (rivalry) | | W 34–14 | 78,105 |
| November 12 | | at Michigan State | No. 12 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | | W 12–6 | 72,528 |
| November 19 | | Minnesota | No. 11 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (rivalry) | | W 61–10 | 66,160 |
| December 30 | 7:00 p.m. | vs. No. 11 Florida* | No. 10 | Gator Bowl StadiumJacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl) | ABC | L 6–14 | 81,293 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 16 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 |
| Coaches | 20 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 |

## Game summaries
### at Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 16 Hawkeyes | 17 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 51 |
| Cyclones | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
This was the first of 15 straight wins in the series for the Hawkeyes.
* Owen Gill 16 Rush, 136 Yds, 4 TD

### at Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 13 Hawkeyes | 14 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 42 |
| Nittany Lions | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 34 |

### No. 3 Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Buckeyes | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • No. 7 Hawkeyes | 3 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 20 |
The Hawkeyes earned their first win over the Buckeyes since 1962.

### at Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Hawkeyes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Fighting Illini | 17 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 33 |
The Hawkeyes – ranked #3 in the Coaches poll and #4 in the AP poll – could not break through on this day in Champaign. Illinois would go on to win the outright Big Ten title by finishing 9-0 in conference play.

### Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • No. 15 Hawkeyes | 17 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 61 |
The Hawkeyes set a Big Ten record with 713 yards of total offense.
* Chuck Long: 23-33, 420 yards, 4 TD (1 rushing)

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Boilermakers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • No. 14 Hawkeyes | 7 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

### at No. 10 Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Hawkeyes | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| • No. 10 Wolverines | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 16 |

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hoosiers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • No. 17 Hawkeyes | 21 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 49 |
* Dave Moritz – 11 receptions, 192 receiving yards, 2 TD

### at Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 15 Hawkeyes | 14 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| Badgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
* Chuck Long – 4 TD passes
* Eddie Phillips – 162 Rush yards, TD

### at Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 12 Hawkeyes | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 12 |
| Spartans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Gophers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| • No. 11 Hawkeyes | 17 | 17 | 7 | 20 | 61 |
The Hawkeyes rolled up a school-record 517 yards rushing against the Gophers. Three Iowa backs went over 100 yards, led by Eddie Phillips with 172 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ronnie Harmon had 75 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 4 carries, and also caught a touchdown pass.

### vs. No. 11 Florida (Gator Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Hawkeyes | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| • No. 11 Gators | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Seasons at Iowa | Alma mater |
| Hayden Fry | Head coach | 5th | Baylor (1951) |
| Bill Brashier | Defensive Coordinator | 5th | North Texas State (1952) |
| Bill Snyder | Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks | 5th | William Jewell (1963) |
| Dan McCarney | Defensive Line | 7th | Iowa (1975) |
| Barry Alvarez | Linebackers | 5th | Nebraska (1969) |
| Don Patterson | Tight Ends | 5th | Army (1973) |
| Carl Jackson | Running Backs | 5th | Prairie View A&M (1963) |
| Kirk Ferentz | Offensive Line | 3rd | Connecticut (1978) |
| Del Miller | Offensive assistant | 6th | Central (IA) (1972) |
| Bernie Wyatt | Defensive Ends/Recruiting Coordinator | 10th | Iowa (1962) |
| Bill Dervrich | Strength and Conditioning | 4th | West Chester State (1975) |
| Bob Stoops | Graduate Assistant | 1st | Iowa (1983) |
Five of the staff would go on to become the winningest head coaches at five different programs: Snyder (Kansas State), Alvarez (Wisconsin), Stoops (Oklahoma), McCarney (Iowa State) and Ferentz (Iowa)

## Team players in the 1984 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| John Alt | Tackle | 1 | 21 | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Joel Hilgenberg | Center | 4 | 97 | New Orleans Saints |
| Norm Granger | Running Back | 5 | 137 | Dallas Cowboys |
| Joe Levelis | Guard | 6 | 166 | Dallas Cowboys |
| Dave Moritz | Wide Receiver | 10 | 275 | San Francisco 49ers |