# 1991 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1991 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team was coached by Hayden Fry and played their home games at Kinnick Stadium.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 7 | 11:30 am | Hawaii* | No. 15 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa | ESPN | W 53–10 | 70,044 |
| September 14 | 11:30 am | at Iowa State* | No. 14 | Cyclone StadiumAmes, Iowa (Cy-Hawk Trophy) | ABC | W 29–10 | 54,469 |
| September 28 | 1:00 pm | Northern Illinois* | No. 9 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa | | W 58–7 | 70,220 |
| October 5 | 2:30 pm | No. 7 Michigan | No. 9 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa | ABC | L 24–43 | 70,220 |
| October 12 | 1:00 pm | at Wisconsin | No. 17 | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, Wisconsin (rivalry) | | W 10–6 | 75,053 |
| October 19 | 2:30 pm | No. 13 Illinois | No. 15 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa | ABC | W 24–21 | 70,220 |
| October 26 | 11:30 am | at Purdue | No. 11 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, Indiana | ESPN | W 31–21 | 32,932 |
| November 2 | 2:30 pm | at No. 13 Ohio State | No. 11 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, Ohio | ABC | W 16–9 | 95,357 |
| November 9 | 2:30 pm | No. 25 Indiana | No. 10 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa | ABC | W 38–21 | 70,220 |
| November 16 | 1:00 pm | at Northwestern | No. 9 | Dyche StadiumEvanston, Illinois | | W 24–10 | 33,478 |
| November 23 | 1:00 pm | Minnesota | No. 9 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale) | | W 23–8 | 69,500 |
| December 30 | 7:30 pm | vs. BYU* | No. 7 | Jack Murphy StadiumSan Diego (Holiday Bowl) | ESPN | T 13–13 | 60,646 |
| *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 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| Coaches | 18 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 |

## Game summaries
### Hawaii

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rainbow Warriors | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • No. 15 Hawkeyes | 27 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 53 |
This game was essentially over at halftime as Iowa cruised to start the season 1-0.

### At Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 14 Hawkeyes | 17 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 29 |
| Cyclones | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
Iowa had little trouble getting their ninth consecutive victory in this in-state rivalry contest.

### Northern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Huskies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • No. 9 Hawkeyes | 7 | 24 | 7 | 20 | 58 |

### No. 7 Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 7 Wolverines | 7 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 43 |
| No. 9 Hawkeyes | 0 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
In the 1991 Big Ten opener, the Hawkeyes led 18–7 midway through the second quarter, but could not stop the Michigan ground game as the Wolverines rolled up 371 yards rushing on 50 attempts. This game essentially decided the conference championship as both teams won the remainder of their Big Ten games.
Prior to kickoff, 1957 Outland Trophy winner Alex Karras was presented with a plaque from the College Football Hall of Fame.

### At Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 17 Hawkeyes | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Badgers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

### No. 13 Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Fighting Illini | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| • No. 15 Hawkeyes | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
The Hawkeyes ended up having a happy homecoming in a game where they were outplayed in the first half in this top 15 showdown.

### At Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 11 Hawkeyes | 7 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 31 |
| Boilermakers | 6 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 21 |

### At No. 13 Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 11 Hawkeyes | 0 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| No. 13 Buckeyes | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
The Hawkeyes played without decals on their helmets in honor of the fallen from an on-campus shooting the day before. Leroy Smith recorded a school-record 5 sacks in the road victory over the Buckeyes.

### No. 25 Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Hoosiers | 0 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 21 |
| • No. 10 Hawkeyes | 21 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 38 |
Mike Saunders became the fifth Iowa player to score four touchdowns in a game, tying the school record. The Iowa defense forced four interceptions from Indiana quarterback Trent Green.

### At Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 9 Hawkeyes | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Gophers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| • No. 9 Hawkeyes | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
The Hawkeyes closed the regular season with a win in the snow, giving Coach Fry his 100th victory at Iowa.

### Vs. BYU (Holiday Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Hawkeyes | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Cougars | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |

## Postseason awards

* Hayden Fry – co-Big Ten Coach of the Year
* Leroy Smith, Defensive end – Consensus First-team All-American, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year
* Mike Devlin, Center – First-team All-American

## After the season
### NFL Draft

The following Hawkeyes were selected in the 1992 NFL draft after the season.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Team |
| 7 | 170 | Ron Geater | Defensive end | Denver Broncos |
| 7 | 172 | Lance Olberding | Tackle | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 10 | 262 | Mike Saunders | Running back | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 11 | 286 | Rob Baxley | Tackle | Phoenix Cardinals |
| 12 | 335 | Matt Rodgers | Quarterback | Buffalo Bills |