# 1996 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1996 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Participating as members of the Big Ten Conference, the Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium and were led by coach Hayden Fry.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 7 | 11:30 am | Arizona* | No. 22 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | ESPN | W 21–20 | 68,267 |
| September 14 | 2:30 pm | Iowa State* | No. 21 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy) | ABC | W 38–13 | 70,397 |
| September 21 | 6:00 pm | at Tulsa* | No. 19 | Skelly StadiumTulsa, OK | ESPN+ | L 20–27 | 27,788 |
| October 5 | 11:00 am | Michigan State | | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | ESPN+ | W 37–30 | 70,397 |
| October 12 | 1:00 pm | at Indiana | | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | | W 31–10 | 37,154 |
| October 19 | 11:30 am | at No. 10 Penn State | | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | ESPN2 | W 21–20 | 96,230 |
| October 26 | 2:30 pm | No. 2 Ohio State | No. 20 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (College GameDay) | ABC | L 26–38 | 70,397 |
| November 2 | 11:00 am | at Illinois | No. 25 | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | ESPN+ | W 31–21 | 54,381 |
| November 9 | 2:30 pm | No. 18 Northwestern | No. 23 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | ABC | L 13–40 | 70,397 |
| November 16 | 11:30 am | Wisconsin | | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (rivalry) | ESPN | W 31–0 | 66,570 |
| November 23 | 7:30 pm | at Minnesota | No. 24 | Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeMinneapolis, MN (Battle for the Floyd of Rosedale) | ESPN2 | W 43–24 | 53,349 |
| December 29 | 7:00 pm | vs. Texas Tech* | No. 21 | AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl) | ESPN | W 27–0 | 55,677 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | 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 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 20 | 25 | 23 | RV | 24 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 18 |
| Coaches | 25 | | RV | 21 | 19 | 25 | | | | 19 | | 25 | | 23 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 18 |

## Game summaries
### Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 20 |
| • Hawkeyes | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Iowa held on to win this back-and-forth contest, aided by three Wildcat turnovers.

### Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cyclones | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 38 |
Tavian Banks ran for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Hawkeyes defeated the Cyclones for the 14th consecutive time.

### Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawkeyes | 7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| • Golden Hurricane | 10 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 27 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 17 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 30 |
| • Hawkeyes | 0 | 10 | 20 | 7 | 37 |

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 31 |
| Hoosiers | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |

### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Nittany Lions | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
Highlighted by an electrifying 83-yard punt return touchdown by Tim Dwight (the first of five career punt return touchdowns), the Hawkeyes earned their first road win over a top ten opponent since the 1990 season.

### Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Buckeyes | 17 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 38 |
| Hawkeyes | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 26 |
ESPN's College GameDay visited Iowa City for the first time for this matchup between the #2 Buckeyes (6–0) and #20 Hawkeyes (5–1).

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 7 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
| Fighting Illini | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Wildcats | 3 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 40 |
| Hawkeyes | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |

### Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Badgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Hawkeyes | 10 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 31 |
After this shutout at Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes had gone 17–0–1 in an 18-game stretch in the series with the Badgers.

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hawkeyes | 10 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 43 |
| Golden Gophers | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### Alamo Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Red Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Hawkeyes | 6 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 27 |

## Postseason Awards

* Tim Dwight – First-team All-American (All-purpose / kick returners)

## Team players in the 1997 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Tom Knight | Defensive Back | 1 | 9 | Arizona Cardinals |
| Ross Verba | Guard | 1 | 30 | Green Bay Packers |
| Sedrick Shaw | Running Back | 3 | 61 | New England Patriots |
| Damien Robinson | Defensive Back | 4 | 119 | Philadelphia Eagles |