History of Iowa Hawkeyes football 19th century – Origins of Iowa football . Football was first played as a club sport at Iowa in 1872 , with intramural games against other colleges played as early as 1882 . But it was in 1889 that the University of Iowa first officially recognized a varsity football team , when Iowa challenged Iowa College to the first intercollegiate football game in the state of Iowa and the first west of the Mississippi River . Grinnell defeated the Hawkeyes , 24 - 0 , and a stone marker still stands in Grinnell Field marking the event . In 1890 , Iowa played its first home game on Iowa Field , losing again to Grinnell , 14 - 6 , but Martin Sampson , the 1889 team captain , blocked a kick and ran 70 yards for the first touchdown in Iowa history . In Iowa ' s next game , the Hawkeyes scored 19 touchdowns ( worth four points each ) and registered the first win in school history , defeating Iowa Wesleyan College , 91 - 0 . In 1891 , Iowa won three of its five games to finish with the first winning season in school history . Two significant events marked Iowa ' s 1892 football team . First , school officials hired E . A . Dalton of Princeton for ten days prior to the season to assemble and organize the team , making him Iowa ' s first head football coach . Second , Iowa joined its first conference , the Western Interstate University Football Association . Iowa and three other schools , Missouri , Kansas , and Nebraska , agreed to play annually to determine a conference champion . Iowa decided to forgo hiring a head coach in 1895 to save money . The plan backfired , as the Hawkeyes limped to a 2 - 5 record . Iowa football would never again go without a head coach , and school officials hired Alfred E . Bull to coach the 1896 squad . The 1896 Hawkeye team went 7 - 1 - 1 and won Iowa ' s first conference title , claiming the Western Interstate crown in their final year in the conference . Iowa was led in scoring by Frank Holbrook , the first black football player at Iowa . Alden Knipe coached the team in 1898 , and Knipe was the first Iowa football coach ever rehired for a second season in 1899 . The 1899 Hawkeyes posted an 8 - 0 - 1 record , tying only 1899 Western Conference champion Chicago . The one field goal allowed to Chicago were the only points scored on Iowa all year . Iowa ' s success that season led to an invitation for membership in the Western Conference , now known as the Big Ten Conference , beginning in 1900 . 1900s & 1910s – Early era of Iowa football . Coach Alden Knipe , back for a third season in 1900 , led the Hawks to a 7 - 0 - 1 record and a share of the Western Conference title in Iowa ' s first year in the league . For the second straight season , Iowa did not yield a touchdown . From 1898 to 1901 , Iowa would establish a streak of 23 straight games both without a defeat and without allowing a touchdown . Alden Knipe , who was also Iowa ' s first director of athletics , retired from coaching after the 1902 season , and Iowa would struggle in the Western Conference for the rest of the decade . Before the 1910 season , school officials hired Jesse Hawley of Dartmouth as head football coach and Nelson A . Kellogg as athletic director , separating the job into two different positions for the first time . Hawley was a brilliant offensive coach , and some of Iowa ' s wins under Hawley are among the most lopsided in school history . The 1913 Hawkeyes led the nation in scoring by a wide margin , averaging over 44 points per game . Iowa ' s only conference loss that year was to Western Conference champion Chicago ; it was the first time since 1900 that Iowa seriously challenged for the league title . In 1914 , the Hawkeyes defeated Northern Iowa 95 - 0 , the largest margin of victory in school history . When Iowa lost its last four games in 1915 , criticism of Hawley mounted . In particular , many talented native Iowans were star players elsewhere . Eleven of the best players in the Western Conference were native Iowans playing for other league schools . Further , Hawley only lived in Iowa City during the season , and Iowa wanted a full - time coach . Coach Hawley left after the 1915 season , and Iowa offered Howard Jones of Yale a five - year contract to replace him . 1920s – Howard Jones era . The Jones era at Iowa got off to a slow start , in large part due to America ' s impending involvement in World War I . Athletic Director Nelson A . Kellogg left Iowa to join the service , so Howard Jones was appointed athletic director . Iowa nearly won the Big Ten Conference , in 1918 and 1919 . Losses to league champ Illinois cost the Hawkeyes the title both seasons . The 1921 Hawkeye team was one of the nation ' s best that year and one of the greatest in school history . The team , whose 11 starters were all native Iowans , finished with a perfect 7 - 0 record . Iowa defeated Notre Dame , 10 - 7 , in their first meeting with the Irish ; Notre Dame and Coach Knute Rockne had won 20 consecutive games . Iowa had a 5 - 0 record in Big Ten play and won its second Big Ten title . Despite the graduations of many key players , Iowa again posted a perfect 7 - 0 final record in the 1922 season . Iowa again went 5 - 0 in the Big Ten , capturing its second straight Big Ten crown . Iowa ' s winning streak from 1920 to 1923 lasted 20 games and almost three full years . Howard Jones ' wife was not fond of Iowa City , and Jones demanded a new contract , which would allow him to coach and live in Iowa City only during football season . A conflict between Coach Jones and the chairman of the Athletics Board at Iowa contributed to the tension , and Jones eventually resigned as head coach and athletic director at Iowa . Jones went on to have a legendary career at Southern California , leading the Trojans to 7 conference titles , 5 Rose Bowls ( all victories ) , and 3 mythical national titles . Newly hired athletic director Paul Belting needed to replace a legend , and after an attempt to lure Knute Rockne from Notre Dame failed , Belting quickly hired Burt Ingwersen , an assistant coach at Illinois . Many Iowa fans disliked Ingwersen , both because he was an Illini , and because he wasn ' t a famous coach like Rockne . Iowa performed very well in 1924 , falling just one game short of another Big Ten title . But the detractors noted that the one league loss was to conference champion Illinois , Ingwersen ' s former school . Iowa soon struggled , and fan discontent with Ingwersen grew . Paul Belting shocked Hawkeye fans during the 1928 season when he announced that within the year , Iowa would be playing in a new football stadium designed to seat sixty to eighty thousand fans . Belting ' s promise was indeed fulfilled ; the Hawkeyes left Iowa Field behind in 1929 and played most of their games that year in a new facility named Iowa Stadium . 1930s – A football depression . Two incidents rocked Iowa ' s athletic program in 1929 , the repercussions of which were felt throughout the 1930s . First , Iowa was suspended from athletic participation in the Big Ten Conference for the month of January 1930 . In 1929 , athletic director Paul Belting abruptly resigned and was succeeded by Edward Lauer . The Big Ten Commissioner , John L . Griffith , was concerned about widespread illegal recruiting by alumni at Big Ten schools . Belting ' s sudden resignation caused Griffith to call for a university investigation of the athletic department , which uncovered a slush fund totaling $ 4 , 000 existed through which athletes were given scholarships and illegal bank loans . Iowa was suspended from the Big Ten for lack of faculty control of the athletic department . Griffith also accused Iowa officials of illegal recruiting practices . The Big Ten Conference demanded that Iowa declare 14 athletes ineligible due to illegal recruiting . Iowa initially refused , claiming that the athletes accused had done nothing wrong , and stating that the blame for the situation lay with Belting and that the 14 athletes accused did not know their loans and scholarships were illegal . School officials eventually relented , suspended the players , and Iowa was reinstated . The scandal and suspension made Iowa the conference pariah for years . Iowa played just one Big Ten team , Purdue , in 1930 due to the suspension . The second incident in 1929 , which had perhaps a more profound effect on Hawkeye football and certainly on the nation , was the onset of the Great Depression . Iowa , a predominantly agricultural state , was hit particularly hard by the Depression , and it hurt Iowa ' s athletic revenues badly . Iowa Stadium , which cost tens of thousands of dollars to build , appeared to be a monument to bad timing . With so many players gone , Iowa fell so fast and so hard that in 1931 the team scored just seven points all season long , and Coach Burt Ingwersen soon resigned , his overall record at Iowa standing at 33 - 27 - 4 ( . 547 ) despite the all the difficulties caused by the athletic scandals . Lauer hired Ossie Solem of Drake University to replace Ingwersen . Iowa finished with one win overall and none in the Big Ten in both 1931 and 1932 . After a fine year in 1933 , Solem took over for Lauer as athletic director . The next five years were miserable for Iowa fans , as Iowa compiled a record of 11 - 24 - 5 from 1934 to 1938 under Solem and Irl Tubbs . 1939 – The year of the Ironmen . Iowa football was clearly struggling as 1939 began , and the entire athletic department was in poor financial shape . The debt on Iowa Stadium grew by the year , and Iowa had finished among the worst three teams in the league standings every year in the 1930s except 1933 . Iowa ' s new coach , Dr . Eddie Anderson , felt the Hawks , lacking depth , could still be a good team in 1939 , but only if the starters played all sixty minutes . Thus , the 1939 Hawkeye football team , nicknamed the Ironmen , became one of the greatest teams in school history and certainly the most romanticized . Much of the sentimentality surrounding that team is due to Nile Kinnick . Kinnick was an all - Big Ten selection as a sophomore , when he led the nation in punting average , but he struggled through an injury - riddled junior season . Kinnick personified Anderson ' s Ironman mentality for the team . Kinnick played halfback ( though he did most of the passing for the team ) , defensive back , kicker , punter , kick returner , and punt returner . Iowa finished the year with a 6 - 1 - 1 record and was ranked ninth in the final Associated Press ( AP ) poll . Postseason honors rolled in for the Ironmen , most of them going to Kinnick . The climax of the season occurred when Nile Kinnick won the 1939 Heisman Trophy , becoming the only Iowa Hawkeye to receive college football ' s most prestigious honor . Nile Kinnick was an intelligent , well - spoken , and likeable young man . Kinnick graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar and was elected president of the senior class . When world war seemed inevitable , he signed up for the Navy , wanting to become a fighter pilot . On June 2 , 1943 , on a routine training flight in the Caribbean , Kinnick was forced to make an emergency landing in the water . His body was never found . Nile Kinnick was 24 . The Ironmen revived the spirits of a depressed fan base and turned Iowa ' s financial fortunes around . A few years later , the athletic department would be out of financial danger , and the debt on Iowa Stadium would finally be paid off . 1940s – World War & The Seahawks . The positive momentum that was generated for the program by the Ironmen of 1939 did not last long , as the nation geared up for World War II . Two factors hurt the Hawkeye football program in the 1940s . The first was the three - year absence of Coach Anderson . Anderson , a urologist , left the Iowa team to serve in a military hospital for the duration of the war . His departure left the Iowa team in the hands of two interim coaches : Slip Madigan in 1943 and 1944 and Clem Crowe in 1945 . The second factor that hurt the Iowa program was the emergence of the Seahawks . As the war approached , Iowa City was selected as one of five campuses across the country to host a Naval Pre - Flight school for soldiers in training . This Pre - Flight school formed its own football team , called the Iowa Pre - Flight Seahawks . The Hawkeyes and the Seahawks shared the University ' s athletic facilities for the duration of the war . Naturally , the Pre - Flight school was seen as the more important concern , and the Hawkeyes were often second in line to use their own facilities . Nearly all the able - bodied men in Iowa City found their way into the Naval Pre - Flight school , while Iowa ' s roster was mostly filled with players with conditions that exempted them from military service . The results were predictable . The Hawkeyes compiled a record of 4 - 20 - 1 from 1943 to 1945 . The Seahawks , conversely , had a record of 26 - 5 over three years , twice finishing in the AP top ten . The Seahawks had a 9 - 1 record in 1943 and finished the year ranked second in the nation . In 1944 , the Seahawks had a record of 10 - 1 and finished sixth in the nation . By the time Eddie Anderson returned from the war in 1946 , the Hawkeyes were devoid of talent and once again had a losing mentality . Anderson coached Iowa for four more unspectacular years from 1946 to 1949 before returning to Holy Cross . Leonard Raffensperger , who had played for Iowa in the 1920s , coached Iowa in 1950 and 1951 . 1950s – Forest Evashevski era . In 1952 , Paul Brechler , who replaced Schroeder as Iowa ' s athletic director in 1947 , searched for a new football coach . Fritz Crisler , the athletic director and former coach at Michigan , suggested that Brechler consider Forest Evashevski . Evy , as he was called , had played quarterback for both Michigan and the Iowa Navy Pre - Flight Seahawks . Evy was coaching at Washington State , but he wanted a head job in the Big Ten . Crisler did note , however , that Evy was tough and stubborn , which could eventually cause a problem . Since Iowa hadn ' t won a Big Ten title in almost thirty years , Brechler took that chance and hired Evy . Evy was a charismatic and ambitious man , a brilliant coach with a combative personality . Iowa struggled in 1952 , though a shocking upset of Ohio State foreshadowed the success to come . Iowa ended the 1953 season with the most controversial game in school history . The Hawkeyes had a 5 - 3 record as they played their final game of the season against # 1 Notre Dame in South Bend . The game ended in a controversial 14 - 14 draw , as Notre Dame scored both of their touchdowns at the end of each half by having players fake injuries and exploiting a rule which stopped the clock for an injury . The tie cost the Irish the # 1 spot in the final AP poll , dropping Notre Dame to # 2 . Iowa rocketed into the AP rankings , finishing the year # 9 in the nation and garnering six first place votes . It was Iowa ' s highest ranking since 1939 , and the tie gave the Iowa program national attention . After two more decent years , Evy would put together the finest five - year run in school history . From 1956 to 1960 , Iowa would have a record of 37 - 8 - 2 and garner four top ten finishes , three Big Ten titles , and two Rose Bowl victories . In 1956 , Iowa was 6 - 1 when they faced Ohio State in Iowa ' s last Big Ten game of the year . In one of the most hard - hitting and memorable games in Iowa history , Iowa defeated the Woody Hayes - led Buckeyes , 6 - 0 , to clinch Iowa ' s fourth Big Ten title and the first in 34 years . It also secured Iowa ' s first Rose Bowl berth . Such a happy occasion was marred , however , by the tragic news that former Hawkeye Cal Jones had just died in a plane crash in Canada . The Hawks quietly dedicated their first bowl trip to Pasadena to Jones ' memory and defeated Oregon State , 35 - 19 . Ohio State got their revenge in 1957 , defeating Iowa for the Big Ten title and handing the Hawkeyes their only defeat of the year . Iowa came back in 1958 and stormed through the Big Ten season , clinching the Big Ten title earlier than any team in conference history . Iowa went back to Pasadena and clobbered California , 38 - 12 , setting or tying six Rose Bowl records in the process . Iowa finished the year ranked # 2 in the AP poll , although the vote was taken before the bowl games . The Football Writers Association of America gave their national championship trophy , the Grantland Rice Trophy , to Iowa . ( LSU was awarded the national championship by the AP and UPI , whose final polls were released before the bowl games . ) Iowa went 5 - 4 in 1959 , a season marred by a very public feud between Evy and Brechler . At the end of the 1959 season , Brechler left Iowa to become the commissioner of the Mountain States Conference . Evy , who had frequently mentioned that he never intended to grow old in coaching , clearly wanted the athletic director job . Members on the Board of Athletics , however , were concerned about the prospect of the ambitious Evashevski holding both positions . The Board told Evy that he could take either job : head football coach or athletic director . Evy chose to become Iowa ' s athletic director and promised to appoint a new football coach after the 1960 season . Evy ' s final season as football coach at Iowa was another memorable one . In 1960 , Iowa overcame a fierce schedule and finished the year 8 - 1 and ranked # 2 in the AP poll . Iowa ' s only loss came to Minnesota , which finished # 1 in the AP poll before losing the Rose Bowl . However , Iowa defeated Ohio State on the last game of the conference season to clinch a share of the league crown with Minnesota . It was Evy ' s third Big Ten title at Iowa . Evy ' s nine years as a head coach at Iowa were wildly successful , and Forest Evashevski was eventually inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . 1960s & 1970s – Two decades of losing . Evashevski selected his assistant , Jerry Burns , to succeed him as coach of the Hawkeyes . Iowa began the 1961 season ranked # 1 in the AP poll but staggered to a disappointing 5 - 4 record . A defeat of Notre Dame on the final game of the season gave Iowa a winning record for the year ; it would be Iowa ' s last winning season for the next 20 years . Iowa stumbled to a 4 - 5 record in 1962 , though for the only time in school history , Iowa defeated both Michigan and Ohio State in the same season . Two more subpar seasons put Burns on the hot seat entering 1965 , but the 1965 team was predicted to do well . Instead , Iowa finished the year 1 - 9 , and Burns was fired by his former mentor Evashevski . Evy now had to find a new head coach , and he resisted cries to fill the post himself . Instead , he tabbed Ray Nagel of Utah for the spot . Nagel seemed like an odd choice , since his record at Utah was unspectacular . His hiring was questioned even more after he had a 3 - 16 - 1 record in 1966 and 1967 at Iowa . However , the Hawkeyes set several school and conference offensive records in 1968 and finished with a 5 - 5 record . Many Iowa fans felt that the program had turned a corner and that 1969 would be the year that the Hawks broke through with a winning record and possibly a Rose Bowl bid . 1969 was a volatile year , with Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement gaining full steam . In the spring of 1969 , Nagel dismissed two black players from the team for disciplinary reasons . This played a role in motivating 16 black players to ignore Nagel ' s repeated warnings and boycott spring practice . Nagel immediately dismissed the 16 players from the team . That summer , Nagel allowed the dismissed athletes to appeal to the team for reinstatement . The team allowed seven of the twelve athletes who appealed for reinstatement to rejoin the squad . But the damage was done . The Black Boycott , as it was called , doomed Iowa to another 5 - 5 record . Further , the team was distracted by a growing and very public feud between Nagel and athletic director Evashevski . The Board of Athletics completed a long investigation of the Iowa football program and decided to fire both Evy and Nagel . Bump Elliott , former head football coach at Michigan , was hired to replace Evy as athletic director . Then the Board reversed itself and allowed Elliott to rehire Nagel before the 1970 season . The offseason turmoil did not help the 1970 Hawkeye squad , which finished 3 - 6 - 1 . At the end of that season , Nagel had had enough of the emotional roller coaster at Iowa and abruptly resigned . Elliott hired Frank Lauterbur to replace Nagel . The program hit rock bottom , as Iowa went 4 - 28 - 1 from 1971 to 1973 under Lauterbur . That included an embarrassing 0 - 11 record in 1973 , the only winless season for the Hawks since Iowa ' s first season in 1889 . The highlight of Lauterbur ' s tenure at Iowa came in 1972 , when Iowa Stadium was officially renamed Kinnick Stadium , in honor of the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner . In 1974 , Bob Commings became the third Iowa graduate to lead the Hawkeye football team , joining John G . Griffith in 1909 and Leonard Raffensperger in 1950 – 1951 . Occasional upset victories kept Commings in Iowa City for five years . Iowa had 3 - 8 records in 1974 and 1975 , and then the Hawks went to the brink of a winning record with 5 - 6 records in 1976 and 1977 . But Commings ' Hawkeyes slumped to a 2 - 9 record in 1978 , and Commings was fired after five seasons . 1980s & 1990s – Hayden Fry era . It had been 17 years since Iowa had posted a winning record , the longest such drought in the nation . Bump Elliott sought to end it with the hiring of John Hayden Fry from North Texas . Elliott publicly stated that Fry would be the last football coach he would ever hire . Elliott believed that after the failures of Lauterbur and Commings , a failure by Fry to turn Iowa ' s program around would cause the fans to ask for more than just the job of the head coach this time around . Fry , a lifelong Texan , was full of Southern charm and interesting anecdotes . Fry turned his attention to changing a losing attitude and starting new traditions at Iowa . Hayden would not celebrate close losses or moral victories . Fry assembled a terrific coaching staff , bringing many of his assistant coaches with him from North Texas . He emphasized defense and brought a wide - open passing game to the Big Ten for the first time . All this did not immediately translate into wins . Iowa had losing seasons in 1979 and 1980 , and some began to wonder if Fry would suffer the same fate as the four coaches before him . But that all changed in 1981 , a magical season for Hawkeye fans . Iowa began the season by upsetting Nebraska , a team that had defeated Iowa 57 - 0 the previous season . Iowa had a record of 8 - 3 in the regular season in 1981 , and the Hawkeyes not only clinched a winning record , but also a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth . Iowa went 25 - 11 - 1 from 1982 to 1984 and qualified for three more bowl games . 1985 was arguably Fry ' s best season at Iowa . Iowa was ranked # 1 in AP poll for 5 weeks and used thrilling , last - minute victories over Michigan State and Michigan to win their first outright Big Ten title since 1958 . Iowa played in the Rose Bowl , and the Hawks finished the regular season with a 10 - 1 record . The Hawkeyes had a 25 - 10 - 3 record from 1986 to 1988 and qualified for three more bowl games . Fry had taken Iowa to eight straight winning seasons and eight bowl games before going 5 - 6 in 1989 . The Hawks bounced right back in 1990 , winning Iowa ' s ninth Big Ten title and qualifying for Iowa ' s fifth Rose Bowl , though Iowa lost in Pasadena for the third time under Fry . Iowa went 10 - 1 in 1991 , but Iowa ' s lone loss cost the Hawks another Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl trip . As Fry got older and several assistant coaches departed for other coaching jobs , Iowa had a down period from 1992 to 1994 , posting a 16 - 18 - 1 record and qualifying for just one bowl game , a 37 - 3 Alamo Bowl loss . But Fry had one last strong run in him . Iowa went 7 - 4 and won the Sun Bowl in 1995 , and the Hawks went 8 - 3 and won the Alamo Bowl in 1996 , a game in which the Hawkeyes wore blank black helmets in honor of linebacker Mark Mitchell ' s mother , Diane Mitchell , who had died in a car accident on the way to the game . In 1997 , the Hawkeyes were expected to again challenge for the Big Ten title . Instead , Iowa settled for a 7 - 4 record and a loss in the Sun Bowl . Iowa went just 3 - 8 in 1998 , Fry ' s worst season at Iowa . It would also be his last , as Hayden Fry would retire from coaching at the end of the year . It is difficult to overstate Hayden Fry ' s positive impact on Iowa football . Fry coached twenty years at Iowa , more than twice as long as any coach before him . Hayden had a 143 - 89 - 6 record at Iowa and led the Hawkeyes to three Big Ten titles , three Rose Bowl appearances , and 14 bowl games . But more than that , Coach Hayden Fry established a winning tradition at Iowa , on and off the field . Iowa was no longer considered a coaching graveyard but rather , a place where a great coach could excel . Several of Fry ' s former assistants followed Fry ' s example in resurrecting other struggling football programs . 2000s – Kirk Ferentz era . Those former Fry assistants were courted heavily after Hayden Fry announced his retirement in 1998 . Bob Bowlsby , who had succeeded Bump Elliott as athletic director in 1990 , entertained several candidates for the position , but one candidate was clearly the fan favorite . Bob Stoops , who had played defensive back on the 1982 Rose Bowl team and later coached under Fry , was the defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier at Florida . Most Hawkeye fans saw him as a natural successor to Fry . Shortly after an interview with Iowa , Stoops decided to take the coaching job at the University of Oklahoma . Most Iowa fans were furious at Bowlsby for not doing enough , in their minds , to convince Stoops to take the Iowa job . Many fans were not appeased when Bowlsby announced that Kirk Ferentz would be the next Iowa coach . Some fans were consoled by the fact that the new coach had Iowa ties . Ferentz was Fry ' s offensive line coach from 1981 to 1989 , the best years of Hayden ' s tenure at Iowa . Ferentz left Iowa to become the head coach at Maine and was later hired to work as an assistant for the Cleveland Browns and head coach Bill Belichick . Ferentz made the move with the Browns to Baltimore and was an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens when Bowlsby called him to Iowa City . The fact that Ferentz had Coach Fry ' s seal of approval quieted many Hawk fans , though several still loudly bemoaned not hiring Stoops . Since Fry was not able to leave Ferentz with much talent on the field , Iowa ' s 1 - 10 overall record and 0 - 8 record in the Big Ten in 1999 was not entirely unexpected . Iowa appeared to hit rock bottom in 2000 when Iowa entered the Big Ten 0 - 4 , and given Iowa ' s conference record in 1999 , a 0 - 12 season was not an impossibility . Instead , Iowa charted a 3 - 5 record in the Big Ten , narrowly missing a chance at a . 500 league record . The Hawkeyes went 6 - 5 in 2001 , defeating Minnesota 42 - 24 to clinch a bowl bid and take back Floyd of Rosedale . Iowa capped the year by upsetting Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl . Nothing could have prepared Iowa fans for the 2002 season . Following a non - conference loss to Iowa State , Iowa won nine consecutive games . Iowa finished the regular season 11 - 1 and clinched a berth in the Orange Bowl , where the # 5 USC Trojans defeated the # 3 Hawkeyes , 38 - 17 . The Hawkeyes had an 8 - 0 record in the Big Ten and won a share of the league title for the first time since 1990 . The 2002 team set the school record for overall wins and Big Ten wins in a season , and numerous Hawkeye players won major national awards . In 2003 , the Hawkeyes went 9 - 3 , earning a trip to the Outback Bowl . The Hawks defeated Florida , 37 - 17 , to give Iowa back - to - back ten win seasons for the first time in school history . In 2004 , a slew of injuries to Iowa tailbacks left the Hawks with virtually no running game all year . Iowa lost six tailbacks to injury , and many of their injuries were season - ending . Still , following a 2 - 2 start , Iowa used a powerful defense and an opportunistic offense to win seven straight Big Ten games . On the final day of the season , Iowa defeated the Wisconsin Badgers , 30 - 7 , to clinch the eleventh Big Ten title in school history . Iowa , with a record of 9 - 2 , was awarded a berth in the Capital One Bowl to face defending national champion Louisiana State . Iowa defeated the Tigers , 30 - 25 , in one of the most spectacular finishes in the history of college football . After trailing the entire game , LSU took their first lead with 47 seconds remaining . On the game ' s final play , Iowa ' s Drew Tate fired a 56 yard , game - winning touchdown pass to Warren Holloway as time expired . The win gave Iowa its third straight ten win season . In 2005 , Iowa went 7 - 4 with a 5 - 3 record in the Big Ten . Just like in 2003 , the Hawkeyes accepted an invitation to play Florida in the Outback Bowl . But this time , the Gators got a measure of revenge for their loss two years earlier by defeating the Hawkeyes , 31 - 24 . In 2006 , Iowa started the season strong with a 5 - 1 record , losing only to top - ranked Ohio State . However , the Hawkeyes collapsed down the stretch , losing five of their last six games , including shocking losses to Northwestern and Indiana . Iowa finished the season with a 6 - 7 record , after losing to heavily favored Texas , 26 - 24 , in the 2006 Alamo Bowl . In 2007 , Ferentz ' Hawkeyes started 2 - 4 and lost their first three conference games . An upset victory over Illinois ended a nine - game conference losing streak for Iowa , and the Hawkeyes closed out the Big Ten season by winning their last three conference games . However , a disappointing loss in the season finale to Western Michigan dropped the Hawkeyes ' season record to 6 - 6 . Though Iowa was bowl eligible , the Hawkeyes did not receive a bowl bid , snapping Iowa ' s streak of six consecutive bowl appearances . 2008 marked Ferentz ' tenth season as the head coach at Iowa . The 2008 Hawkeyes started the season 3 - 3 , with the three losses coming by a combined nine points . But Iowa ended the season very strong , defeating third - ranked Penn State , 24 - 23 , on a last second field goal , and handing Minnesota a 55 - 0 defeat , their worst conference loss in over a century of Big Ten play . In all , the Hawks won five of their last six conference games to finish the regular season with an 8 - 4 record and earn a trip to the Outback Bowl , where Iowa defeated South Carolina , 31 - 10 . The 2009 season proved to be one of the greatest in Iowa football history . The opener pitted the Hawkeyes against in - state FCS foe Northern Iowa . Trailing by one point in the final seconds of the game , UNI opted for a field goal but the attempt was blocked , seemingly clinching the game for Iowa . However , officials ruled that since the attempt occurred on third down and was recovered by Northern Iowa behind the line of scrimmage , the Panthers retained possession with one more down to play . Amazingly , a second field goal attempt was also blocked by the Hawkeyes , giving them the 17 - 16 win . Iowa would go on to a school record 9 - 0 start to the season but fell to Northwestern after quarterback Ricky Stanzi left the game with a leg injury . The Hawkeyes lost the next week to Ohio State University in overtime but finished the season with the second straight shutout of Minnesota . Receiving their second invitation to play in the Orange Bowl , Iowa ' s stout defense led the Hawkeyes to a 24 - 14 victory over the ACC Champion Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets , giving Iowa its first BCS - level bowl victory since the 1950s . 2011 was a season marked with high hopes , but with the injury ro Mik ' ail McCall in the first game and a devastating 3OT loss to Iowa State , 44 - 41 , the season became a disappointment , culminating with a loss in the 2011 Insight Bowl to Oklahoma . Ferentz is ranked as one of the finest coaches in college football by several publications . Because of both his record at Iowa and his NFL ties , Ferentz is often named as a potential candidate for NFL head coaching vacancies . However , Ferentz has stated that he is happy at Iowa , and his current contract , which runs through 2020 , pays him $ 3 . 675 million annually .