1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team The 1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the college football season of 1939 . The team , nicknamed the Ironmen , was coached by Dr . Eddie Anderson and was led on the field by halfback Nile Kinnick . Preseason . Iowa football was clearly struggling as 1939 began . In fact , the entire Iowa athletic department was in poor financial shape . The Great Depression had greatly impacted the small farming state , and Iowa ' s athletic receipts sharply declined throughout the 1930s . The debt on Iowa Stadium , which was built in 1929 , grew by the year . The Hawkeyes had finished among the worst three teams in the Big Ten standings every year in the 1930s except 1933 . Iowa had won just one Big Ten game in the last three years , and the team they beat , Chicago , announced that they would be dropping their football program following the 1939 season . Chicago soon withdrew from the Big Ten Conference . After compiling a 2 - 13 - 1 record in two years at Iowa , head football coach Irl Tubbs was fired . Iowa athletic director E . G . Schroeder tried to inject some life into the program by hiring Dr . Eddie Anderson of Holy Cross . Anderson , a Mason City , Iowa native , played and coached under Knute Rockne at Notre Dame . He was the 1921 Notre Dame team captain , and Notre Dame went 28 - 1 in Anderson ’ s last three years as a player . Ironically , the lone loss was to the 1921 Hawkeyes . Around 85 players arrived for spring practice in 1939 . About fifty of them did not return in the fall . Anderson installed a complicated new offense and conducted rigorous practices . The 1939 Hawkeye team would be severely lacking in depth . Anderson felt the Hawks could still be a good team in 1939 , but only if the starters played significant minutes . A coach brought in temporarily to help with Iowa ' s spring practice was quoted as saying when he left , " Among 5000 male students at the University of Iowa , there are only five real football players . " Michigan , Minnesota , Northwestern , and Ohio State were the Big Ten favorites for the 1939 season , while many sportswriters liked Purdue . Notre Dame was also highly ranked nationally . Iowa was picked at the bottom of the Big Ten . Before the season , Iowa ' s best player appeared to be 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 . As a result , end Erwin Prasse , an all - Big Ten selection in 1938 , was elected as the team captain of the 1939 Hawkeyes . However , Kinnick had recovered from his injuries and was ready for a standout senior season . Game Notes . South Dakota . After a few uneventful series , Iowa got its first touchdown of the year on a 65 - yard touchdown run by Kinnick . The Hawkeyes broke the game open in the second quarter , as Kinnick scored three touchdowns ( two rushing , one passing ) in the period . Coach Anderson pulled many of his starters at halftime , but Vollenweider returned the second half kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown . Anderson , upset with the futility of the offense in the second half , reinserted Kinnick into the lineup with less than a minute remaining in the game . Kinnick quickly led Iowa down the field and passed for the touchdown , his fifth of the game . Indiana . Indiana jumped out to a quick 10 - 0 lead , but a 73 yard Kinnick punt changed field position to lead to Iowa ' s first touchdown . Kinnick then used a 55 - yard run to set up Iowa ' s second touchdown . Prasse caught his second touchdown pass of the game to give Iowa 20 unanswered points , but Indiana countered with a touchdown pass of their own just before halftime . Indiana dominated play in the third period , taking a nine - point lead . Diehl got a crucial interception to stop another Indiana drive early in the fourth period , and Iowa responded with an 11 play drive to cut Indiana ' s lead to 3 points . Green came up with an interception that gave Iowa the ball in Indiana territory . Iowa advanced to the Indiana ten - yard line , but the Hoosiers drove Iowa five yards back in three plays to bring up fourth and goal from the fifteen . Rather than attempt a game tying field goal with minutes to play , Iowa went for the win and got it , as Kinnick fired his third touchdown pass to Prasse . Michigan . An early Kinnick touchdown pass was not enough for the Hawks , as Michigan scored the last 27 points of the game . Iowa outgained the Wolverines by over 100 yards , but turnovers and special teams woes doomed the Hawkeyes to their only defeat of the season . Kinnick fumbled a Michigan punt , which set up Michigan ' s game tying score . An Iowa drive to the Michigan 12 - yard line was halted when Harmon intercepted a Kinnick pass attempt for Prasse in end zone . A long punt return led to Michigan ' s second score , and Kinnick ' s only blocked punt of the season gave Michigan position for a third touchdown . Iowa ' s best field position of the second half saw Iowa with the ball at the Michigan 18 - yard line . Tom Harmon sealed the game for Michigan when he snatched Kinnick ' s pass for the end zone and returned it 90 yards for the Wolverines ' fourth touchdown . Wisconsin . Iowa had yielded 34 unanswered points going back to the Michigan game after Wisconsin scored the game ' s opening touchdown . But Kinnick returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to the Wisconsin 35 - yard line , and the Hawkeyes responded with a touchdown of their own . Iowa ' s missed extra point gave Wisconsin a one point halftime advantage . Iowa briefly pulled ahead on a Kinnick touchdown pass before Wisconsin drove 79 yards to reclaim the lead at 13 - 12 . A Dean interception early in the final period gave Kinnick the opportunity to complete another game - clinching , fourth - quarter touchdown . Hawkins and Dean each intercepted passes late to cut off Badger rallies . Purdue . The Boilermakers had practiced all week to shut down Kinnick ' s passing , and Purdue ' s Jack Brown intercepted four Kinnick passes in the game . Iowa had an apparent touchdown negated by a false start on Ken Pettit in the first half , and turnovers killed the other Iowa drives . A fumble ended Purdue ' s only serious scoring threat of a scoreless first half . The defensive struggle continued until early in the fourth quarter , when Iowa forced a punt deep in Purdue territory . Enich blocked the kick , and Prasse recovered to give Iowa field position . Though Iowa turned the ball over on downs , the Hawkeyes soon forced another Purdue punt , this time from Purdue ' s end zone . A bobbled snap allowed Iowa to tackle Brown for the safety and the game ' s first points . A Kinnick punt late in the fourth quarter pinned Purdue deep in their own territory , and Iowa again forced Purdue to punt from their own end zone . Enich came crashing through the line for his second blocked punt of the game , and Brown recovered it in the end zone for another Iowa safety . Iowa then ran out the clock on one of the most bizarre final scores in Hawkeye football history . Notre Dame . Both teams played very conservatively in the first half , as the teams punted back and forth . Toward the end of the second quarter , Kinnick made a touchdown saving tackle on a Notre Dame run at the Notre Dame 41 - yard line . On the next play , a Notre Dame pass was intercepted by Kinnick at the Iowa 45 - yard line , and Kinnick dodged several tacklers to return the ball 20 yards with less than two minutes remaining in the first half . On the next play , Kinnick fired a pass for Dean in the end zone , but it was intercepted by Steve Sitko at the goal line . Sitko returned the ball for a few yards before being hit hard by Andruska , forcing a fumble . Dean and Evans recovered at the Notre Dame 4 - yard line . Rushes by Kinnick and Dean for no gain brought up third down , and Notre Dame called a time out . Kinnick shifted to right halfback on third down and carried the ball over the goal line for the touchdown with forty seconds remaining in the half . Kinnick added the extra point under a heavy rush to give Iowa a 7 - 0 halftime lead . Most of the third quarter , like the first half , was just a long exchange of punts . But late in the period , Notre Dame put together their best sustained drive of the game . The third quarter ended with the Irish on the Iowa 10 - yard line . On the second play of the fourth quarter , Notre Dame rushed ahead for the touchdown . But the critical extra point attempt missed wide left , and the Hawkeyes still held a one - point lead . Iowa ' s defense continued for force punts from the Notre Dame offense , while Kinnick ' s booming punts kept Notre Dame on the other side of the field . With under two minutes remaining in the game , Kinnick ' s 16th punt of the game traveled 63 yards and rolled out of bounds at the Notre Dame 6 - yard line , effectively sealing the Iowa victory . Minnesota . Minnesota missed a field goal in the first period , and Sonny Franck intercepted a Kinnick pass in Minnesota territory to end Iowa ' s first scoring threat . Minnesota converted in the second quarter on their second field goal try of the game , and Harold Van Every made a spectacular one - handed interception of a Kinnick pass deep in Gopher territory late in the first half to keep Iowa scoreless at halftime . A Minnesota punt pinned the Hawkeyes at their own four - yard line in the third quarter , and a 20 yard return of the ensuing Iowa punt gave the Gophers the ball at Iowa ' s 28 - yard line . A series of running plays brought up fourth and goal from the Iowa six - yard line . Franck rushed toward the end zone , and officials ruled that Franck narrowly crossed the goal line , despite Iowa ' s protests . The controversial touchdown gave Minnesota a nine - point lead . But Kinnick rallied Iowa again . Early in the fourth quarter , Kinnick led Iowa on a quick five play , 79 - yard drive for a touchdown to cut the Minnesota lead to two points . With five minutes remaining , Iowa took over possession at their own 21 - yard line . After a few plays , Kinnick threw an interception , but Minnesota was flagged for interference , giving Iowa the ball at midfield . Three plays later , Kinnick threw the game winning touchdown pass to Green with three minutes left in the game . Minnesota ' s final threat was eliminated when Kinnick came up with an interception at midfield . Northwestern . Iowa spent most of the first half in Northwestern territory , but five first half fumbles , including one at the Northwestern 3 - yard line , stopped all Hawkeye scoring threats . A 74 yard Northwestern punt changed field position , and Northwestern put together a good drive late in the first half . The Wildcats scored on a touchdown run with twenty seconds remaining in the first half to take a seven point halftime lead . Northwestern ' s third quarter drives were stopped by turnovers , but Iowa could not capitalize on many of them as Kinnick left the game with a separated shoulder . Enich recovered a Wildcat fumble , Northwestern ' s third turnover of the period , at the Iowa 22 - yard line to give Iowa good field position going into the fourth quarter . Northwestern was called for interference on Prasse on a fourth down pass into the end zone , giving Iowa field position to score the game tying touchdown . Midway through the fourth quarter , the Wildcats were able to drive to the Iowa goal line . But an Enich tackle stopped Northwestern for no gain on fourth and goal inside the Iowa one - yard line . Northwestern later missed a desperation field goal , and Iowa ran out the clock to end the game with a 7 - 7 tie .