Iowa Hawkeyes football , 1889 – 97 The State University of Iowa began playing American football as a club sport in 1872 , but it was not until 1889 that Iowa challenged Grinnell College , then - known as Iowa College , to a game of football . On November 16 , 1889 ; the two teams met in Grinnell to play the first game of intercollegiate football west of the Mississippi River . Iowa lost , 24 – 0 , and a rematch between the two teams in Iowa City was canceled due to poor weather . The next season , Iowa once again played Grinnell , this time in Iowa City . Playing in rain and strong winds , the Hawkeyes lost 14 – 6 , but scored the first touchdown in school history when Martin Sampson blocked a Grinnell kick and returned it 70 yards for the score . However , much displeasure was expressed with this second loss to the Pioneers . The S . U . I . Medics , angry with two straight losses to a " small academy " , challenged the varsity team to a game in an attempt to prove that Iowa ' s team was not composed of the best players available . Confident of their victory , the varsity team accepted , but lost 22 – 10 . The loss brought in multiple changes in personnel and strategy , but it did not deter Iowa from challenging Iowa Wesleyan to a game . In Mount Pleasant , Iowa , the Hawkeyes scored 19 touchdowns , and rolled to the first victory in school history by score of 91 – 0 . In the following years , Iowa began hiring head coaches to assemble and prepare the team before the season , the first being E . A . Dalton of Princeton University , who was hired for ten days before the 1892 season . Following a two - week tenure by Ben Donnelly in 1893 , Iowa hired Roger Sherman , who became the first coach to lead the Hawkeyes for the entire season in 1894 . In 1895 , however , Iowa decided to forgo hiring a head coach , and limped to a 2 - 5 record under the volunteer efforts of Bill Larrabee . For the last time in school history , the Hawkeyes had gone without a head coach . The following year , Iowa hired Alfred E . Bull of Penn as the next coach of the Hawkeyes . Under the leadership of one of the greatest centers to date , the Hawkeyes finished with a 7 - 1 - 1 record and won the conference championship in the Western Interstate University Football Association . Controversy , however , sparked in Iowa ' s game against the Missouri Tigers . Missouri alumni demanded that the Hawkeyes play the game without Frank Holbrook , Iowa ' s star black athlete . Iowa refused , and won the game 12 – 0 , amid a hostile crowd in Columbia , Missouri . Holbrook was one of the two players to score a touchdown during the game . Following Bull ' s tenure , Iowa hired Otto Wagonhurst , the last Hawkeye coach until John G . Griffith in 1909 to lead the team for only one season . 1889 season . On September 26 , 1889 , Martin Sampson , who would later score the first touchdown in school history , led a meeting regarding the organization of an S . U . I . football team . It was this suggestion that earned Sampson the title of coach and captain of the team . In the following days , Iowa sent out a challenge to any team in the state of Iowa for a game of football . The one team to accept Iowa ' s challenge : Iowa College . The Hawkeyes were no strangers to the Pioneers , as the two schools had met on the baseball diamond in the 20 years before . The game date was set for November 16 , and the preparations for the game began . Preparations were difficult at Iowa , as proper management and leadership was obviously lacking at team practices . That was hardly the case with practices at Iowa College . With the help of Frank Everest and Lou Van Giesen , two men with playing experience back east , the Pioneers were able to field a competitive team . Iowa was outmatched , and lost the game , 24 – 0 . Although a rematch was scheduled to be played on Thanksgiving , it was canceled due to inclement weather . With that , Iowa College had won the first championship west of the Mississippi River . 1890 season . Following Iowa ' s inaugural season in 1889 , two games were scheduled for the Hawkeyes to play in 1890 . On October 18 , the Hawkeyes played Iowa College in Iowa City , only to lose to the Pioneers for the second time in two games . It was this loss that triggered a dispute amongst people within the University . In an attempt to prove that the best football talent was not on the team , the S . U . I . Medics challenged the varsity squad to a game . Confident , the varsity squad accepted , and lost , 22 – 10 . But the loss did not keep Iowa from challenging Iowa Wesleyan , who accepted , under the terms that the game be played in Mount Pleasant , Iowa . Fifteen hundred fans , including John Marshall Harlan and Robert Todd Lincoln , were in attendance for the Thanksgiving Day game . Using rules that made touchdowns worth four points , the Hawkeyes easily won the game in a rout , 91 – 0 . The Hawkeyes scored 19 touchdowns and five goals after touchdown while A . G . Smith kicked the first field goal in school history . Today , the game still stands as Iowa ' s third - largest margin of victory in school history . 1891 season . The 1891 football season was one that ended in controversy . Following victories over Cornell and Nebraska , and losses to Minnesota and Iowa College , the Hawkeyes were 2 - 2 heading into their final game against Kansas in Kansas City , Missouri . Following an argument where Kansas argued that Iowa had not put the ball into play fairly , the Jayhawks left the field claiming a 14 – 12 victory . However , the game was not called until after the next play , when Iowa scored an uncontested touchdown . Today , Iowa lists the game as an 18 – 14 Hawkeye victory . Earlier in the year , two firsts were established in Hawkeye football history . On November 2 , the Hawkeyes played rival Minnesota for the first of many times in school history . Later , on November 26 , the Hawkeyes played their first game outside the state of Iowa in a win against Nebraska . The game was played in Omaha , Nebraska . 1892 season . The 1892 season was one of many firsts for the Hawkeyes . After going three years without a conference , Iowa joined the Western Interstate University Football Association , along with Nebraska , Missouri , and Kansas . But in another first , E . A . Dalton , formerly of Princeton , was hired as Iowa ' s head coach . Although he was only hired for 10 days prior to the season , he is recognized as Iowa ' s first head coach . On the field , the results were relatively modest . After opening the season with two victories , the Hawkeyes found themselves no match for Kansas and Missouri . Criticism was voiced , with the " Iowa City Citizen " claiming that Iowa lost the Missouri game because of favoritism . Despite this , Iowa ended Iowa College ' s three - year span of dominance over the Hawkeyes by defeating the Pioneers 18 – 12 just four days after the loss at Missouri . Soon thereafter , the Hawkeyes ended the season with a 10 – 10 tie against Nebraska . 1893 season . The 1893 Iowa Hawkeyes football team featured a new head coach in Ben Donnelly . Like Dalton , Donnelly was only hired before the season to prepare and assemble the team . Donnelly was disliked compared to his predecessor but it did not stop Iowa from getting their first victory in the " WIUFA " with a win over Missouri . 1894 season . The 1894 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was the first Hawkeye team to play against in - state rival Iowa State . The Hawkeyes would also play future Big Ten rivals Chicago and Wisconsin for the first time . The team ' s coach was Roger Sherman . 1895 season . The 1895 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was the last Hawkeye football team to go without a head coach when the university decided to forgo hiring a professional football coach . The plan backfired , and although the team posted victories over Parsons College and Penn College , they failed to score in each of their five losses . The next year , Iowa would hire Alfred E . Bull as the team ' s next coach . 1896 season . The 1896 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was the first Hawkeye football team to win a conference championship . The Hawkeyes went undefeated against the likes of Kansas , Missouri and Nebraska and had only one loss to Chicago . In fact , the team allowed only 12 points the entire season . 1897 season . The 1897 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was coached by Otto Wagonhurst , the last coach in Iowa Hawkeyes football history to coach for only one season . The next year , Iowa would hire Alden Knipe as the team ' s head coach . However , Iowa ' s success in the " WIUFA " did not last long , as the Hawkeyes once again became an independent school from 1898 to 1899 .