1921 Iowa Hawkeyes football team The 1921 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1921 college football season . The team was coached by Howard Jones . Preseason . Howard Jones was in his sixth year at Iowa in 1921 , having coached the Hawkeyes to a 23 – 14 – 1 record from 1916 to 1920 . In 1919 , end Lester Belding was named All - America , and Belding , quarterback Aubrey Devine , tackle Duke Slater and fullback Fred Lohman were named All - Big Ten . In 1920 , Belding , Devine and Slater and were named All - Big Ten . The Hawkeyes had not won a Big Ten championship since 1900 . Iowa had a three - game winning streak going into the 1921 season . Season . Knox . Iowa opened the 1921 season on October 1 with a game against Knox College . The Hawkeyes crushed the opposition 52 – 14 . Knox did not make a single first down . Notre Dame . On October 8 , Notre Dame came to Iowa City . It was the first meeting between the Hawkeyes and the Catholics . Notre Dame had a twenty - game winning streak , having gone 9 – 0 in 1919 and 1920 . The Catholics had already beaten Kalamazoo and DePauw in 1921 by a combined score of 113 – 10 . Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne , widely regarded as the greatest football coach of all time , made a famous and unprecedented decision before the game . The navy uniforms of his team were too similar in color to the black uniforms of the Hawkeyes , so Rockne decided to use green uniforms instead . Fifty - six years later , Notre Dame coach Dan Devine decided to use green uniforms for the 1977 game against Southern California . The Fighting Irish won 49 – 19 en route to a national championship and the legend of the Notre Dame Green Machines was born . In 1921 , Notre Dame was captained by All - American end Eddie Anderson , who later coached Iowa Ironmen team of 1939 . The Catholics were also led by Hunk Anderson , who later coached Notre Dame from 1931 to 1933 . In the game , Iowa scored first when future All - American fullback Gordon Locke ran one yard for a touchdown in the first quarter . Duke Slater blocked three Notre Dame men on the touchdown , but Anderson was able to get by him . Locke ran over the All - American for the first points of the day . Aubrey Devine kicked the extra point and Iowa led 7 – 0 . Devine also kicked a 33 - yard field goal later in the first quarter to put the Hawkeyes up 10 – 0 . That field goal ended up deciding the game . The only points the Catholics scored came in the second quarter . All - American halfback Johnny Mohardt threw a 30 - yard touchdown pass to Ed Kelley . All - American tackle Buck Shaw kicked the extra point , but Iowa still led , 10 – 7 . That ended up being the final score . However , both Iowa and Notre Dame came close to scoring again on several occasions . Both teams advanced to the 5 - yard line of their respective opponent in the third quarter , but both were kept out of the end zone . Mohardt missed a 40 - yard drop kick in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game . Olympian Gus Desch led Notre Dame to the 7 - yard line of Iowa later in the fourth quarter , but the Hawkeyes held again . The game ended at midfield . Iowa handed Notre Dame their first loss since 1918 . The Hawkeyes ended the twenty - game winning streak of the Catholics and extended their own winning streak to five games . Notre Dame won their next eight games to finish 10 – 1 . They did not give up more than seven points in a game for the rest of the season . The Catholics did not lose again until they were beaten by Nebraska in their final game of 1922 . Iowa and Notre Dame did not meet again until 1939 , when the Hawkeyes beat the Irish 7 – 6 . Notre Dame was 6 – 0 and ranked third in the nation when they lost to the Hawkeyes . Iowa beat the Irish for the third consecutive time in 1940 by the score of 7 – 0 , before which Notre Dame was again 6 – 0 and ranked seventh in the nation . The Irish finally beat the Hawkeyes in 1945 by the score of 56 – 0 . Illinois . Iowa played their homecoming game on October 15 . An Illinois team of the great Robert Zuppke was the opponent . The Illini were two years removed from a national championship in 1919 . The 1921 team had already beaten South Dakota by the score of 52 – 0 . Thousands of Hawkeye alumni , including a man from Panama and another from Trinidad , returned to Iowa Field to see Iowa beat Illinois for the first time since 1907 by the score of 14 – 2 . Gordon Locke had his best game of the season , carrying the ball 37 times and rushing for 202 yards , a Hawkeye record . Purdue . On October 29 , Iowa made their first road trip of the season , traveling to West Lafayette . Purdue had lost their first three games of 1921 by a combined score of 51 – 0 . The Boilermakers scored their first points of the season against the Hawkeyes , but Iowa won the game 13 – 6 on a field covered with several inches of water . Aubrey Devine scored the first Hawkeye touchdown but missed the extra point . He later scored the touchdown that won the game on a memorable punt return and made the extra point . Devine accounted for all of the points for Iowa . Minnesota . Iowa played Minnesota in Minneapolis on November 5 . Henry L . Williams , the coach of the Gophers and Hall of Fame inductee in the inaugural class in 1951 , was in his final year at Minnesota , having coached the Gophers to a 136 – 31 – 11 record from 1900 to 1921 . The Hawkeyes handed Minnesota their worst loss under Williams and their second - worst loss ever , winning 41 – 7 . It was the most points the Gophers had ever allowed in forty years of varsity football . Aubrey Devine had his best game of the season , scoring twenty - nine points and passing for the other twelve points . Devine rushed for four touchdowns , passed for two touchdowns and kicked five extra points . He had 484 total yards : 162 rushing yards , 122 passing yards and 200 return yards on kicks , punts and interceptions . Indiana . The final Iowa home game of the season was played on November 12 against Indiana . The Hoosiers lost to Minnesota in their first Big Ten game by the score of 6 – 0 . Likewise , the Hawkeyes shut out Indiana , 41 – 0 . It was the worst loss for Indiana since 1914 . Aubrey Devine had another huge game , rushing for four touchdowns and kicking four extra points . He rushed for 183 yards and passed for 102 yards . Devine scored a combined 57 points on November 5 and 12 . Northwestern . Iowa played their final game of the season on November 19 in Evanston . Northwestern had already beaten DePaul but the Purple had lost their other five games by a combined score of 106 – 0 . The Hawkeyes handed Northwestern their sixth shutout loss of the season , winning 14 – 0 . The victory gave Iowa its first perfect season and outright Big Ten championship . The Hawkeyes never trailed in 1921 . Aubrey Devine and Gordon Locke finished first and second in the Big Ten in scoring , respectively . Postseason . Iowa went 7 – 0 and won the Big Ten championship . The Hawkeyes were invited to play California Golden Bears football in the 1922 Rose Bowl , but the Big Ten forced Iowa to turn down the invitation . Aubrey Devine , Duke Slater and Gordon Locke were named All - America , and Devine , Slater , Locke , Lester Belding , center John Heldt , guard Chester Mead and end Max Kadesky were named All - Big Ten . Iowa was named the 1921 national champion by Parke H . Davis , a selector who is recognized by the NCAA .