2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team The 2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa and the Iowa Hawkeyes football program during the 2001 NCAA Division I - A football season . Coached by Kirk Ferentz , the Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City , Iowa . Leading up to the season . Previous season . Iowa opened the 2000 season with five straight losses , adding to a losing streak that totaled 13 games when the Hawkeyes lost to Indiana on September 30 , 2000 . However , the streak came to an end a week later , when the Hawks defeated Michigan State , 21 – 16 , giving Ferentz his first ever Big Ten win as head coach at Iowa . Following a three - game losing streak , the Hawkeyes traveled to State College , Pennsylvania , for a game against Penn State . The Hawks won the game , 26 – 23 , and followed it up the next week with another win , this time over Northwestern . The 27 – 17 victory gave Iowa a two - game winning streak , something that had not occurred for the Hawkeyes since the 1997 season . Iowa finished the season with a 27 – 24 loss on November 18 , 2000 , against Minnesota . Season outlook . 2001 was marked as a potential turning point for the Hawkeyes , a year in which a bowl berth was entirely possible . The Hawks returned two potential starters at quarterback in Kyle McCann and Jon Beutjer , and even received playing time from junior college transfer Brad Banks during the season . Ladell Betts and Kahlil Hill came back for their senior seasons at the running back and wide receiver positions respectively . Hill would go on win the Mosi Tatupu Award following the completion of the season . On defense , the Hawkeyes looked to improve on their rushing defense numbers from the previous season . In 2000 , Iowa gave up 194 . 3 yards rushing , ninth in the Big Ten . Aaron Kampman returned for his senior season on the defensive line , while fellow senior Mike Dolezal looked to replace LeVar Woods and Derrick Davison at linebacker . Iowa ' s passing defense in 2000 allowed 247 yards passing a game , tenth in the Big Ten . It was thought that added experience in that area would help improve that aspect of Iowa ' s defense . The special teams returned Hill and sophomore Nate Kaeding , who hit 14 - of - 22 field goals and 20 - of - 20 extra point s during his freshman season . In 2000 , Hill finished second in the Big Ten with a 27 . 2 - yard kickoff return average . Hill was also named to the first - team all - Big Ten team by the " Sporting News " for his 2000 performances . Season . Schedule . Iowa ' s schedule did not include Big Ten teams Ohio State and Illinois in 2001 . Roster . The following is the roster from Iowa ' s 2001 season . Game notes . Kent State . Opening the season on September 1 , 2001 , the Hawkeyes defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes , 51 – 0 , in front of 56 , 091 fans at Kinnick Stadium . The win was Iowa ' s first in a season opener under Ferentz , and it improved the Hawkeyes ' record in season openers to 80 – 31 – 2 . On offense , Betts ran for 99 yards , while fellow running back Aaron Greving scored three touchdown s . In total , Iowa ran for 331 yards , which compared favorably to the 113 yards for Kent State . Jeremy Allen and Fred Russell also contributed , with 73 and 46 rushing yards respectively . Allen also scored the first touchdown of his career during the game , on a 14 - yard run during the first quarter . Defensively , the Hawkeyes held Kent State to 13 first down s and 203 total offensive yards . Iowa held the Golden Flashes to 90 yards passing ; Kent State quarterback Jeff Valentino completed 3 of his 13 passes for 35 yards before being taken out of the game . McCann and Banks threw for 165 and 71 yards respectively , while Dallas Clark led the Hawks in receiving , with five catches for 84 yards . The loss was Kent State ' s sixth straight , dating back to the previous season . For Iowa , the win capped a week in which Beutjer , a possible starter at quarterback , left the team . Beutjer cited feeling " betrayed " by Iowa coaches , and Iowa player Bruce Nelson said that it would not " disrupt what we ’ ve got going . " Following the game , Ferentz noted that practice on the Thursday before the game was the best in his tenure at Iowa , while Kent State head coach Dean Pees expressed disappointment in his team ' s performance . The next week , Kent State ended their six - game losing streak with a 38 – 17 victory over Bucknell . Iowa State . The annual battle for the Cy - Hawk Trophy was scheduled originally for September 15 , but due to the September 11 attacks , it was postponed or canceled like all sporting events planned for that weekend . The game was rescheduled for November 24 , which turned out to be a natural fit since many other major rivalries were played that weekend . The Cyclones scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters to head into halftime with a 14 – 0 lead . Iowa responded finally in the third quarter with two touchdowns of their own . The final scoring play of the game came early in the fourth quarter , with Tony Yelk kicking a 32 - yard field goal to put the Cyclones up 17 – 14 . An interception by Adam Runk with 1 : 37 remaining sealed the game for the Cyclones .