Greatest wins in Iowa Football History

Hawknick

Hawknick

Banned
1889-1949

11/28/1896 Iowa 6 Nebraska 0
For Iowa's first western conference championship.

10/28/1899 Iowa 5 Iowa State 0
First win over Iowa State.

11/4/1899 Iowa 30 Nebraska 0
Big win set up another conference championship, and undefeated season.

11/2/1900 Iowa 17 Chicago 0
Win over previous conference champions set up Iowa's undefeated season and first big 10 conference championship.

11/15/1910 Iowa 2 Iowa State 0
Iowa wins this defensive struggle with a safety.

10/8/1921 Iowa 10 Notre Dame 7
Broke Notre Dame's 20 game winning streak. Was the biggest win of the undefeated and un-tied 1921 team.

10/14/1922 Iowa 6 Yale 0
Iowa handed powerhouse Yale it's first ever loss to a "western team".

10/21/1922 Iowa 8 Illinois 7
In a tough game Iowa defeated Red Grange and Illinois. This led to another undefeated and un-tied season. Iowa's win streak would extend into 1923 for a total of 20 consecutive victories.

11/11/1939 Iowa 7 Notre Dame 6
The Ironman team's biggest win. Nile Kinnick off left tackle, touchdown!

11/18/1939 Iowa 13 Minnesota 9
Nile Kinnick's greatest performance in this come back win.

11/16/1940 Iowa 7 Notre Dame 0
Another big win of Notre Dame! Iowa City went wild.

11/7/1942 Iowa 6 Wisconsin 0
In a huge upset Iowa kept Wisconsin from being Big 10 champions.

10/22/1949 Iowa 28 Northwestern 21
This was a big upset over the 1949 Rose Bowl champs.
 
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1950-1979
10/25/1952 Iowa 8 Ohio State 0
Evashevski's first win at Iowa, was an upset of Ohio State.

11/17/1956 Iowa 6 Ohio State 0
Iowa beat OSU snapping the longest Big 10 winning streak in conference history, and securing Iowa's first trip to the Rose Bowl.

1/1/1957 Iowa 35 Oregon State 19
Iowa's first Rose Bowl win.

11/1/1958 Iowa 37 Michigan 14
Iowa snapped it's Michigan jinx and set up another trip to the Rose Bowl.

1/1/1959 Iowa 38 California 12
Iowa's second Rose Bowl win.

11/12/1960 Iowa 35 Ohio State 12
Evashevski's last home game was a win giving Iowa a tie for the Big 10 Championship.

11/2/1968 Iowa 35 Minnesota 28
Iowa's big win earned them the Floyd of Rosedale for the first time in 5 years.

9/21/1974 Iowa 21 UCLA 10
Huge upset of UCLA broke Iowa's longest losing streak ever.

9/25/1976 Iowa 7 Penn State 6
Another huge upset, this would be the first off a number of big wins over Penn State.

9/17/1977 Iowa 12 Iowa State 10
Iowa welcomes Iowa State back into the series by upsetting them. They think they can beat Iowa? No No
 
1981-1999

9/12/1981 Iowa 10 Nebraska 7
Powerful Nebraska was upset by Iowa, setting up a huge season.

9/26/1981 Iowa 20 UCLA 7
Another huge win to set up a huge season for Iowa.

10/17/1981 Iowa 9 Michigan 7
This great defensive effort would put Iowa in the driver's seat to their first Rose Bowl since 1959.

12/31/1982 Iowa 28 Tennessee 22
Iowa's first bowl win since 1959.

9/24/1983 Iowa 20 Ohio state 14
Iowa beat Ohio State for the first time in 21 years.

12/26/1984 Iowa 55 Texas 17
Chuck Long lit Texas up in a big way to win the inaugural Freedom Bowl.

10/5/1985 Iowa 35 Michigan State 31
Iowa staved off an upset big with the Chuck Long bootleg.

10/19/1985 Iowa 12 Michigan 10
#1 Iowa, #2 Michigan this game came down to the final 2 seconds and the leg of Rob Houghtlin. And it was good for the Iowa victory!

11/12/1986 Iowa 30 Minnesota 27
The great Iowa come back was capped by Rob Houghtlin after a Minnesota penalty gave him a second try.

12/30/1986 Iowa 39 San Diego State 38
In another wild comeback Rob Houghtlin kicks another game winner this time in the Holiday Bowl.

11/14/1987 Iowa 29 Ohio State 27
On 4th and 23 Mark Cook touchdown reception gave Iowa the win.

12/30/1987 Iowa 20 Wyoming 19
Iowa blocks 3 kicks, and returns an interception for a touchdown. In route to another Holiday Bowl victory.

10/20/1990 Iowa 24 Michigan 23
Iowa intercepts a Michigan pass on the final drive to secure the Iowa victory, and put them in route to another Rose Bowl.

11/3/1990 Iowa 54 Illinois 28
Iowa smashes #5 Illinois, putting them alone at #1 in the Big 10!

11/2/1991 Iowa 16 Ohio State 9
Allen Cross goes the distance, Iowa defense holds, Iowa snatches big win over Ohio State. This was part of a 7 game Big 10 winning streak.

9/4/1993 Iowa 26 Tulsa 25
Iowa needed a late drive and a 2 point conversion for this win.

12/29/1995 Iowa 38 Washington 18
I big win, and a big upset in the Sun Bowl.

10/19/1996 Iowa 21 Penn State 20
At Penn State in the rain Iowa pulled out a big victory over 10th ranked Penn State.

10/10/1998 Iowa 26 Northwestern 24
Iowa survived a northwestern comeback attempt to give Hayden Fry is final victory.
 
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2000-2010

10/7/2000 Iowa 21 Michigan State 16
Iowa snaps it's 13 game losing streak at homecoming to give Kirk Ferentz his first Big 10 victory.

12/29/2001 Iowa 19 Texas Tech 16
A Nate Keading field goal and a stingy Iowa defense gives Iowa an Alamo Bowl win.

9/28/2002 Iowa 42 Penn State 35
Iowa's big win in overtime was the start of an undefeated Big 10 season.

10/5/2002 Iowa 31 Purdue 28
A Brad Banks touchdown pass 4th and 7 to Dallas Clark, and an Adolphus Shelton interception secured another wild win for Iowa.

11/2/2002 Iowa 34 Michigan 9
I was rolling at high gear this day. It was one of Michigan's biggest losses in school history.

11/22/2003 Iowa 27 Wisconsin 21
Sean Considine’s pass deflection in the end zone secured the win and a trip to the Outback Bowl.

1/1/2004 Iowa 37 Florida 17
Iowa smashed Florida to give them there first New Years day bowl win since 1959.

10/23/2004 Iowa 6 Penn State 4
Part of an 8 game winning streak. Iowa completely shut out PSU's offense. The 2 safeties were intentional on Iowa punts.

1/1/2005 Iowa 30 LSU 25
"The catch" a 56 yarder to Warren Holloway gave Iowa the victory in the Capital One Bowl.

11/12/2005 Iowa 20 Wisconsin 10
Iowa came back in the second half with a dominating defensive performance to secure a bowl bid.

10/13/2007 Iowa 10 Illinois 6
Iowa's defense played strong all day culminating with a Brett Greenwood interception to break a 4 game losing streak for Iowa.

11/8/2008 Iowa 24 Penn State 23
A Tyler Sash interception set up a Daniel Murray field goal to beat #3 Penn State. This put an end to Iowa's close game problems in a big way.

9/5/2009 Iowa 17 Northern Iowa 16
2 blocked field goals spoils UNI's upset bid.

9/26/2009 Iowa 21 Penn State 10
Penn State's revenge game failed due to strong Iowa defense and special team plays.

10/24/2009 Iowa 15 Michigan State 13
A 4th down Ricky Stanzi pass to Marvin Mcnutt as time was expiring kept Iowa's win streak alive.

1/5/2010 Iowa 24 Georgia Tech 14
Iowa stuffed the vaunted GT triple option, and won their first BSC bowl game.
 
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Yes, the 1899 and 1900 teams were two of the best teams in Iowa history.
The 1899 team was 8-0-1.
The offense scored 24.5 points per game.
The defense gave up 0.55 points per game. Yes less than one point per game.
Every win was a shut out. The tie was 5-5 against Chicago.

The 1900 team was just as good, 7-0-1.
The offense scored 38.9 points a game.
The defense gave up 1.5 points per game.
Five of the wins were shut outs. The tie was 5-5 with Northwestern.

It would be sweet if the 2010 team had these stats.
 
Nice read...thanks.

I'd throw in one more...

1981 Iowa 20 UCLA 7...proved the Nebby win wasn't a fluke
 
Okay good post but some of those are just regular season wins that were exciting but nothing great
 
SDK46 said:
Nice read...thanks.

I'd throw in one more...

1981 Iowa 20 UCLA 7...proved the Nebby win wasn't a fluke
Click to expand...

Definitely. This one is a must add.

Also, I'd probably drop the UNI game from last year. It was very exciting but hardly a game for the ages from a Hawk perspective. UNI played a great game and deserves a ton of credit - but not sure it ranks with the other ones on this list if you are wearing Old Gold and Black.

Then again, this is a GREAT list. Nice work!:)
 
ArizonaHawkeye88 said:
Yes, the 1899 and 1900 teams were two of the best teams in Iowa history.
The 1899 team was 8-0-1.
The offense scored 24.5 points per game.
The defense gave up 0.55 points per game. Yes less than one point per game.
Every win was a shut out. The tie was 5-5 against Chicago.

The 1900 team was just as good, 7-0-1.
The offense scored 38.9 points a game.
The defense gave up 1.5 points per game.
Five of the wins were shut outs. The tie was 5-5 with Northwestern.

It would be sweet if the 2010 team had these stats.
Click to expand...

Yes those were great teams. Chicago was the top dog in the west so just to tie them was an accomplishment in it self. In the 1900 Northwestern game the Iowa team was suffering from food poisoning. It is suspected that the chef from the night before ( a Northwestern fan) did it. Note that team also got an invite to what was spouse to be the first ever Rose Bowl, but the game was canceled because it could not get organized. What a hard luck team.
 
I added the 1981 UCLA game. I put in a few of the more closer or interesting game not so much because the team played great, but just because they were close and exciting games, and losing them would have had huge consequences. So you could say that about games like 2009 UNI, 2004 Penn State, 1993 Tulsa, 1985 MSU, 1986 Minnesota. All of them should have been won easier than they were, but the teams came together and made the big plays.
 
I was at that Tulsa game and forgotten all about it. When we got the 2 point conversion I jumped, lost my balance and took out about 20 people in front of me. Good times.
 
93 Tulsa - Slutzker for the 2 Pt conversion... Whew, that was close!

Great, great work and one fun thread.
 
I would like to add the Insight bowl win of 2010, the win over Michigan in 2011, and the win over Michigan State last Saturday.
 
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