Significance of 1981 Big Ten Championship

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DickieRay

New Member
Curious to know your opinion on this:

What effect did winning the Big Ten Championship and going to the 1982 Rose Bowl have on the Iowa football program? Did it have little effect, as Fry, et al already had the program trending upward and success like a Big Ten Championship was inevitable, or was it huge in terms of getting Iowa recognized with recruits and generate dollars to the athletic department?
 
I was a student at the time. People were cheering in the streets after the Michigan game like we had just won the war.

I wouldn't underestimate it. It showed the a long time doormat team could compete with the big two. It gave the program a bump that Fry road for over a decade. It kept the Texas recruiting pipeline open for that decade as well.
 
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It was a super huge accomplishment. It came down to the last weekend's games as most of you know mainly because the underdog gophers beat the hawks in Kinnick in a rather nasty game. Anyway the Hawks got help when they also showed they could have more easily won the league.

It set the stage for many great and good years under Fry when Iowa was a known commodity.
 
Uh, not sure if you're serious. (but as a "new member" <or really bad troll>, I have to assume you're really young...so a lack of historical perspective is understood)

It was the most significant landmark in Iowa sports in the last 50 years. Iowa's Final Four appearance in 1980 is the only thing that comes close.
 
To me it shows how important talent is. In hindsight that was a very talented team. BC and HF had amassed some incredible talent for that team.

HF in his rebuild also brought in some freat tslent. BC for HF snd HF for KF brought in some key ingredients that otherwise never would have led to early success at s high level. So many teams like IL have bare ranks when the new guy comes along. KF slso went sgainst who he was in bringing in Banks.

FM if gone has left a pretty bare shelf. Not entirely but pretty bare.
 
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It was huge for the program, no brainer. The year before that I was in elementary school. On January 1st 1981 I was in my bedroom watching Michigan vs Washington in the Rose Bowl on my little tv set. It was the first time I had ever seen the Rose Bowl and thought what a cool place that would be to see. Little did I know a year later my parents took me to it.
 
HawkGold said:
To me it shows how imporrant talent is. In hindsight that was a very talented team. BC and HF had amassed some incredible talent for that team.

HF in his rebuild also brought in some freat tslent. BC for HF snd HF for KF brought in some key ingredients that otherwise never would have led to early success at s high level. So many teams like IL have bare ranks when the new guy comes along. KF slso went sgainst who he was in bringing in Banks.

FM if gone has left a pretty bare shelf. Not entirely but pretty bare.
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you should sober up before you type
 
I'm somewhat shocked the OP didn't mention that the 1981 team lost to Iowa State in Ames between beating Nebraska and UCLA at home. That was a great defensive football team. If the offense was anywhere near as good...well...that could have been even better. I think Gordy Bohannon threw for like 1300 yards and Blatcher had 700 yards to lead the offense. Bill Brashier was one of the best defensive minds in college football at the time.
 
At the time it seemed like a big deal but in the end it just meant a shift from Mich and OSU ALWAYS winning the Big Ten to OSU mostly winning the Big Ten while occasionally another team would win.

Iowa had a chance in the 80's to become THE team in the Big Ten, but that seemed to melt away when assistants like Snyder, Alverez, and Stoops moved on.
 
Big Ten titles since 1979

Ohio State 15
1979, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2006,2007, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2017

Michigan 13
1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004

Wisconsin 6
1993, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2012

Iowa 5
1981, 1985, 1990, 2002, 2004

Michigan State 5
1987, 1990, 2010, 2013, 2015

Penn State 4
1994, 2005, 2008, 2016

Northwestern 3
1995, 1996, 2000

Illinois 3
1983, 1990, 2001

Purdue 1
2000

Minnesota 0
Indiana 0
Nebraska 0
Maryland 0
Rutgers 0
Chicago 0
 
That was the day Iowa football changed the entire culture of the state and the Big 10.
it put Iowa back on the map. The iconic tigerhawk logo. The pink locker room.
The forward pass.

Fry brought huge changes, not only to Iowa, but the Big 10. No more 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
 
Motigerhawk said:
That was the day Iowa football changed the entire culture of the state and the Big 10.
it put Iowa back on the map. The iconic tigerhawk logo. The pink locker room.
The forward pass.

Fry brought huge changes, not only to Iowa, but the Big 10. No more 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
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It's interesting that back then, Iowa was thought to be one of the more innovative football programs in the country, and now they're seen as one of the least innovative programs. By least, I mean most predictable; don't take my opinion on it, but look to the several coaches who have expressed this very thing.
 
One thing I think gets overlooked, when it got right down to it Fry was very conservative in many ways. Prevent D late in close games. 3rd down shuffle pass and screens. There aren't a lot of videos of Iowa throwing long down field in the middle, because he didn't like it. Going with the safer less strong armed bet at QB (Long v Vlasic and what a problem to have) and so on. Establishing the run was his bread and butter and yes the TE throws.

Guess what I"m saying is that KF may have been trained well. And maybe took it up a notch or two.

He would try and exploit what the opponent would give him.
 
HawkGold said:
One thing I think gets overlooked, when it got right down to it Fry was very conservative in many ways. Prevent D late in close games. 3rd down shuffle pass and screens. There aren't a lot of videos of Iowa throwing long down field in the middle, because he didn't like it. Going with the safer less strong armed bet at QB (Long v Vlasic and what a problem to have) and so on. Establishing the run was his bread and butter and yes the TE throws.

Guess what I"m saying is that KF may have been trained well. And maybe took it up a notch or two.

He would try and exploit what the opponent would give him.
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Hayden punted on third down now and again if I recall. Not even Kirk does that.
 
While Long didnt have the arm Vlasic did, he could hit those 8 yard outs to the sideline all day long.

I assume, HawkGold, that sentence was about Fry and not FKF.

Another thing Fry could do is get the best out of every player. they would run through a brink wall for him. Fry's Psychology degree really came in handy.
 
Decided to look at championships from 1968 to 80. All UM and tOSU except for a shared title in 78 between UM and MSU. But UM went to the Rose.
 
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