1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football
1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Rose Bowl, L 0–28 vs. Washington
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 18
Record	8–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Hayden Fry (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Bill Snyder (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Brashier (3rd season)
MVP	Mel Cole
Captain	Tracy Crocker; Pete Gales; Bruce Kittle; Andre Tippett; Brad Webb
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
	Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. The Hawks were 6–2 in conference play and were Big Ten Conference co-champions. Iowa went to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 23 years. Their previous appearance in the 1958 season, when Iowa won the 1959 Rose Bowl. This time Iowa had a more difficult time, shutout by Don James's Washington Huskies, 28–0. It was also Iowa's first winning season since 1961. The Hawkeyes finished the 1981 season at 8–4.

1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 15 Ohio State +	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Iowa +	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Michigan	6	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Several Iowa players ranked among the Big Ten leaders, including the following:

Lou King led the conference with eight interceptions.^[1]
Phil Blatcher ranked fourth in the conference with 708 rushing yards.^[1]
Tom Nichol ranked fourth in the conference with 11 field goals made.^[1]
Jeff Brown ranked fourth in the conference with 137 punt return yards and 6.5 yards per punt return.^[1]
Quarterback Gordy Bohannon ranked 10th in the conference with 1,303 total yards.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	No. 7 Nebraska*		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 10–7	60,160
September 19	at Iowa State*		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa (Cy-Hawk Trophy)		L 12–23	53,922
September 26	No. 6 UCLA*		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 20–7	60,004
October 3	at Northwestern	No. 18	Dyche Stadium Evanston, Illinois		W 64–0	30,113
October 10	Indiana	No. 15	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 42–28	60,000
October 17	at No. 5 Michigan	No. 12	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan		W 9–7	105,915
October 24	Minnesota	No. 6	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale)	ABC	L 10–12	60,000
October 31	at Illinois	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois		L 7–24	66,877
November 7	Purdue		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 33–7	60,114
November 14	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin	ESPN	W 17–7	78,731
November 21	Michigan State	No. 19	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 36–7	60,103
January 1	vs. No. 12 Washington*	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 0–28	105,611
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

In 1981, Iowa played eight conference games, missing one opponent. The government of Iowa mandated that they resume their series with Iowa State. ^{[citation needed]}
Iowa did not play Ohio State in 1981; OSU was also 8-3 and 6-2 in the Big Ten to tie for the conference title. The Buckeyes won their bowl game, the 1981 Liberty Bowl over Navy, and finished at 9-3. Iowa was awarded the Rose Bowl berth because it had not been to Pasadena since the 1958 season, while Ohio State went two years earlier.

Roster

1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`87`	John Alt	So
C	`69`	Bill Bailey	So
RB	`28`	Phil Blatcher	Sr
QB	`11`	Gordy Bohannon	Sr
WR	`27`	Jeff Brown	Jr
QB	`8`	Dave Chambers	Jr
QB	`12`	Pete Gales (C)	Sr
RB	`33`	Owen Gill	Fr
RB	`26`	Norm Granger	So
G	`76`	Ron Hallstrom	Sr
C	`53`	Joel Hilgenberg	So
OT		Bruce Kittle (C)	Sr
G	`55`	Joe Levelis	So
QB	`16`	Chuck Long	Fr
OT	`65`	Dave Mayhan	Sr
OT	`79`	Brett Miller	Jr
WR	`5`	Dave Moritz	So
WR	`83`	Lon Olejniczak	Jr
RB	`22`	Eddie Phillips	So
OT	`71`	Paul Postler	Sr
G	`66`	Jon Roehlk	So
WB	`25`	Ivory Webb	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL	`63`	Mark Bortz	Jr
LB	`31`	Mel Cole	Sr
LB	`32`	James Erb	Jr
DB	`46`	Tracy Crocker (C)	Sr
DL	`58`	Pat Dean	Sr
DB	`10`	Jim Frazier	Sr
DB	`43`	Lou King	Sr
DT	`77`	George Little	Fr
DL	`74`	Jim Pekar	Sr
LB	`37`	Todd Simonsen	Sr
DB	`41`	Bob Stoops	Jr
DB	`2`	Mike Stoops	So
DE	`99`	Andre Tippett (C)	Sr
DL	`94`	Brad Webb (C)	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`3`	Tom Nichol	Fr
K	`83`	Lon Olejniczak	Jr
P	`7`	Reggie Roby	Jr

Head coach

Hayden Fry

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Bill Snyder – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Bill Brashier – Defensive Coordinator
Kirk Ferentz – Offensive line
Carl Jackson – Running backs
Del Miller – Offensive assistant
Dan McCarney – Defensive line
Barry Alvarez – Linebackers
Don Patterson – Defensive Backs
Bernie Wyatt – Defensive Ends/Recruiting Coordinator
Bill Dervich – Strength and Conditioning

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	18	15	12	6	16	—	—	19	13	13	18
Coaches	—	—	—	—	20	15	12	7	16	—	18	17	11	11	15

^[3]

Game summaries

Nebraska

#7 Nebraska at Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Cornhuskers	0	0	0	7	7
• Hawkeyes	7	3	0	0	10

Date: September 12, 1981
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 60,160
Referee: John Nealon

Sources: Box Score

^[4]

At Iowa State

Iowa at Iowa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	6	0	6	12
• Cyclones	10	7	3	3	23

Date: September 19, 1981
Location: Cyclone Stadium, Ames, Iowa
Game attendance: 53,922

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[5]

UCLA

#6 UCLA at Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Bruins	0	7	0	0	7
• Hawkeyes	7	0	3	10	20

Date: September 26
Location: Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, Iowa
Game start: 1:05 p.m. CDT
Elapsed time: 2:45
Game attendance: 60,004
Referee: Glen Fortin

Sources: Box Score

^[6]^[7]

at Northwestern

#18 Iowa at Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 18 Hawkeyes	30	0	20	14	64
Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

Date: October 3, 1981
Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois
Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT
Game attendance: 30,113
Referee: Otho Kortz

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[8]

Indiana

Indiana at #15 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoosiers	7	7	7	7	28
• No. 15 Hawkeyes	14	21	7	0	42

Date: October 10
Location: Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, Iowa
Game start: 1:05 p.m. CDT
Elapsed time: 3:11
Game attendance: 60,000
Referee: Tom Quinn

Sources: Box Score

^[9]

At Michigan

#12 Iowa at #5 Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
• #12 Hawkeyes	6	0	3	0	9
#5 Wolverines	0	7	0	0	7

Date: October 17
Location: Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, Michigan
Game attendance: 105,915

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

The Hawkeyes won 9-7 at #5 Michigan, their third victory over a top ten team during the 1981 season. It was Iowa's first victory over the Wolverines since 1962.

^[10]^[11]

Minnesota

Minnesota at #6 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Golden Gophers	0	9	0	3	12
Hawkeyes	0	0	10	0	10

Date: October 24
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 60,000
Television network: ABC

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[12]^[13]

At Illinois

#16 Iowa at Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Hawkeyes	0	7	0	0	7
• Fighting Illini	3	14	0	7	24

Date: October 31, 1981
Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois
Game attendance: 66,877

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[14]

Purdue

Purdue at Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	0	0	0	7	7
• Hawkeyes	17	13	3	0	33

Date: November 7
Location: Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 60,114

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

The 33-7 win was Iowa's first over the Boilermakers since 1960, and secured the Hawkeyes' first winning season since 1961.^[15]

At Wisconsin

Iowa at Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hawkeyes	3	14	0	0	17
Badgers	0	0	0	7	7

Date: November 14
Location: Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, Wisconsin
Game attendance: 78,731
Television network: ABC Sports

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[16]

Michigan State

Michigan State at #19 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	7	0	0	7
• Hawkeyes	16	0	10	10	36

Date: November 21
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 60,103
Game weather: Mid-60s°F

Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Iowa earns first Rose Bowl since 1958 with Michigan's loss to Ohio State, which was announced with 6:14 left in the first quarter.^[17]

Statistics

Phil Blatcher 27 Rush, 247 Yds^[18]

^[19]^[20]^[21]

Vs. Washington (Rose Bowl)

#12 Washington vs. #13 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Huskies	0	13	0	15	28
Hawkeyes	0	0	0	0	0

Date: January 1, 1982
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Game attendance: 105,611
Referee: Rich McVay
TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen

Sources:

^[22]^[23]

Postseason Awards

Hayden Fry – Big Ten Coach of the Year
Andre Tippett – Consensus first-team All-American (Defensive end)
Reggie Roby – Consensus first-team All-American (Punter), NCAA single-season record with a 49.8-yard average

Team players in 1982 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Ron Hallstrom	G	1	22	Green Bay Packers
Andre Tippett	LB	2	41	New England Patriots

^[24]

References

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