1984 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1984 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Freedom Bowl champion
Freedom Bowl, W 55–17 vs. Texas
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 16
Record	8–4–1 (5–3–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Hayden Fry (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Snyder (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Brashier (6th season)
MVP	Ronnie Harmon
Captain	Owen Gill Jonathan Hayes Paul Hufford Keith Hunter Kevin Spitzig
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
Seasons ← 1983 1985 →

1984 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 13 Ohio State $	7	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Purdue	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
No. 16 Iowa	5	–	3	–	1			8	–	4	–	1
Wisconsin	5	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Michigan State	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Michigan	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Indiana	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1984 Big Ten Conference football season. The Hawkeyes, led by head coach Hayden Fry, were members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Kinnick Stadium.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	Iowa State*	No. 10	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa (Cy-Hawk Trophy)	IPTV	W 59–21	66,150
September 15	No. 12 Penn State*	No. 5	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		L 17–20	66,145
September 22	at No. 5 Ohio State	No. 14	Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio	SV	L 26–45	89,733
September 29	Illinois		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	CBS	W 21–16	66,322
October 6	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, Illinois		W 31–3	36,598
October 13	at No. 14 Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, Indiana		W 40–3	66,359
October 20	Michigan	No. 18	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	CBS	W 26–0	66,025
October 27	at Indiana	No. 17	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana		W 24–20	37,747
November 3	Wisconsin	No. 17	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	CBS	T 10–10	66,255
November 10	Michigan State	No. 18	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		L 16–17	65,887
November 17	at Minnesota		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis (Floyd of Rosedale)		L 17–23	63,479
December 1	at Hawaii*		Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI		W 17–6	50,000
December 26	vs. No. 19 Texas*		Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California (Freedom Bowl)	Mizlou	W 55–17	24,093
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Roster

1984 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL 55 Dave Alexander So OL 75 Kevin Angel Jr RB 13 Rick Bayless Fr OL 69 Mike Bennett Jr FB 35 Fred Bush Jr OL 78 Malcolm Christie Fr OT 61 Dave Croston So OL 58 Greg Divis Fr WR 1 Quinn Early Fr TE 86 Mike Flagg Fr OL 74 Chris Gambol So RB 33 Owen Gill (C) Sr OT 79 Mike Haight Jr WR 40 Bill Happel Jr RB 7 Kevin Harmon Fr RB 31 Ronnie Harmon Jr TE 34 Jonathan Hayes (C) Jr WR 87 Scott Helverson Jr G 65 Tom Humphrey Jr QB 16 Chuck Long Jr RB 26 Eddie Polite OL 56 Mark Sindlinger So WR 2 Robert Smith So OL 53 Mark Spranger So QB 12 Mark Vlasic So OL 73 Herb Wester Fr WR 83 Jim McMachan Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 90 Doug Burrell So CB 29 Nate Creer Jr DB 18 Kyle Crowe Jr LB 37 George Davis So DL 76 Jeff Drost So DL 64 Paul Hufford (C) Sr DB 14 Keith Hunter (C) Sr DT 77 George Little Sr DE 98 George Millett Jr DB 21 Devon Mitchell Jr DB 45 Jay Norvell Jr DL 50 Hap Peterson Jr DE 99 Richard Pryor So LB 38 Kevin Spitzig (C) Sr LB 36 Larry Station Jr DB 41 Mike Stoops Sr DE Dave Strobel Sr DL 51 Bill Weires Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P/K 3 Tom Nichol Sr	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 Bob Stoops – Graduate Assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	12 (1)	10 (1)	5 (2)	14	—	—	—	18	17	17	18	—	—	—	—	16
Coaches	14	14	5	15	20	20	19	17	17	13	17	—	—	—	—	15

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Game summaries

Iowa State

Iowa State at #10 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Cyclones 0 7 0 14 21 • Hawkeyes 14 28 10 7 59 Date: September 8 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 12:05 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3:30 Game attendance: 66,150 Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C), Showers possible, Wind SW 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) Referee: Tom Quinn Television network: IPTV Source: Box Score and Game Recap, Box Score and Game Recap

Scoring summary Q1 IOWA Strobel 38-yard interception return (Nichol kick) IOWA 7–0 Q1 IOWA Happel 15-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 14–0 Q2 IOWA Smith 63-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 21–0 Q2 IOWA Hayes 3-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 28–0 Q2 IOWA O. Gill 3-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 35–0 Q2 ISU Davis 1-yard pass from Espinoza (Bochrodt kick) IOWA 35–7 Q2 IOWA R. Harmon 86-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 42–7 Q3 IOWA R. Harmon 68-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 49–7 Q3 IOWA T. Nichol 37-yard field goal IOWA 52–7 Q4 ISU Henderson 45-yard pass from Espinoza (Bochrodt kick) IOWA 52–14 Q4 6:55 IOWA Cotton 18-yard pass from K. Hatinon (Nichol kick) IOWA 59–14 Q4 ISU Hanson 12-yard pass from Espinoza (Bochrodt kick) IOWA 59–21

^[3][4]

No. 12 Penn State

#12 Penn State at #5 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 12 Nittany Lions 0 13 0 7 20 No. 5 Hawkeyes 3 7 0 7 17 Date: September 15 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 66,145 Source: Box score and Game story, Box Score and Game Recap

Scoring summary Q1 IOWA Nichol 24-yard field goal IOWA 3–0 Q2 PSU Gancitano 21-yard field goal Tied 3–3 Q2 PSU Gancitano 35-yard field goal PSU 6–3 Q2 PSU Bellamy 24-yard pass from Strang (Gancitano kick) PSU 13–3 Q2 IOWA R. Harmon 15-yard run (Nichol kick) PSU 13–10 Q4 PSU Strang 1-yard run (Gancitano kick) PSU 20–10 Q4 IOWA Long 1-yard run (Nichol kick) PSU 20–17

^[5]

at No. 5 Ohio State

#14 Iowa at #5 Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 14 Hawkeyes 3 17 6 0 26 • No. 5 Buckeyes 10 21 7 7 45 Date: September 22 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 89,733 Game weather: 85 °F (29 °C), Clear and sunny, Wind S 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) Referee: Jim Kemerling Television network: SV Source: Box score and Game story, Box Score Archived 2015-11-24 at the Wayback Machine

Scoring summary Q1 6:10 OSU Spangler 23-yard field goal OSU 3–0 Q1 2:33 IOWA Tom Nichol 30-yard field goal Tied 3–3 Q1 2:13 OSU K. Byars 50-yard run (Spangler kick) OSU 10–3 Q2 13:43 IOWA Jordan 27-yard pass from Chuck Long (Nichol kick) Tied 10–10 Q2 9:07 OSU K. Byars 14-yard pass from M. Tomczak (Spangler kick) OSU 17–10 Q2 8:20 OSU Kolic 25-yard interception return (Spangler kick) OSU 24–10 Q2 7:41 OSU Lanese 35-yard pass from K. Byars (Spangler kick) OSU 31–10 Q2 2:49 IOWA Flagg 30-yard pass from Chuck Long (Nichol kick) OSU 31–17 Q2 0:08 IOWA Tom Nichol 41-yard field goal OSU 31–20 Q3 4:56 IOWA Chuck Long 2-yard run (two-point conversion failed) OSU 31–26 Q3 1:23 OSU K. Byars 7-yard run (Spangler kick) OSU 38–26 Q4 1:39 OSU Lanese 6-yard run (Spangler kick) OSU 45–26

The Hawkeyes outgained the Buckeyes 458–335, but four turnovers (one returned for a touchdown) were too much to overcome on this trip to Columbus. Keith Byars ran, caught, and threw touchdowns for Ohio State. ^[6]

Illinois

Illinois at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Illini 3 0 0 13 16 • Hawkeyes 7 0 7 7 21 Date: September 29 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 66,322 Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Sunny, Wind W 10 mph (16 km/h) TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian Source: Box score and Game story

Scoring summary Q1 IOWA R. Harmon 2-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 7–0 Q1 ILL C. White 36-yard field goal IOWA 7–3 Q3 IOWA R. Harmon 8-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 14–3 Q4 ILL NAME 8-yard pass from Trudeau (two-point conversion failed) IOWA 14–9 Q4 IOWA R. Harmon 12-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 21–9 Q4 ILL Grant 4-yard pass from Trudeau (White kick) IOWA 21–16

The Hawkeyes exacted some revenge for the whipping laid on them in Champaign the previous season. The win over the defending Big Ten champions snapped the Illini's 12-game conference winning streak. Ronnie Harmon had 3 touchdown runs for Iowa. ^[7]

At Northwestern

Iowa at Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 14 10 0 7 31 Wildcats 0 3 0 0 3 Date: October 6 Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois Game attendance: 36,598 Sources: Box Score and Game story

Scoring summary 1 IOWA R. Harmon 2-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 7-0 1 IOWA R. Harmon 9-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 14-0 2 IOWA R. Harmon 17-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 21-0 2 NW J. Duvic 49-yard field goal IOWA 21-3 2 IOWA T. Nichol 28-yard field goal IOWA 24-3 4 IOWA S. Helverson 6-yard pass from Chuck Long (NIchol kick) IOWA 31-3

The Hawkeyes held Northwestern to only 49 yards of total offense, a mark that still stands as a single-game school record. Ronnie Harmon recorded 3 touchdown runs for the second straight game.^[8]

at No. 14 Purdue

Iowa at #14 Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 6 13 21 0 40 No. 14 Boilermakers 3 0 0 0 3 Date: October 13 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana Game attendance: 66,359 Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C), Cloudy with scattered showers, Wind SSW 12 mph (19 km/h) Referee: Jim Kemerling Sources: Box Score and Game story

Scoring summary Q1 3:52 IOWA Smith 51-yard pass from Long (kick failed) IOWA 6–0 Q1 0:48 PUR Rendina 32-yard field goal IOWA 6–3 Q2 9:00 IOWA Nichol 22-yard field goal IOWA 9–3 Q2 3:03 IOWA Helverson 56-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 16–3 Q2 0:03 IOWA Nichol 38-yard field goal IOWA 19–3 Q3 7:49 IOWA Smith 31-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 26–3 Q3 4:20 IOWA Smith 38-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 33–3 Q3 3:31 IOWA Harmon 3-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 40–3

^[9]

Chuck Long went 17-21 for 369 yards and 4 TD as Iowa won in West Lafayette for the first time since 1956, snapping a 12-game losing skid at Ross–Ade Stadium.^[10]

Michigan

Michigan at #18 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Wolverines 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 18 Hawkeyes 6 3 3 14 26 Date: October 20 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 11:10 am CDT Elapsed time: 3:02 Game attendance: 66,025 Game weather: ~55 °F (13 °C), Cloudy, chance of showers, Wind SW 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) Referee: Tom Quinn TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian Sources: Box Score and Game story

Scoring summary Q1 0:24 IOWA R. Harmon 3-yard run (Nichol kick failed) IOWA 6–0 Q2 6:24 IOWA Tom Nichol 29-yard field goal IOWA 9–0 Q3 11:02 IOWA Tom Nichol 46-yard field goal IOWA 12–0 Q4 13:47 IOWA O. Gill 10-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 19–0 Q4 3:47 IOWA Chuck Long 2-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 26–0

The Hawkeyes' 26–0 shutout of the Wolverines would end up being Bo Schembechler's worst loss in 21 years as head coach at Michigan. ^{[11] [12]}

At Indiana

#17 Iowa at Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 17 Hawkeyes 7 7 10 0 24 Hoosiers 7 7 0 6 20 Date: October 27 Location: Memorial Stadium (Indiana), Bloomington, Indiana Game attendance: 37,747 Source: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary Q1 IOWA R. Harmon 35-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 7–0 Q1 IND Lilja 2-yard pass from Bradley (Rogers kick) Tied 7–7 Q2 IOWA Hayes 5-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 14–7 Q2 IND Kenebrew 10-yard pass from Bradley (Rogers kick) Tied 14–14 Q3 IOWA Happel 16-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 21–14 Q3 IOWA Nichol 36-yard field goal IOWA 24–14 Q4 IND Cook 7-yard pass from Bradley (pass failed) IOWA 24–20

Chuck Long set an NCAA record by completing 22 consecutive passes^[13] (record stood until 1998^[14]) and tossed two touchdowns, and Ronnie Harmon ran for 160 yards and a touchdown in the victory over Indiana. Iowa sat atop the Big Ten standings after beating the Hoosiers, but would not win another conference game in 1984.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin at #17 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Badgers 10 0 0 0 10 No. 17 Hawkeyes 0 0 3 7 10 Date: November 3 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 11:10 a.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:10 Game attendance: 66,255 Game weather: ~55 °F (13 °C), Clear and sunny, Wind SSW 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h) Referee: Jim Kemerling Source: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary Q1 8:59 WIS Gregoire 25-yard field goal WIS 3–0 Q1 6:41 WIS Harrison 1-yard run (Gregoire kick) WIS 10–0 Q3 8:00 IOWA Nichol 26-yard field goal WIS 10–3 Q4 11:54 IOWA Long 1-yard run (Nichol kick) TIE 10–10

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Michigan State

Michigan State at #18 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Spartans 7 7 3 0 17 No. 18 Hawkeyes 3 0 0 13 16 Date: November 10 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 1:10 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 65,887 Game weather: ~42 °F (6 °C), Cloudy, possible rain and snow, Wind N 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) Referee: Otho Kortz Source: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary Q1 7:29 IOWA Nichol 24-yard field goal IOWA 3–0 Q1 1:55 MSU L. White 2-yard run (Mojsiejenko kick) MSU 7–3 Q2 5:20 MSU Rolle 7-yard pass from Yarema (Mojsiejenko kick) MSU 14–3 Q3 2:23 MSU Mojsiejenko 24-yard field goal MSU 17–3 Q4 9:18 IOWA O. Gill 2-yard run (Nichol kick) MSU 17-10 Q4 0:44 IOWA Hayes 3-yard pass from Long (Long run failed) MSU 17–16

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At Minnesota

Iowa at Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total Hawkeyes 0 7 7 3 17 • Golden Gophers 0 7 3 13 23 Date: November 22 Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis Game start: 7:10 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 2:54 Game attendance: 63,479 Game weather: Indoors Referee: Jerry Hendrickson Source: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary Q2 14:55 IOWA O. Gill 11-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 7–0 Q2 5:00 MINN Starks 1-yard pass from Foggie (Lohmiller kick) Tied 7–7 Q3 13:00 IOWA Bill Happel 95-yard punt return (Nichol kick) IOWA 14–7 Q3 0:57 MINN Lohmiller 40-yard field goal IOWA 14–10 Q4 12:59 MINN Lohmiller 36-yard field goal IOWA 14–13 Q4 6:25 IOWA Tom Nichol 25-yard field goal IOWA 17–13 Q4 4:17 MINN Gary Couch 14-yard run (Lohmiller kick) MINN 20–17 Q4 0:56 MINN Lohmiller 34-yard field goal MINN 23–17

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At Hawaii

Iowa at Hawaii

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 3 0 0 14 17 Rainbow Warriors 0 6 0 0 6 Date: December 1 Location: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI Game attendance: 50,000 Source: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary Q1 IOWA Nichol 41-yard field goal IOWA 3–0 Q2 HAW Spelman 24-yard field goal Tied 3-3 Q2 HAW Spelman 42-yard field goal HAWAII 6-3 Q4 IOWA Hayes 3-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 10–6 Q4 2:31 IOWA Helverson 8-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 17–6

^[18]

vs. No. 19 Texas (Freedom Bowl)

#19 Texas vs. Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total No. 19 Longhorns 0 17 0 0 17 • Hawkeyes 14 10 31 0 55 Date: December 26 Location: Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California Game start: 5:26 pm PST Elapsed time: 3:13 Game attendance: 24,093 Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), Rain Referee: Jack Gatto TV announcers (Mizlou): Sam Nover and Jack Snow Source: Box Score Archived 2019-08-08 at the Wayback Machine

Scoring summary 1 9:15 IOWA Hayes 6-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 7–0 3:27 Iowa Flagg 11-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 14–0 2 13:35 Texas Bryant 11-yard pass from Dodge (Ward kick) IOWA 14–7 10:14 IOWA Bush 1-yard run (Nichol kick) IOWA 21–7 5:34 Texas Harris 1-yard pass from Dodge (Ward kick) IOWA 21–14 2:23 Texas Ward 46-yard FG IOWA 21–17 0:00 IOWA Nichol 27-yard FG IOWA 24–17 3 13:03 IOWA Nichol 35-yard FG IOWA 27–17 12:05 IOWA Happel 33-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 34–17 7:09 IOWA Smith 49-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 41–17 4:53 IOWA Helverson 4-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 48–17 2:19 IOWA Hayes 15-yard pass from Long (Nichol kick) IOWA 55–17

Chuck Long 29–39, 461 yards, 6 TD ^[19]

^[20]

	Texas	Iowa
First Downs	15	28
Rushing Yards	35-115	41-91
Passing	17-34-2	30-40-0
Passing Yards	185	469
Total Offense	300	560
Fumbles Lost	3-3	5-2
Punts-Average	5-43.0	4-42.0
Penalties	6-50	4-27

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas	Passing	Todd Dodge	16/32, 180 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Orr	12 carries, 67 yards
	Receiving	Bryant	3 receptions, 50 yards, TD
Iowa	Passing	Chuck Long	29/39, 461 yards, 6 TD
	Rushing	Owen Gill	17 carries, 61 yards
	Receiving	Robert Smith Bill Happel	4 receptions, 115 yards, TD 8 receptions, 104 yards, TD

Postseason awards

• Larry Station, linebacker – Consensus First-team All-American
• Paul Hufford, defensive tackle – Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year

Team players in the 1985 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Jonathan Hayes	Tight end	2	41	Kansas City Chiefs
Owen Gill	Running back	2	53	Seattle Seahawks
George Little	Defensive tackle	3	65	Miami Dolphins
Dave Strobel	Linebacker	8	211	Cincinnati Bengals

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References