1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Big Ten Co-Champions
Rose Bowl, L 28-0 vs. Washington
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 18
1981 record	8–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Hayden Fry
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
Seasons

1981 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#15/12 Ohio State §	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#18/15 Iowa §	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#12/10 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 / Coaches' Poll

The 1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A 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. It was also Iowa's first winning season since 1961. This time Iowa had a more difficult time, shutout by Don James's Washington Huskies , 28–0. The Hawkeyes finished the 1981 season at 8–4.

Schedule

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12*	#7 Nebraska		Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 10-7	60,160
September 19*	at Iowa State		Cyclone Stadium • Ames, IA (Cy-Hawk Trophy)		L 12-23	53,922
September 26*	#6 UCLA		Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 20-7	60,004
October 3	at Northwestern	#18	Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL		W 64-0	30,113
October 10†	Indiana	#15	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 42-28	60,000
October 17	at #5 Michigan	#12	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI		W 9-7	105,915
October 24	Minnesota	#6	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA (Floyd of Rosedale)	ABC	L 10-12	60,000
October 31	at Illinois	#16	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL		L 7-24	66,877
November 7	Purdue		Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 33-7	60,114
November 14	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	ABC	W 17-7	78,731
November 21	Michigan State	#19	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 36-7	60,103
January 1*	vs. #12 Washington	#13	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 0-28	105,611
*Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Like all Big Ten teams in 1981, Iowa played eight conference games, missing one opponent.
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.

Season summary

UCLA

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total UCLA 0 7 0 0 7 • Iowa 7 0 3 10 20 Date: September 26 Location: Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, Iowa Scoring summary 1 IOWA Gales 16-yard run (Olejniczak kick) Iowa 7-0 2 UCLA Ramsey 1-yard run (Johnson kick) Tie 7-7 3 IOWA Nichol 35-yard field goal Iowa 10-7 4 IOWA Bortz recovered fumble in end zone (Nichol kick) Iowa 17-7 4 IOWA Nichol 43-yard field goal Iowa 20-7

Michigan State

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Michigan St 0 7 0 0 7 • Iowa 16 0 10 10 36 Date: November 21 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 60,103 Scoring summary 1 Iowa Blatcher 9-yard run (Nichol kick) Iowa 7-0 1 Iowa Safety, blocked punt through end zone Iowa 9-0 1 Iowa Phillips 1-yard run (Nichol kick) Iowa 16-0 2 Michigan St Hodo 1-yard pass from Clark (Andersen kick) Iowa 16-7 3 Iowa Nichol 26-yard field goal Iowa 19-7 3 Iowa Blatcher 1-yard run (Nichol kick) Iowa 26-7 4 Iowa Nichol 23-yard field goal Iowa 29-7 4 Iowa Campbell 9-yard pass from Gales (Nichol kick) Iowa 36-7

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.

Statistics

• Phil Blatcher 27 Rush, 247 Yds

Team players in the NFL

The following 1981 Iowa Hawkeyes were selected in the 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