1973 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1973 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1973 Big Ten Conference football season. This was Frank Lauterbur's third and final season as head coach. The team played its home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

1973 Iowa Hawkeyes football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record0–11 (0–8 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorHoward Vernon (1st season)
MVPBrian Rollins
CaptainDan Dickel, Brian Rollins, Roger Jerrick
Home stadiumKinnick Stadium
Seasons
← 1972
1974 →
1973 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Ohio State + 7 0 1 10 0 1
No. 6 Michigan + 7 0 1 10 0 1
Minnesota 6 2 0 7 4 0
Illinois 4 4 0 5 6 0
Michigan State 4 4 0 5 6 0
Purdue 4 4 0 5 6 0
Northwestern 4 4 0 4 7 0
Wisconsin 3 5 0 4 7 0
Indiana 0 8 0 2 9 0
Iowa 0 8 0 0 11 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Despite the team's winless record (0–11), this team had players that experienced significant success in their football careers. Rod Walters was a first round draft pick, Joe Devlin was a second round pick and started 179 games in the NFL, and Jim Caldwell was an assistant coach on two Super Bowl champions and reached the Super Bowl as a head coach.[1]

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 15No. 5 MichiganL 7–3152,105
September 22at No. 18 UCLA*L 18–5534,456
September 29at No. 6 Penn State*L 8–2759,980
October 6Arizona*
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 20–2340,365[2]
October 13at NorthwesternL 15–3125,194
October 20Minnesota 
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA (rivalry)
L 23–3155,137
October 27at IllinoisL 0–5048,864
November 3Purdue
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 23–4839,120
November 10at WisconsinL 7–3555,560
November 17at No. 1 Ohio StateL 13–5587,447
November 24Michigan State
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 6–1531,119
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[3]

Game summaries

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No. 5 Michigan

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No. 5 Michigan at Iowa
1 234Total
No. 5 Wolverines 10 777 31
Hawkeyes 0 700 7
  • Date: September 15, 1973
  • Location:
    Kinnick Stadium
    Iowa City, IA
  • Game attendance: 52,105
  • Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), Cloudy, Wind W 5 mph (8.0 km/h)
  

[4]

at No. 18 UCLA

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Iowa at No. 18 UCLA
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 10 008 18
No. 18 Bruins 3 211021 55
        

[5]

at No. 6 Penn State

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Iowa at No. 6 Penn State
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 0 008 8
No. 6 Nittany Lions 21 060 27
  

[6]

Arizona

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Arizona at Iowa
1 234Total
Wildcats 7 3103 23
Hawkeyes 7 337 20
  • Date: October 6, 1973
  • Location:
    Kinnick Stadium
    Iowa City, IA
  • Game attendance: 40,365
  • Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), Cloudy, Wind S 10 mph (16 km/h)
     

[7]

at Northwestern

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Iowa at Northwestern
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 0 672 15
Wildcats 14 1070 31
    

[8]

Minnesota

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Minnesota at Iowa
1 234Total
Golden Gophers 6 1627 31
Hawkeyes 14 360 23
  • Date: October 20, 1973
  • Location:
    Kinnick Stadium
    Iowa City, IA
  • Game attendance: 55,137
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), Clear, Wind SE 5–7 mph (8.0–11.3 km/h)

[9]

at Illinois

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Iowa at Illinois
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 0 000 0
Fighting Illini 6 13328 50

[10]

Purdue

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Purdue at Iowa
1 234Total
Boilermakers 14 14146 48
Hawkeyes 7 0016 23
  • Date: November 3, 1973
  • Location:
    Kinnick Stadium
    Iowa City, IA
  • Game attendance: 39,120
  • Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C), Cloudy, Wind N 10 mph (16 km/h)

Purdue freshman Mike Northington ran for 146 yards and tied a Big Ten-record with five touchdowns on 31 carries. Also of note, the Boilermakers scored their final touchdown with just 39 seconds remaining, attempting a failed two-point conversion after the score.[11]

at Wisconsin

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Iowa at Wisconsin
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 0 070 7
Badgers 21 707 35
  

Wisconsin sophomore Billy Marek ran for 203 yards and 4 touchdowns.

at No. 1 Ohio State

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Iowa at No. 1 Ohio State
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 0 0013 13
No. 1 Buckeyes 14 13217 55
      

Ohio State sophomore Archie Griffin ran for 246 yards on 30 carries, establishing single-game and single-season school records for rushing yardage. Junior fullback Bruce Elia had 4 rushing touchdowns for the Buckeyes.[12]

Michigan State

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Michigan State at Iowa
1 234Total
Spartans 0 2103 15
Hawkeyes 0 006 6
  • Date: November 24, 1973
  • Location:
    Kinnick Stadium
    Iowa City, IA
  • Game attendance: 31,119
  • Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), Cloudy, Wind NW 6–12 mph (9.7–19.3 km/h)

Roster

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1973 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 17 Butch Caldwell So
QB 11 Kyle Skogman Sr
RB 22 Jim Jensen So
OL 72 Joe Devlin So
C Roger Jerrick Sr
OL 60 Dan McCarney Jr
OL 76 Rod Walters So
WR 85 Brian Rollins Sr
WR Bill Schultz
RB 41 Rod Wellington So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 20 Andre Jackson So
LB 55 Dan LaFleur
DB 21 Jim Caldwell Fr
DB 46 Earl Douthitt Jr
DB 29 Rick Penney So
DE 88 Dan Dickel Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P Joe Heppner
K 3 Harry Kokolus
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Team players in the 1974 NFL draft

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Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Dan Dickel Linebacker 7 170 Baltimore Colts

[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Iowa football team of 50 years ago went winless, yet had plenty of winners". The Gazette. August 27, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "Iowa loses again". Chicago Tribune. October 7, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "1973-74 Football Schedule". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Mighty Michigan 'grounds' Hawkeyes, 31-7" (PDF). Daily Iowan. September 17, 1973. p. 10. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  5. ^ "Explosive UCLA rips Hawkeyes 55-18" (PDF). Daily Iowan. September 24, 1973. p. 10. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  6. ^ "Silver lining in Hawkeye defeat" (PDF). Daily Iowan. October 1, 1973. p. 10. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  7. ^ "Late field goal topples Hawkeyes, 23-20" (PDF). Daily Iowan. October 8, 1973. p. 12. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  8. ^ "Hapless Hawkeyes hit bottom" (PDF). Daily Iowan. October 15, 1973. p. 12. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  9. ^ "Hawks bow to Gophers; FXL rakes negative views" (PDF). Daily Iowan. October 22, 1973. p. 12. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  10. ^ "Illinois deals Hawks seventh loss, 50-0" (PDF). Daily Iowan. October 29, 1973. p. 16. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  11. ^ "Purdue's Northington blitzes Hawks, 48-23" (PDF). Daily Iowan. November 5, 1973. p. 12. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  12. ^ "Awesome Buckeyes thrash Iowa, 55-13" (PDF). Daily Iowan. November 19, 1973. p. 14. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  13. ^ "1974 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.