1991 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1991 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team was coached by Hayden Fry and played their home games at Kinnick Stadium.

1991 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Holiday Bowl, T 13–13 vs. BYU
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	10–1–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Hayden Fry (13th season)
Offensive coordinator	Carl Jackson (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Brashier (13th season)
Captain	Rob Baxley John Derby Matt Rodgers Leroy Smith
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium (Capacity: 70,220)
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

1991 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Michigan $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Iowa	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	1
Ohio State	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Minnesota	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	11:30 am	Hawaii*	No. 15	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	ESPN	W 53–10	70,044[1]
September 14	11:30 am	at Iowa State*	No. 14	Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa (Cy-Hawk Trophy)	ABC	W 29–10	54,469[2]
September 28	1:00 pm	Northern Illinois*	No. 9	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 58–7	70,220[3]
October 5	2:30 pm	No. 7 Michigan	No. 9	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	ABC	L 24–43	70,220[3]
October 12	1:00 pm	at Wisconsin	No. 17	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin (rivalry)		W 10–6	75,053[4]
October 19	2:30 pm	No. 13 Illinois	No. 15	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	ABC	W 24–21	70,220[3]
October 26	11:30 am	at Purdue	No. 11	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, Indiana	ESPN	W 31–21	32,932[5]
November 2	2:30 pm	at No. 13 Ohio State	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio	ABC	W 16–9	95,357[6]
November 9	2:30 pm	No. 25 Indiana	No. 10	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	ABC	W 38–21	70,220[3]
November 16	1:00 pm	at Northwestern	No. 9	Dyche Stadium Evanston, Illinois		W 24–10	33,478[7]
November 23	1:00 pm	Minnesota	No. 9	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale)		W 23–8	69,500[8]
December 30	7:30 pm	vs. BYU*	No. 7	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	T 13–13	60,646[9]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[10]

Roster

1991 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 78 Rob Baxley Sr TE 87 Alan Cross Jr OT 65 Scott Davis Jr C 60 Mike Devlin Jr G 55 Mike Ferroni WR 82 Jon Filloon Sr WR 3 Danan Hughes Jr WR 83 Harold Jasper Fr WR 80 Kenny Jones Sr FB 34 Lew Montgomery Jr OL Lance Olberding Sr QB 7 Matt Rodgers Sr RB 32 Mike Saunders Sr OL 61 Dave Turner Sr OL 73 Ted Velicer Jr FB 46 Matt Whitaker Jr RB 23 Paul Kujawa Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 91 Bret Bielema Jr DE 95 Larry Blue So FS 19 Gary Clark Sr NG 88 Maurea Crain So NG 54 Rod Davis Sr LB 31 John Derby Sr LB 49 Teddy Joe Faley Jr DE 96 Ron Geater Sr DB 5 Carlos James Jr DT 93 Jeff Nelson Jr CB 6 Scott Plate So CB 27 Eddie Polly Sr DE 8 Leroy Smith Sr DL 64 Mike Wells So SS 15 Brian Wise Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 11 Jeff Skillett Sr	Head coach Hayden Fry Coordinators/assistant coaches Carl Jackson – Offensive Coordinator Bill Brashier – Defensive Coordinator Milan Vooletich – Defensive ends Mike Stoops – Linebackers/Defensive backs Bo Pelini – Graduate assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1991 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	18	15	14	10	9	9	17	15	11	11	10	9	9	7	7	10
Coaches	18	17	14	10	8	7	17	11	8	8	8	7	8	7	7	10

^[11]

Game summaries

Hawaii

Hawaii at #15 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Rainbow Warriors 0 3 0 7 10 • No. 15 Hawkeyes 27 14 6 6 53 Date: September 7 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 70,044 Game weather: 91 °F (33 °C) Television network: ESPN Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 1 13:49 IOWA Hughes 18-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) IOWA 7–0 IOWA Bradley 10-yard blocked punt return (Skillett kick) IOWA 14–0 IOWA Montgomery 1-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 21–0 IOWA Filloon 8-yard pass from Rodgers (kick blocked) IOWA 27–0 2 Hawaii Jason Elam 35-yard field goal IOWA 27–3 IOWA Montgomery 1-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 34–3 IOWA Montgomery 1-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 41–3 3 IOWA Hilliard blocked punt for safety IOWA 43–3 IOWA Saunders 27-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 50–3 4 12:53 IOWA Skillett 30-yard field goal IOWA 53–3 Hawaii Lewis 35-yard pass from Jasper (Elam kick) IOWA 53–10

See also: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football

This game was essentially over at halftime as Iowa cruised to start the season 1-0.

^[12]

At Iowa State

#14 Iowa at Iowa State
Cy-Hawk Trophy

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 14 Hawkeyes 17 3 2 7 29 Cyclones 0 3 0 7 10 Date: September 14 Location: Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA Game start: 11:30 AM CDT Game attendance: 54,469 Television network: ABC Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 1 IOWA Hughes 46-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) IOWA 7–0 1 IOWA Kujawa 2-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 14–0 1 IOWA Skillett field goal IOWA 17–0 2 ISU Stewart 35-yard field goal IOWA 17–3 2 IOWA Skillett 20-yard field goal IOWA 20–3 3 IOWA Safety Hilliard blocked punt out of the end zone IOWA 22–3 4 ISU Spencer 7-yard pass from Pedersen (Stewart kick) IOWA 22–10 4 IOWA Whitaker 28-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) IOWA 29–10

See also: 1991 Iowa State Cyclones football team and Cy-Hawk Trophy

Iowa had little trouble getting their ninth consecutive victory in this in-state rivalry contest.

^[13]

Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois at #9 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 0 0 0 7 7 • No. 9 Hawkeyes 7 24 7 20 58 Date: September 28 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 1:00 PM CST Game attendance: 70,220

Scoring summary 1 1:10 IOWA Montgomery 15-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 7–0 2 Iowa Martens 8-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) Iowa 14–0 2 Iowa Skillett 21-yard field goal Iowa 17–0 2 Iowa Leroy Smith fumble recovery in end zone Iowa 24–0 2 Iowa Hughes 15-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) Iowa 31–0 3 Iowa Saunders 11-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 38–0 3 Iowa Kujawa 3-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 45–0 4 Iowa Jones 12-yard pass from Burmeister (Skillett kick) Iowa 52–0 4 Iowa Jones 52-yard pass from Hartlieb (kick blocked) Iowa 58–0 4 0:34 NIU Patterson 11-yard pass from Rugal (Roy kick) Iowa 58–7

See also: 1991 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

^[14]

No. 7 Michigan

#7 Michigan at #9 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 7 Wolverines 7 12 7 17 43 No. 9 Hawkeyes 0 18 0 6 24 Date: October 5 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 2:30PM CST Game attendance: 70,220

Scoring summary 1 8:26 Mich 21-yard blocked punt return (Carlson kick) Michigan 7–0 2 14:31 Iowa Montgomery 1-yard run (Skillett kick failed) Michigan 7–6 2 12:35 Iowa Matt Rodgers 8-yard run (Pass failed) Iowa 12–7 2 6:16 Iowa Danan Hughes 17-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Run failed) Iowa 18–7 2 3:21 Mich Powers 2-yard run (Pass failed) Iowa 18–13 2 0:31 Mich J. Johnson 28-yard pass from E. Grbac (Pass failed) Michigan 19–18 3 8:25 Mich D. Howard 20-yard pass from E. Grbac (Carlson kick) Michigan 26–18 4 13:47 Mich D. Howard 2-yard pass from E. Grbac (Carlson kick) Michigan 33–18 4 9:39 Mich Carlson 25-yard field goal Michigan 36–18 4 6:52 Iowa Matt Rodgers 8-yard run (Pass failed) Michigan 36–24 4 0:34 Mich J. Johnson 17-yard run (Carlson kick) Michigan 43–24

See also: 1991 Michigan Wolverines football team

In the 1991 Big Ten opener, the Hawkeyes led 18–7 midway through the second quarter, but could not stop the Michigan ground game as the Wolverines rolled up 371 yards rushing on 50 attempts. This game essentially decided the conference championship as both teams won the remainder of their Big Ten games.

Prior to kickoff, 1957 Outland Trophy winner Alex Karras was presented with a plaque from the College Football Hall of Fame.^[15]

At Wisconsin

#17 Iowa at Wisconsin
rivalry Game

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 17 Hawkeyes 0 3 0 7 10 Badgers 6 0 0 0 6 Date: October 12 Location: Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI Game start: 1:00 PM CDT Game attendance: 75,053 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 1 WIS Troy Vincent 65-yard interception return (kick blocked) WIS 6–0 2 IOWA Skillett 29-yard field goal WIS 6–3 4 0:44 IOWA Saunders 14-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) IOWA 10–6

See also: 1991 Wisconsin Badgers football team

^[16]

No. 13 Illinois

#13 Illinois at #15 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total No. 13 Fighting Illini 7 14 0 0 21 • No. 15 Hawkeyes 10 7 0 7 24 Date: October 19 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 70,220 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 1 Illinois Kameno Bell 4-yard run (Richardson kick) Illinois 7–0 1 6:41 Iowa Alan Cross 10-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick) Tied 7–7 1 Iowa Jeff Skillett 24-yard field goal Iowa 10–7 2 Illinois 5-yard pass from Jason Verduzco (Richardson kick) Illinois 14–10 2 5:52 Illinois K. Bell 1-yard run (Richardson kick) Illinois 21–10 2 1:56 Iowa Mike Saunders 6-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick) Illinois 21–17 4 2:39 Iowa Matt Rodgers 1-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 24–21

See also: 1991 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The Hawkeyes ended up having a happy homecoming in a game where they were outplayed in the first half in this top 15 showdown.

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At Purdue

#11 Iowa at Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 11 Hawkeyes 7 0 24 0 31 Boilermakers 6 9 0 6 21 Date: October 26 Location: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana Game attendance: 32,932 Television network: ESPN Source: Box Score and Game Story

See also: 1991 Purdue Boilermakers football team

At No. 13 Ohio State

#11 Iowa at #13 Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 11 Hawkeyes 0 13 3 0 16 No. 13 Buckeyes 0 9 0 0 9 Date: November 2 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game start: 3:30 PM EST Game attendance: 95,357 TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil Source: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 2 IOWA Rodgers 1-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 7–0 2 OSU Carlos Snow 2-yard run (kick) Tied 7–7 2 IOWA Alan Cross 61-yard pass from Rodgers (kick blocked) IOWA 13–7 2 OSU Simmons 85-yard blocked PAT return IOWA 13–9 3 0:27 IOWA Skillett 30-yard field goal IOWA 16–9

See also: 1991 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The Hawkeyes played without decals on their helmets in honor of the fallen from an on-campus shooting the day before. Leroy Smith recorded a school-record 5 sacks in the road victory over the Buckeyes.^[18][19][20]

No. 25 Indiana

#25 Indiana at #10 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total No. 25 Hoosiers 0 6 3 12 21 • No. 10 Hawkeyes 21 10 7 0 38 Date: November 9 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 2:40 pm CST Game attendance: 70,220 Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C), Partly sunny, Wind SW 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) Referee: Don Baur TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil Sources: Box Score Archived 2019-11-17 at the Wayback Machine

Scoring summary 1 5:54 Iowa Saunders 1-yard pass from Jim Hartlieb (Skillett kick) Iowa 7–0 1 5:09 Iowa Saunders 14-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 14–0 1 2:37 Iowa Saunders 19-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 21–0 2 10:28 Iowa Skillett 26-yard field goal Iowa 24–0 2 4:46 Indiana Thomas Lewis 24-yard pass from Trent Green (kick failed) Iowa 24–6 2 0:26 Iowa Danan Hughes 26-yard pass from Hartlieb Iowa 31–6 3 11:27 Indiana Bonnell 33-yard field goal Iowa 31–9 3 8:17 Iowa Saunders 7-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 38–9 4 13:44 Indiana Lewis 11-yard pass from Trent Green (run failed) Iowa 38–15 4 10:39 Indiana Vaughn Dunbar 11-yard run (run failed) Iowa 38–21

See also: 1991 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Mike Saunders became the fifth Iowa player to score four touchdowns in a game, tying the school record. The Iowa defense forced four interceptions from Indiana quarterback Trent Green.

At Northwestern

#9 Iowa at Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 9 Hawkeyes 3 7 14 0 24 Wildcats 0 10 0 0 10 Date: November 16 Location: Dyche Stadium Game attendance: 33,478 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 1 IOWA Skillett 25-yard field goal IOWA 3–0 2 NW Leahy 30-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 IOWA Hughes 1-yard pass from Hartlieb (Skillett kick) IOWA 10–3 2 NW Williams 3-yard run (Leahy kick) Tied 10–10 3 IOWA Saunders 7-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 17–10 3 IOWA Montgomery 1-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 24–10

See also: 1991 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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Minnesota

Minnesota at #9 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Golden Gophers 0 0 0 8 8 • No. 9 Hawkeyes 0 3 7 13 23 Date: November 23 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 32,500 Game weather: 28 °F (−2 °C), Snow Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Scoring summary 2 0:00 Iowa Jeff Skillett 32-yard field goal Iowa 3–0 3 Iowa Alan Cross 12-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick) Iowa –-0 4 Iowa Danan Hughes 45-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick) Iowa 17–0 4 Iowa Danan Hughes 32-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (kick failed) Iowa 23–0 4 1:33 Minn Paul Hopewell 19-yard pass from Scott Schaffner (two-point conversion) Iowa 23–8

See also: 1991 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team and Floyd of Rosedale

The Hawkeyes closed the regular season with a win in the snow, giving Coach Fry his 100th victory at Iowa. ^[22]

Vs. BYU (Holiday Bowl)

#7 Iowa vs. BYU

1 2 3 4 Total No. 7 Hawkeyes 6 7 0 0 13 Cougars 0 6 0 7 13 Date: December 30 Location: Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California Game attendance: 60,646 TV announcers (ESPN): Steve Physioc and Gary Danielson

Scoring summary 1 Iowa Mike Saunders 13-yard run (extra point missed) Iowa 6–0 2 Iowa Mike Saunders 5-yard run (Skillett kick) Iowa 13–0 2 BYU Tuipulotu 9-yard pass from Ty Detmer (extra point missed) Iowa 13–6 4 11:36 BYU Tyler Anderson 29-pass from Ty Detmer (Kauffman kick) Tied 13–13

Main article: 1991 Holiday Bowl

See also: 1991 BYU Cougars football team

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Postseason awards

• Hayden Fry – co-Big Ten Coach of the Year
• Leroy Smith, Defensive end – Consensus First-team All-American, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year
• Mike Devlin, Center – First-team All-American

See also: 1991 College Football All-America Team and 1991 All-Big Ten Conference football team

After the season

NFL Draft

The following Hawkeyes were selected in the 1992 NFL draft after the season.^[24]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Team
7	170	Ron Geater	Defensive end	Denver Broncos
7	172	Lance Olberding	Tackle	Cincinnati Bengals
10	262	Mike Saunders	Running back	Pittsburgh Steelers
11	286	Rob Baxley	Tackle	Phoenix Cardinals
12	335	Matt Rodgers	Quarterback	Buffalo Bills

References

1. "Iowa 53, Hawaii 10". Gainesville Sun. September 8, 1991.
2. Miller, Rusty (September 15, 1991). "Ohio State Beats Louisville, Michigan Tops Notre Dame". The Daily Sentinel.
3. "Kinnick Stadium Attendance". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011.
4. Chaptman, Dennis (October 13, 1991). "Offensive woes leave Badgers Shaking Their Heads". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
5. Ambrogi, Mark (October 27, 1991). "Iowa Rallies to Deflate Purdue Upset Bid". The Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012.
6. "Iowa 16, Ohio State 9". Gainesville Sun. November 3, 1991.
7. Ziehm, Len (November 17, 1991). "Conquest of NU No Holiday for Iowa". Chicago Sun-Times.
8. "Iowa 23, Minnesota 8". Eugene Register-Guard. November 24, 1991.
9. "1991". Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
10. "1991 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
11. "Iowa 1991 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
12. "Wipeout! Iowa calls Hawaii's bluff" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. September 9, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
13. "What else is new? Hawks crush Cyclones" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. September 16, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
14. "Iowa stomps NIU; Michigan awaits" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. September 30, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
15. "U-M: Big Ten season opens with victory". Detroit Free Press. October 6, 1991. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
16. "Hawkeyes escape from Wisconsin" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 14, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
17. "Hawkeyes sneak past Illinois 24–21" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 21, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
18. "Iowa Wins It 'for People Back Home'". Los Angeles Times. November 3, 1991. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
19. "Roses Are Red, Columbus Is Angry". The New York Times. November 3, 1991. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
20. "Recalling the dark scene surrounding last win at Ohio State". The Gazette. November 13, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
21. "Second half charge propels Hawkeyes over NU" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 18, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
22. "Hawks win Floyd for Fry's 100th" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 25, 1991. p. 1B. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
23. "Game History: The 1991 Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl". sandiegobowlgames.com. December 30, 1991. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
24. "1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.