The 1983 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team that represented the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

as a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

during the 1983 Big Ten football season. In their fifth season under head coach

Hayden Fry John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known ...

, the Hawkeyes compiled a 9–3 record (7–2 in conference games), finished in third place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 374 to 175. They concluded the season with a loss to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

and were ranked No. 14 in the final AP nd UPI polls. The offense broke 35 school records, including most yards of

total offense Total offense, also called total yards, is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a player or team. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage ...

in a season (5,647) and in a game (713), and most passing yards in a season (3,239) and in a game (420). The team was led on offense by quarterback

Chuck Long Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). He played as a quarter ...

. Defensive standouts included linebacker

Larry Station Larry W. Station Jr. (born December 5, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Iowa. He ...

and defensive back

Mike Stoops Michael Joseph Stoops (born December 13, 1961) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the inside linebackers coach for the University of Kentucky, a position he has held since 2022. Stoops also served as the head football ...

. The team played its home games at

Kinnick Stadium Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football, Hawkeyes football team. Opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds u ...

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

Schedule

Rankings

Game summaries

at Iowa State

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story
This was the first of 15 straight wins in the series for the Hawkeyes. *

Owen Gill Owen Gill (born February 19, 1962) is an English-American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in th ...

16 Rush, 136 Yds, 4 TD

at Penn State

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story

No. 3 Ohio State

*Sources:''
Box score and Game storyBox score
The Hawkeyes earned their first win over the Buckeyes since 1962.

at Illinois

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story
The Hawkeyes – ranked #3 in the Coaches poll and #4 in the AP poll – could not break through on this day in Champaign. Illinois would go on to win the outright Big Ten title by finishing 9-0 in conference play.

Northwestern

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story
The Hawkeyes set a Big Ten record with 713 yards of total offense. * Chuck Long: 23-33, 420 yards, 4 TD (1 rushing)

Purdue

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story

at No. 10 Michigan

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story

Indiana

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story
*Dave Moritz – 11 receptions, 192 receiving yards, 2 TD

at Wisconsin

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story
*

– 4 TD passes *Eddie Phillips – 162 Rush yards, TD

at Michigan State

*Sources:''
Box Score and Game Story

Minnesota

*Sources:''
Box score
The Hawkeyes rolled up a school-record 517 yards rushing against the Gophers. Three Iowa backs went over 100 yards, led by Eddie Phillips with 172 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Ronnie Harmon Ronnie Keith Harmon (born May 7, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1986 to 1997. Early life and college Harmon was born in Queens, New Yor ...

had 75 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 4 carries, and also caught a touchdown pass.

vs. No. 11 Florida (Gator Bowl)

Personnel

Roster

Coaching staff

Five of the staff would go on to become the winningest head coaches at five different programs: Snyder (Kansas State), Alvarez (Wisconsin), Stoops (Oklahoma), McCarney (Iowa State) and Ferentz (Iowa)

Statistical achievements

The offense broke 35 school records, including: * 5,647 yards of

and 470.6 per game * 3,239 passing yards2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 277. * 713 yards of total offense in a game vs Northwestern (10/8/83). * 517 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in a game vs Minnesota (11/19/83)2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 276. * 575 passing yards against Northwestern (10/8/83). The team's individual statistical leaders included: * Quarterback

completed 157 of 265 passes (59.2%) for 2,601 yards.2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 278. He also set a single-game Iowa passing record (broken by Long the following year) with 420 passing yards against Northwestern on October 8, 1983.2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 268. * Running back

led the team with 798 rushing yards. * Wide receiver Dave Moritz led the team with 50 receptions for 912 yards.2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 279. Dave Chappel set a single-game Iowa receiving record (since broken) with 11 receptions for 192 yards against Indiana on October 29, 1983. * Kicker Tom Nichol led the team with 86 points scored on 14 field goals and 44 extra points. * Defensive back

led the team with six interceptions for 154 yards.2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 280. * Linebacker

led the team with 138 total tackles.

Awards and honors

Six Iowa players received first-team honors on the

1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1983 college football season. The 1983 Illinois Fighting Illini football team won the ...

: quarterback

(AP-1, UPI-1); (AP-1, UPI-1); offensive tackle John Alt (AP-1); defensive tackle Paul Hufford (AP-1, UPI-1); linebacker

(AP-1, UPI-1); defensive back

(AP-2, UPI-1); and wide receiver Dave Moritz (AP-1). The team had three most valuable players: fullback Norm Granger; quarterback

; and wide receiver Dave Moritz. The team also had three captains: fullback Norm Granger; offensive guard Jon Roehlk; and defensive end Dave Stroebel.

1984 NFL Draft

References

{{Iowa Hawkeyes football navbox

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Iowa Hawkeyes football seasons

Iowa Hawkeyes football The Iowa Hawkeyes football program represents the University of Iowa in college football. The Hawkeyes compete in the Big Ten Conference. Iowa joined the Conference (then known as the Western Conference or Big Nine) in 1899 and played their first ...