Doc has a great story about the 1981 season and Iowa's first trip tp the Rose Bowl in 22 years. You get insights from Bob Stoops, Barry Alvarez, Dan McCarney, Pat Dean, Gordy Bohannon and one Kirk Ferentz.
I'm not going to shill for The Athletic, but it's worth it if for no other reason than Doc's Iowa coverage. Hell, it's worth it just to read this story.
It's impossibly long, so it'll be hard to post excerpts, but I will add some just to get the flavor. I'll add the link as well (maybe there's a free trial or some deal out there).
Roby boomed the opening kickoff to Nebraska returner Irving Fryar. As Fryar sprinted up the field, Iowa special teamer and Omaha native Bryan Skradis blasted him with a perfect form tackle at the 13-yard line. Fryar flew backward, and Iowa’s season went forward from there.
McCarney: Skradis just blew him up. It set the tempo for the whole day. The opening kickoff of that game, you talk about sparks, there’s one. I didn’t know if the kid was going to get up. Skradis was going to get up. He wasn’t going to miss out on the celebration.
This time, the defense made alterations against a vaunted Cornhuskers option attack, which was led by fullback and Iowa native Roger Craig. A dominant offense that had rushed for 485 yards against Iowa in 1980 was held to 150 in 1981. Iowa grabbed an early lead on a touchdown run by Eddie Phillips and kicked a field goal to lead 10-0 through three quarters. The Huskers finally scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but the Hawkeyes held on 10-7.
Stoops: That was when Nebraska was Nebraska in those days and winning national championships. They were the cream of the crop and we were able to put together — Bill Brashier — a great defensive plan to hold them to seven points and played a great game. So, that was a big boost. We knew if we could beat them to start the season, then we’ve
got a chance to have a really great year. That was a big benchmark right there.
Ferentz: That’s when the learning began. Like beating Nebraska, awesome. We switched the defense a little bit; we had a front that they weren’t ready for and we’re a good defensive team. They struggled to adjust to what we did, credit to Bill Brashier and his staff. Then the next week, we were so full of ourselves. We’d never won a game like that. I hadn’t done anything in my life.
A week later, Iowa played its first game in Ames since 1934 and Iowa State rolled the Hawkeyes 23-12.
Ferentz: The score wasn’t that bad, but they pummeled us. I mean, they just beat us like we weren’t even there.
McCarney: We just got through beating top-10 Nebraska on the front end of that, and we’ve got another top-10 team coming in UCLA. We didn’t play well (at Iowa State). If anybody said we
played well that day, they’re nuts. They’re delusional. Nobody did. They kicked our butts. (Dwayne) Crutchfield ran up and down the field on us and we turned it over a bunch.
Symbolic of the season, McCarney had a tough meeting with his linemen and especially Dean, who was manhandled. It wasn’t pleasant and the Hawkeyes needed to move mentally past that loss quickly with No. 6 UCLA coming to Kinnick Stadium.
While the Nebraska victory stands out as the tone-setter for the 1981 season, beating UCLA 20-7 was perhaps more impressive. The Hawkeyes outrushed the Bruins 279-35, and Bortz recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown that gave Iowa a double-digit lead. Dean produced his best game with a team-high 10 solo tackles, including three for loss, and two assists. He was named the national defensive player of the week. But more than his statistics, he was known as one of the toughest bad-asses to don an Iowa uniform.
I'm not going to shill for The Athletic, but it's worth it if for no other reason than Doc's Iowa coverage. Hell, it's worth it just to read this story.
It's impossibly long, so it'll be hard to post excerpts, but I will add some just to get the flavor. I'll add the link as well (maybe there's a free trial or some deal out there).
The season
If there was a different feel with the 1981 campaign, it took effect in the season opener against No. 7 Nebraska, which pulverized the Hawkeyes 57-0 in 1980, a game McCarney called one of the longest days of his life. But this season started with a bang.Roby boomed the opening kickoff to Nebraska returner Irving Fryar. As Fryar sprinted up the field, Iowa special teamer and Omaha native Bryan Skradis blasted him with a perfect form tackle at the 13-yard line. Fryar flew backward, and Iowa’s season went forward from there.
McCarney: Skradis just blew him up. It set the tempo for the whole day. The opening kickoff of that game, you talk about sparks, there’s one. I didn’t know if the kid was going to get up. Skradis was going to get up. He wasn’t going to miss out on the celebration.
This time, the defense made alterations against a vaunted Cornhuskers option attack, which was led by fullback and Iowa native Roger Craig. A dominant offense that had rushed for 485 yards against Iowa in 1980 was held to 150 in 1981. Iowa grabbed an early lead on a touchdown run by Eddie Phillips and kicked a field goal to lead 10-0 through three quarters. The Huskers finally scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but the Hawkeyes held on 10-7.
Stoops: That was when Nebraska was Nebraska in those days and winning national championships. They were the cream of the crop and we were able to put together — Bill Brashier — a great defensive plan to hold them to seven points and played a great game. So, that was a big boost. We knew if we could beat them to start the season, then we’ve
got a chance to have a really great year. That was a big benchmark right there.
Ferentz: That’s when the learning began. Like beating Nebraska, awesome. We switched the defense a little bit; we had a front that they weren’t ready for and we’re a good defensive team. They struggled to adjust to what we did, credit to Bill Brashier and his staff. Then the next week, we were so full of ourselves. We’d never won a game like that. I hadn’t done anything in my life.
A week later, Iowa played its first game in Ames since 1934 and Iowa State rolled the Hawkeyes 23-12.
Ferentz: The score wasn’t that bad, but they pummeled us. I mean, they just beat us like we weren’t even there.
McCarney: We just got through beating top-10 Nebraska on the front end of that, and we’ve got another top-10 team coming in UCLA. We didn’t play well (at Iowa State). If anybody said we
played well that day, they’re nuts. They’re delusional. Nobody did. They kicked our butts. (Dwayne) Crutchfield ran up and down the field on us and we turned it over a bunch.
Symbolic of the season, McCarney had a tough meeting with his linemen and especially Dean, who was manhandled. It wasn’t pleasant and the Hawkeyes needed to move mentally past that loss quickly with No. 6 UCLA coming to Kinnick Stadium.
While the Nebraska victory stands out as the tone-setter for the 1981 season, beating UCLA 20-7 was perhaps more impressive. The Hawkeyes outrushed the Bruins 279-35, and Bortz recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown that gave Iowa a double-digit lead. Dean produced his best game with a team-high 10 solo tackles, including three for loss, and two assists. He was named the national defensive player of the week. But more than his statistics, he was known as one of the toughest bad-asses to don an Iowa uniform.
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