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1953 Iowa

5–⁠3–⁠1 (3–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Forest Evashevski, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1953, game by game: lost vs. No. 2 Michigan State 7–21; won vs. Washington State 54–12; lost at No. 5 Michigan 13–14; won vs. Wyoming 21–7; won vs. Indiana 19–13; lost at Wisconsin 6–10; won at Purdue 26–0; won vs. No. 15 Minnesota 27–0; tied at No. 1 Notre Dame 14–14+42−14Lost 7–21 vs. No. 2 Michigan State-14No. 2 Michigan StateWon 54–12 vs. Washington State+42Washington StateLost 13–14 at No. 5 Michigan-1No. 5 MichiganWon 21–7 vs. Wyoming+14WyomingWon 19–13 vs. Indiana+6IndianaLost 6–10 at Wisconsin-4WisconsinWon 26–0 at Purdue+26PurdueWon 27–0 vs. No. 15 Minnesota+27No. 15 MinnesotaTied 14–14 at No. 1 Notre Dame0No. 1 Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vs2Michigan StateL 7–⁠2124%
Oct 3vsWashington StateW 54–⁠1247%
Oct 10at5MichiganL 13–⁠1426%
Oct 17vsWyomingW 21–⁠742%
Oct 24vsIndianaW 19–⁠1370%
Oct 31atWisconsinL 6–⁠1029%
Nov 7atPurdueW 26–⁠044%
Nov 14vs15MinnesotaW 27–⁠055%
Nov 21at1Notre DameT 14–⁠1419%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied Notre Dame 14–⁠14; No. 9 in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 9: 20
  2. Wk 10: 9
  3. Final: 9

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1953.

Record
5–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 9
Points
187–⁠91
Coach
Forest Evashevski
Elo
1575 +133 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
18.5 No. 8 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Andrew Houg
Most valuable player
Bill Fenton

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 4Jerry Hilgenberg CCleveland Browns

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • William FentonEAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State5–⁠19–⁠13
Illinois5–⁠17–⁠1–⁠17
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠115
Ohio State4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠320
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠19
Minnesota3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠42–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Northwestern0–⁠63–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.