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1974 Iowa

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Bob Commings.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1974, game by game: lost at No. 6 Michigan 7–24; won vs. No. 12 UCLA 21–10; lost vs. No. 19 Penn State 0–27; lost at No. 9 USC 3–41; won vs. Northwestern 35–10; lost at Minnesota 17–23; won vs. Illinois 14–12; lost at Purdue 14–38; lost vs. Wisconsin 15–28; lost vs. No. 4 Ohio State 10–35; lost at No. 14 Michigan State 21–60+25−39Lost 7–24 at No. 6 Michigan-17No. 6 MichiganWon 21–10 vs. No. 12 UCLA+11No. 12 UCLALost 0–27 vs. No. 19 Penn State-27No. 19 Penn StateLost 3–41 at No. 9 USC-38No. 9 USCWon 35–10 vs. Northwestern+25NorthwesternLost 17–23 at Minnesota-6MinnesotaWon 14–12 vs. Illinois+2IllinoisLost 14–38 at Purdue-24PurdueLost 15–28 vs. Wisconsin-13WisconsinLost 10–35 vs. No. 4 Ohio State-25No. 4 Ohio StateLost 21–60 at No. 14 Michigan State-39No. 14 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14at6MichiganL 7–⁠249%
Sep 21vs12UCLAW 21–⁠1019%
Sep 28vs19Penn StateL 0–⁠2718%
Oct 5at9USCL 3–⁠4113%
Oct 12vsNorthwesternW 35–⁠1053%
Oct 19atMinnesotaL 17–⁠2334%
Oct 26vsIllinoisW 14–⁠1237%
Nov 2atPurdueL 14–⁠3832%
Nov 9vsWisconsinL 15–⁠2839%
Nov 16vs4Ohio StateL 10–⁠3512%
Nov 23at14Michigan StateL 21–⁠6016%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 60–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 126th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

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 1974.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
157–⁠308
Coach
Bob Commings
Elo
1332 −1 this season
SP+ rating
-3.2 No. 82 of 124; offense No. 65, defense No. 88
SRS
−2.4 No. 76 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Howard Vernon
Defensive coordinator
Larry Coyer
Captains
Dan McCarney and Earl Douthitt
Most valuable player
Rob Fick

Drafted in 1975

The 1975 draft
Rd 7Earl Douthitt DBChicago Bears

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1974 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1974 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠112
Wisconsin5–⁠37–⁠4
Illinois4–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota2–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠63–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠71–⁠10

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