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1978 Iowa

2–⁠9 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Bob Commings.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1978, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 20–3; lost vs. No. 20 Iowa State 0–31; lost at Arizona 3–23; lost vs. Utah 9–13; lost at Minnesota 20–22; lost at Ohio State 7–31; lost vs. No. 17 Purdue 7–34; lost vs. No. 8 Michigan 0–34; lost at Indiana 14–34; won vs. Wisconsin 38–24; lost at No. 14 Michigan State 7–42+17−35Won 20–3 vs. Northwestern+17NorthwesternLost 0–31 vs. No. 20 Iowa State-31No. 20 Iowa StateLost 3–23 at Arizona-20ArizonaLost 9–13 vs. Utah-4UtahLost 20–22 at Minnesota-2MinnesotaLost 7–31 at Ohio State-24Ohio StateLost 7–34 vs. No. 17 Purdue-27No. 17 PurdueLost 0–34 vs. No. 8 Michigan-34No. 8 MichiganLost 14–34 at Indiana-20IndianaWon 38–24 vs. Wisconsin+14WisconsinLost 7–42 at No. 14 Michigan State-35No. 14 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsNorthwesternW 20–⁠370%
Sep 23vs20Iowa StateL 0–⁠3143%
Sep 30atArizonaL 3–⁠2334%
Oct 7vsUtahL 9–⁠1357%
Oct 14atMinnesotaL 20–⁠2234%
Oct 21atOhio StateL 7–⁠3117%
Oct 28vs17PurdueL 7–⁠3432%
Nov 4vs8MichiganL 0–⁠3416%
Nov 11atIndianaL 14–⁠3429%
Nov 18vsWisconsinW 38–⁠2443%
Nov 25at14Michigan StateL 7–⁠4213%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 42–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 122nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
2–⁠9
Conference
2–⁠6 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
125–⁠291
Coach
Bob Commings
Elo
1362 −90 this season
SP+ rating
-13.8 No. 111 of 133; offense No. 111, defense No. 95
SRS
−8.3 No. 102 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Larry Coyer
Captains
Jon Lazar, Tom Rusk, Tim Gutshall and Dave Becker
Most valuable player
Brad Reid

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Brad ReidFlankers/split ends

Second team

  • Tom RuskLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠25
Michigan State7–⁠18–⁠312
Purdue6–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠113
Ohio State6–⁠27–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠45–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠4–⁠25–⁠4–⁠2
Indiana3–⁠54–⁠7
Iowa2–⁠62–⁠9
Illinois0–⁠6–⁠21–⁠8–⁠2
Northwestern0–⁠8–⁠10–⁠10–⁠1

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