CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Iowa

5–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Hayden Fry.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1979, game by game: lost vs. Indiana 26–30; lost at No. 3 Oklahoma 6–21; lost vs. No. 7 Nebraska 21–24; won vs. Iowa State 30–14; won at Illinois 13–7; won at Northwestern 58–6; lost vs. Minnesota 7–24; won at Wisconsin 24–13; lost vs. No. 15 Purdue 14–20; lost at No. 3 Ohio State 7–34; won vs. Michigan State 33–23+52−27Lost 26–30 vs. Indiana-4IndianaLost 6–21 at No. 3 Oklahoma-15No. 3 OklahomaLost 21–24 vs. No. 7 Nebraska-3No. 7 NebraskaWon 30–14 vs. Iowa State+16Iowa StateWon 13–7 at Illinois+6IllinoisWon 58–6 at Northwestern+52NorthwesternLost 7–24 vs. Minnesota-17MinnesotaWon 24–13 at Wisconsin+11WisconsinLost 14–20 vs. No. 15 Purdue-6No. 15 PurdueLost 7–34 at No. 3 Ohio State-27No. 3 Ohio StateWon 33–23 vs. Michigan State+10Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsIndianaL 26–⁠3049%
Sep 15at3OklahomaL 6–⁠2111%
Sep 22vs7NebraskaL 21–⁠2422%
Sep 29vsIowa StateW 30–⁠1434%
Oct 6atIllinoisW 13–⁠748%
Oct 13atNorthwesternW 58–⁠663%
Oct 20vsMinnesotaL 7–⁠2454%
Oct 27atWisconsinW 24–⁠1342%
Nov 3vs15PurdueL 14–⁠2038%
Nov 10at3Ohio StateL 7–⁠3415%
Nov 17vsMichigan StateW 33–⁠2343%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 33–⁠23; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 88th-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 1979.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
239–⁠216
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1472 +65 this season
SP+ rating
7.4 No. 45 of 135; offense No. 49, defense No. 56
SRS
8.2 No. 38 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Snyder
Defensive coordinator
Bill Brashier
Captains
Jim Molini, Mario Pace, Sam Palladino, Cedric Shaw and Jim Swift
Most valuable player
Dennis Mosley

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Dennis MosleyRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Jay HilgenbergCAP-1
  • Leven WeissLBAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1979 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠011–⁠14
Purdue7–⁠110–⁠210
Michigan6–⁠28–⁠418
Indiana5–⁠38–⁠419
Iowa4–⁠45–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Michigan State3–⁠55–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠7
Illinois1–⁠6–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
Northwestern0–⁠91–⁠10

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