CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1981 Iowa

8–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Hayden Fry, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1981, game by game: won vs. No. 7 Nebraska 10–7; lost at Iowa State 12–23; won vs. No. 6 UCLA 20–7; won at Northwestern 64–0; won vs. Indiana 42–28; won at No. 5 Michigan 9–7; lost vs. Minnesota 10–12; lost at Illinois 7–24; won vs. Purdue 33–7; won at Wisconsin 17–7; won vs. Michigan State 36–7; lost vs. No. 12 Washington 0–28+64−28Won 10–7 vs. No. 7 Nebraska+3No. 7 NebraskaLost 12–23 at Iowa State-11Iowa StateWon 20–7 vs. No. 6 UCLA+13No. 6 UCLAWon 64–0 at Northwestern+64NorthwesternWon 42–28 vs. Indiana+14IndianaWon 9–7 at No. 5 Michigan+2No. 5 MichiganLost 10–12 vs. Minnesota-2MinnesotaLost 7–24 at Illinois-17IllinoisWon 33–7 vs. Purdue+26PurdueWon 17–7 at Wisconsin+10WisconsinWon 36–7 vs. Michigan State+29Michigan StateLost 0–28 vs. No. 12 Washington-28No. 12 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vs7NebraskaW 10–⁠731%
Sep 19atIowa StateL 12–⁠2344%
Sep 26vs6UCLAW 20–⁠733%
Oct 3atNorthwesternW 64–⁠076%
Oct 10vsIndianaW 42–⁠2869%
Oct 17at5MichiganW 9–⁠723%
Oct 24vsMinnesotaL 10–⁠1269%
Oct 31atIllinoisL 7–⁠2455%
Nov 7vsPurdueW 33–⁠749%
Nov 14atWisconsinW 17–⁠746%
Nov 21vsMichigan StateW 36–⁠769%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12WashingtonRose BowlL 0–⁠2842%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Washington 28–⁠0 in the Rose Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 49th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 18
  2. Wk 6: 15
  3. Wk 7: 12
  4. Wk 8: 6
  5. Wk 9: 16
  6. Wk 12: 19
  7. Wk 13: 13
  8. Wk 14: 13
  9. Final: 18

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 1981.

Big Ten champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Ohio State

2 consensus All-AmericansAndre Tippett, DE; Reggie Roby, P

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 6
Points
260–⁠157
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1574 +93 this season
SP+ rating
11.9 No. 32 of 132; offense No. 60, defense No. 19
SRS
10.6 No. 30 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Snyder
Defensive coordinator
Bill Brashier
Captains
Tracy Crocker, Pete Gales, Bruce Kittle, Andre Tippett and Brad Webb
Most valuable player
Mel Cole

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 1Ron Hallstrom OGGreen Bay Packers
Rd 2Andre Tippett LBNew England Patriots

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Todd SimonsenLBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠29–⁠315
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠418
Michigan6–⁠39–⁠312
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠4
Wisconsin6–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠56–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠55–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠90–⁠11

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