1978 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1978 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–9 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bob Commings (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Larry Coyer (4th season)
MVP	Brad Reid
Captain	Jon Lazar, Tom Rusk, Tim Gutshall, Dave Becker
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium
Seasons ←  1977 1979  →

1978 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Michigan State +	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Purdue	6	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	2			1	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. This was Bob Commings' fifth and final season as the head coach of the Hawkeyes.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Northwestern	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 20–3	56,840	[1]
September 23	No. 20 Iowa State *	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	L 0–31	60,075	[2]
September 30	at Arizona *	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	L 3–23	46,851	[3]
October 7	Utah *	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 9–13	51,170	[4]
October 14	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 20–22	51,381	[5]
October 21	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 7–31	87,326	[6]
October 28	No. 17 Purdue	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 7–34	57,640	[7]
November 4	No. 8 Michigan	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 0–34	49,120	[8]
November 11	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 14–34	33,167	[9]
November 18	Wisconsin	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 38–24	44,444	[10]
November 25	at No. 14 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 7–42	57,007	[11]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Game summaries

Northwestern

Northwestern at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Wildcats 7 7 6 0 20 Hawkeyes 0 3 0 0 3 Date: September 16 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 56,840

Scoring summary 1 IOWA Brad Reid 55-yard pass from Rod Morton (Schilling kick) Iowa 7–0 2 4:44 IOWA Todd Simonsen 4-yard fumble return (Schilling kick) Iowa 14–0 2 NW Nick Mirkopulos Iowa 14–3 3 2:15 IOWA Brad Reid 5-yard run (kick failed) Iowa 20–3

See also: 1978 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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Iowa State

See also: 1978 Iowa State Cyclones football team and Iowa–Iowa State football rivalry

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At Arizona

See also: 1978 Arizona Wildcats football team

Utah

See also: 1978 Utah Utes football team

At Minnesota

See also: 1978 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team and Iowa–Minnesota football rivalry

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At Ohio State

See also: 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Purdue

Purdue at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total •No. 17 Boilermakers 10 7 0 17 34 Hawkeyes 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 28 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 57,460

Scoring summary 1 PUR Sovereen 39-yard field goal Purdue 3–0 1 PUR Pope 11-yard run (Sovereen kick) Purdue 10–0 2 PUR Young 25-yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) Purdue 17–0 3 IOWA Reid 57-yard run (Schilling kick) Purdue 17–7 4 PUR Burrell 11-yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) Purdue 24–7 4 PUR Sovereen 27-yard field goal Purdue 27–7 4 PUR Eubank 3-yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) Purdue 34–7

See also: 1978 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Michigan

See also: 1978 Michigan Wolverines football team

At Indiana

See also: 1978 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Wisconsin

See also: 1978 Wisconsin Badgers football team and Iowa–Wisconsin football rivalry

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At Michigan State

See also: 1978 Michigan State Spartans football team

^{[17] [18] [19]}

Roster

1978 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB   Bobby Commings Jr. So QB 12 Pete Gales Fr C 54 Jay Hilgenberg So FB 44 Jon Lazar Sr RB   Rod Morton Jr RB 18 Dennis Mosley Jr WR 87 Brad Reid Jr QB 16 Phil Suess So TE   Jim Swift Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB   Dave Becker Sr DL 97 Doug Benschoter Sr LB   Tim Gutshall Sr LB 47 Tom Rusk Sr DE 45 Steve Vazquez Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K   Scott Schilling So	Head coach Bob Commings Coordinators/assistant coaches Del Miller – Offensive assistant Tom Hayes – Defensive backs Dan McCarney – Graduate assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Team players in the 1979 NFL draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Tom Rusk	LB	9	227	New York Giants

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References

1. "Tricky Hawkeyes rip Northwestern". The Pantagraph. September 17, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Sub quarterback sinks Hawkeyes". The Rock Island Argus. September 24, 1978. Retrieved October 20, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Arizona tramples Hawks". The Des Moines Register. October 1, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Lightly regarded Ute QB stings Iowa". The Sioux City Journal. October 8, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Gophers beat Iowa, 22–20". The Pantagraph. October 15, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Hayes dots I: Bucks club Iowa". Springfield News-Sun. October 22, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Purdue shows Iowa why it leads Big 10". Argus-Leader. October 29, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. Curt Sylvester (November 5, 1978). "U-M puts the squeeze on Iowa, 34–0: Rick Leach passes for 191 yards, 2 touchdowns". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1E, 6E.|via=Newspapers.com}}
9. "Even Iowa's rushing defense fizzles 34–14". The Gazette. November 12, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Iowa stuns Wisconsin". The Sioux City Journal. November 19, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Spartans' offense destroys Hawkeyes". The Daily Nonpareil. November 26, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "1978 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference . Retrieved September 14, 2018.
13. "Iowa tops Northwestern, 20-3" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . September 18, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
14. "Cyclones stun Hawkeyes" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . September 25, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
15. "Hawkeyes'second half explosion falls short, 22-20" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . October 16, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
16. "Iowa rolls past Badgers, 38-24" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . November 20, 1978. p. 7. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
17. "Michigan State explodes against Iowa in finale" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . November 27, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
18. "The ax falls for 'fighter' Commings" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . November 28, 1978. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
19. "Hayden Fry named head coach" (PDF). The Daily Iowan . December 11, 1978. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
20. "1979 NFL Draft". Sports Reference . Retrieved September 14, 2018.