About Iowa Hawkeyes
The Iowa Hawkeyes football program represents the University of Iowa in college football. They currently compete in the West division of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I level. They currently play their home games out of Kinnick Stadium in a massive stadium that has capacity for over 69,000 of the best fans in college football.
Early football team history
Football was first played as a club sport at Iowa in 1872 with intramural games against other colleges played as early as 1882. BUt the university did not recognize football as a varsity sport until 1889. Starting in 1892, Iowa played for six seasons as a member of the Western Interstate University Football Association against three other Midwestern flagship state universities.
The university’s first undefeated season came in 1899 when it was still playing independent of any conference. This led to the university receiving an invitation to join the Western Conference, now known as the Big Ten Conference. The program had another undefeated season in 1900 and won a share of the Western Conference title in their first year of conference play.
The Team Today
Today, the team has had several stellar seasons, including three consecutive years of top-10 finishes from 2002 to 2004. The team has also played in 17 bowl games in 19 seasons and in 31 bowl games over the past 39 seasons. Through 2019, Iowa has won at least eight games in the previous five seasons and had won three consecutive bowl games.
The Hawkeyes have their eyes set on consistently high quality football.
The Kinnick Wave
One of the most popular Hawkeyes traditions began in 2017, when fans created what ESPN called “college football’s coolest new tradition.” The university’s children’s hospital, which had a close relationship with the Hawkeyes football program, opened a new 12-story building across the street from the stadium. The top few floors feature an unobstructed view of the playing field.
The top floor of the hospital features the Press Box Cafe, which has reserved window seating for patients and their families on Hawkeyes game days. Big-screen TVs are also available for when Iowa plays games on the road.
In recognition of this really cool feature, a fan suggested that at the end of the first quarter on every home game, fans turn towards the hospital and wave to the children, patients, and family watching. During night games, fans wave with their cell phones so the lights can be seen.
Not only has this tradition spread beyond Iowa, but it has earned recognition from Disney. It was announced that the Iowa football program would win its Disney’s Wide World of Sports Spirit Award, which annually goes to college football’s most inspirational figure. The award was presented to the University of Iowa for The Wave on ESPN on December 7, 2017.
About Kinnick Stadium
Kinnick Stadium is located in Iowa City, Iowa. It has been open to the public ever since 1929 when it was built to replace Iowa Field. Currently it ranks as the 7th largest stadium in the Big Ten (and one of the 20 largest university owned stadiums in the world) with a capacity for 69,250 fans.
The venue is primarily used for college football games and was named after Nile Kinnick, the sole Heisman Trophy winner to come from the university. Who also died in service during World War II. The stadium is the only one in college football to be named after a Heisman trophy winner.
Trivia
While not counted as a feature, the full capacity of the stadium, if filled, would make it the sixth largest city in Iowa, right after Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, and Iowa City. The stadium was also a late adopter of permanent lighting, having contracting Musco Lighting’s portable light trucks for night games prior to the 2015 football season. The school had previously installed permanent practice lighting in 2012.
Currently, the stadium has the honors of setting the national collegiate wrestling dual-meet attendance record on November 14, 2015 when 42,000 fans watched the university defeat Oklahoma State.
The stadium is also known for having a pink-colored visitors’ locker room, a tradition started by emeritus Iowa coach Hayden Fry. Fry believed that pink would put opponents in a “passive mood” since pink was often viewed as a softer color.
While this decision has been debated in controversy im the middle 2000s, the locker rooms remain pink as of the time of writing.
More recently, the stadium added a 20 ft tall bronze statue of Nile Kinnick, depicted as a scholar rather than in his football uniform. The statue is placed near the team entrance to the stadium. It has since been tradition for players to reach out and touch the helmet placed at Kinnick’s feet as a sign of respect for Kinnick.
Achievements
With a storied history that’s over 100 years in the making, the Hawkeyes have many incredible seasons, players, and coaches to celebrate. To date the team has tallied up a solid .544 win record (676-564-39) and a .569 record for Bowl Games (20-15-1). During these seasons, the team has earned 13 conference titles (11 in the Big Ten) and 1 Division title in 2015.
But on an individual level, the team has a history of fielding strong players. This includes 29 consensus All-Americans and 1 Heisman Winner. Beyond this though, the team has fielded players who have earned the biggest awards in college football.
Here are but a few of the biggest honors.
Heisman Trophy
- Nile Kinnick – 1939
Maxwell Award
- Nile Kinnick – 1939
- Chuck Long – 1985
AP Athlete of the Year
- Nile Kinnick – 1939
AP Player of the Year
- Brad Banks – 2002
Davey O’Brien Award
- Chuck Long – 1985
- Brad Banks – 2002