1979 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 18 Michigan	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. It was the first season for new head coach Hayden Fry, who arrived in Iowa City after spending the previous six years at North Texas State.^[1]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Indiana	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 26–30	59,700	[2]
September 15	at No. 3 Oklahoma*	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 6–21	72,531	[3]
September 22	No. 7 Nebraska*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 21–24	60,055	[4]
September 29	Iowa State*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 30–14	60,100	[5]
October 6	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 13–7	51,044	[6]
October 13	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 58–6	27,224	[7]
October 20	Minnesota	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Floyd of Rosedale)	L 7–24	60,050	[8]
October 27	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 24–13	79,026	[9]
November 3	Purdue	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 14–20	59,940	[10]
November 10	at No. 3 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 7–34	87,835	[11]
November 17	Michigan State	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 33–23	58,320	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[13]

1979 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 28 Phil Blatcher So QB 11 Gordy Bohannan Jr WR 88 Mike Brady Sr WR 19 Keith Chappelle Jr QB 12 Pete Gales So G 76 Ron Hallstrom So C 54 Jay Hilgenberg Jr FB 35 Dean McKillip RB   Rod Morton Sr RB 18 Dennis Mosley Sr WR 83 Lon Olejniczak Fr WR 87 Brad Reid Sr QB 16 Phil Suess Jr TE   Jim Swift Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 63 Mark Bortz Fr     Kent Ellis DB 10 Jim Frazier So DB 43 Lou King So CB Mario Pace DB 20 Cedric Shaw DB 41 Bob Stoops Fr DE 99 Andre Tippett So LB 42 Leven Weiss	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P   Dave Holsclaw P/K 7 Reggie Roby Fr K   Scott Schilling	Head coach Hayden Fry Coordinators/assistant coaches Bill Snyder – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Bill Brashier – Defensive Coordinator Carl Jackson – Running backs Del Miller – Offensive assistant Dan McCarney – Defensive line Barry Alvarez – Linebackers Don Patterson – Defensive Backs Bernie Wyatt – Defensive Ends/Recruiting Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Indiana at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Hoosiers 0 3 7 20 30 Hawkeyes 13 13 0 0 26 Date: September 8 Location: Kinnick Stadium Game attendance: 59,780 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

On October 22, 2016, former Indiana University coach and current ESPN College Football analyst Lee Corso described the game on College Gameday. He said at halftime he told the Hoosiers (who were losing the game 26-3) to not bother coming out for the 2nd half unless they were prepared to win the game. Indiana would then go on to win the game, 30-26, spoiling the debut of head coach Hayden Fry. ^[14]

Game statistics[14]	INDIANA	IOWA
First downs	25	22
Total yards	479	389
Passing yards	316	227
Rushing yards	143	162
Penalties	6–53	8–87
Turnovers	3	3

Iowa at #3 Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total Hawkeyes 6 0 0 0 6 • No. 3 Sooners 0 7 0 14 21 Date: September 15 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 71,187 Source: Box Score and Game Story

^[15]

Game statistics[15]	OKLAHOMA	IOWA
First downs	23	12
Total yards	452	202
Passing yards	183	139
Rushing yards	269	63
Penalties	4–40	5–36
Turnovers	5	2

#7 Nebraska at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 7 Cornhuskers 0 7 7 10 24 Hawkeyes 7 0 14 0 21 Date: September 22 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 1:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 2:35 Game attendance: 60,055 Referee: Richard McVay Sources: Box Score and Game Story

For the second week in a row, the Hawkeyes faced a Big 8 opponent ranked in the top 10. Iowa led 21-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter, but Nebraska tied the game then recovered a fumble before kicking the winning field goal late.^[16]

Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy

1 2 3 4 Total Cyclones 7 0 7 0 14 • Hawkeyes 7 7 7 9 30 Date: September 29 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 1:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 2:55 Game attendance: 60,100 Referee: Gene Calhoun Sources: Box Score and Game Story

This game marked Hayden Fry's first win as head coach of the Hawkeyes.^[17]

Game statistics[17]	ISU	IOWA
First downs	14	30
Total yards	162	429
Passing yards	56	51
Rushing yards	106	378
Penalties	4–35	7–63
Turnovers	3	3

Iowa at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 0 6 7 0 13 Fighting Illini 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 6 Location: Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 51,044

^[18]

Iowa at Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 7 28 0 23 58 Wildcats 0 0 0 6 6 Date: October 13 Location: Dyche Stadium Game attendance: 27,224 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

• Gordy Bohannan, a junior college transfer, made his first career start

^[19]

Game statistics[19]	IOWA	NW
First downs	25	16
Total yards	509	320
Passing yards	145	202
Rushing yards	364	118
Penalties	3–35	4–52
Turnovers	0	8

Minnesota at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Golden Gophers 10 0 14 0 24 Hawkeyes 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 20 Location: Kinnick Stadium Game attendance: 60,050 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[20]

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 0 14 0 10 24 Badgers 0 10 0 3 13 Date: October 27 Location: Camp Randall Stadium Game attendance: 79,026 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

Dennis Mosley broke Ed Podolak's single-season rushing record and caught a 75-yard touchdown pass in the win over the Badgers.^[21]

Purdue at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Boilermakers 7 7 6 0 20 Hawkeyes 6 8 0 0 14 Date: November 3 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 59,940

^[22]

Iowa at Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total Hawkeyes 0 0 0 7 7 • No. 3 Buckeyes 13 14 0 7 34 Date: November 10 Location: Ohio Stadium Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:51 Game attendance: 87,835 Game weather: Cloudy; 41 °F (5 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) NW

^[23]

Michigan State at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Spartans 6 10 0 7 23 • Hawkeyes 7 6 14 6 33 Date: November 17 Location: Kinnick Stadium Game attendance: 58,320 Sources: Box Score and Game Story

^[24]

Game statistics[24]	MSU	IOWA
First downs	17	23
Total yards	395	444
Passing yards	244	204
Rushing yards	151	238
Penalties	3–28	1–20
Turnovers	2	3

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Dennis Mosley	RB	9	232	Minnesota Vikings
Jim Swift	OT	9	238	Seattle Seahawks

^[25]