1997 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

1997 Iowa Hawkeyes football
1997 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Sun Bowl, L 7–17 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1997 record	7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Hayden Fry (19th season);
Offensive coordinator	Don Patterson (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Elliott (2nd season)
MVP	Tavian Banks; Kerry Cooks; Jared DeVries; Tim Dwight
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium; (Capacity: 70,397)
	Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. They participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium and were led by legendary coach Hayden Fry.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	11:30 am	Northern Iowa*	No. 20	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 66–0	66,325
September 13	1:00 pm	Tulsa*	No. 18	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 54–16	64,893
September 20	2:30 pm	at Iowa State	No. 13	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA (Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy)	ABC	W 63–20	50,066
September 27	11:30 am	Illinois	No. 11	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN2	W 38–10	70,397
October 4	2:30 pm	at No. 7 Ohio State	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (College GameDay)	ABC	L 7–23	92,536
October 18	11:30 am	at No. 5 Michigan	No. 15	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ESPN	L 24–28	106,505
October 25	11:00 am	Indiana	No. 18	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN+	W 62–0	70,397
November 1	11:30 am	No. 18 Purdue	No. 15	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN2	W 35–17	70,397
November 8	11:30 am	at Wisconsin	No. 12	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	ESPN	L 10–13	79,864
November 15	11:30 am	at Northwestern	No. 22	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 14–15	40,838
November 22	1:00 pm	Minnesota		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Battle for the Floyd of Rosedale)		W 31–0	64,591
December 31	1:30 pm	vs. No. 16 Arizona State*		Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	L 7–17	49,104
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1]

Roster[]

1997 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`22`	Tavian Banks	Sr
FB	`85`	Michael Burger	Jr
WR	`4`	Ricchard Carter	Sr
WR	`88`	Tony Collins	So
OL	`67`	Chad Deal	So
WR	`6`	Tim Dwight	Sr
TE	`80`	Zeron Flemister	So
WR	`18`	Damon Gibson	Sr
OL	`79`	Mike Goff	Sr
TE	`81`	Chris Knipper	Sr
OL	`68`	Jeremy McKinney	Sr
RB	`29`	Doug Miller	So
QB	`13`	Randy Reiners	So
OL	`76`	Matt Reischl	Jr
C	`64`	Derek Rose	Jr
QB	`12`	Matt Sherman	Sr
OL	`65`	Ben Sobieski	Fr
RB	`31`	Rob Thein	So
TE	`86`	Austin Wheatley	So
WR	`25`	Richard Willock	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`23`	Plez Atkins	Sr
DB	`9`	Matt Bowen	So
SS	`15`	Kerry Cooks	Sr
DL	`94`	Jared DeVries	Jr
NG	`52`	Steve English	Jr
DT	`72`	Epenesa Epenesa	Sr
CB	`26`	Ed Gibson	Sr
CB	`2`	Tarig Holman	So
DE	`28`	Jason House	Sr
LB	`37`	Matt Hughes	Jr
NG	`90`	Aron Klein	Jr
DE	`19`	Jeff Kramer	Jr
DT	`55`	Jon LaFleur	Sr
DE	`48`	Ryan Loftin	So
LB	`56`	Vernon Rollins	Jr
FS	`21`	Eric Thigpen	Jr
LB	`97`	LeVar Woods	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`7`	Jason Baker	Fr
K	`38`	Zach Bromert	Jr
K	`16`	Greg McLaughlin	Fr

Head coach

Hayden Fry

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Don Patterson – Offensive Coordinator
Bob Elliott – Defensive Coordinator
Chuck Long – Defensive backs
Bobby Diaco – Graduate assistant

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	21	21	20	18	13	11	11	17	15	18	15	12	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	20		19	17	13	9	8	16	15	19	16	14	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

^[2]

Game summaries[]

Northern Iowa[]

^[3]

Tulsa[]

Tulsa at #17 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Hurricane	0	10	6	0	16
• Hawkeyes	23	7	7	17	54

Date: September 13
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Iowa City, IA
Game attendance: 64,893

Sources: Box score and Game recap

Avenging an upset loss from the previous season, the Hawkeyes rolled up over 600 yards of total offense for the second time in as many games. Senior running back Tavian Banks rushed for a school record 314 yards and a school record-tying 4 touchdowns.

^[4]

Iowa State[]

#13 Iowa at Iowa State
Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hawkeyes	14	21	21	7	63
Cyclones	0	6	7	7	20

Date: September 20
Location: Jack Trice Stadium
Ames, IA
Game start: 2:30 pm CDT
Elapsed time: 3:35
Game attendance: 50,066
Game weather: 58° F, Mostly sunny, Wind NNW 10-15 mph
Referee: Jim Kemerling

Sources: Box score

The Hawkeyes won against the rival Cyclones for the 15th consecutive year. Tavian Banks had four rushing touchdowns for the second week in a row and Tim Dwight hauled in three touchdown receptions as the Hawkeyes rolled up 575 yards of total offense.^[5]

Illinois[]

Illinois at #9 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	3	0	7	10
• Hawkeyes	7	17	7	7	38

Date: September 27
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Iowa City, IA
Game attendance: 70,397

Sources: Box score and Game recap

Tavian Banks ran for two more touchdowns to push his total to 12 rushing touchdowns after 4 games. Tony Collins also scored twice, the first on a 61-yard punt return and the other on a 16-yard pass from Matt Sherman.^[6]

Ohio State[]

#8 Iowa at #7 Ohio State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	0	7	0	7
• Buckeyes	0	10	6	7	23

Date: October 4
Location: Ohio Stadium
Columbus, OH
Game attendance: 92,536
Television network: ABC

Sources: Box score and Game recap

College GameDay was in Columbus for this matchup.^[7]^[8]

Michigan[]

#15 Iowa at #5 Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	21	3	0	24
• Wolverines	0	7	14	7	28

Date: October 18
Location: Michigan Stadium
Ann Arbor, MI
Game attendance: 106,505
Referee: Steve Newman
TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Barnett, Bill Curry, Dave Ryan

Sources: Box score and Game recap

Playing their second straight game against a Top 10 team on the road, the Hawkeyes put together a very strong first half. On the final play before the break, Michigan punted to All-American Tim Dwight who took it 61 yards to the house for a 21-7 halftime lead. The Wolverines clamped down in the second half, outscoring Iowa 21-3. Michigan would go on to finish 12-0 and claim the AP National Championship.

^[9]^[10]

Indiana[]

Indiana at #19 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoosiers	0	0	0	0	0
• Hawkeyes	7	14	21	20	62

Date: October 25
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Iowa City, IA
Game attendance: 70,397
TV announcers (ESPN+): Wayne Larrivee

Sources: Box score and Game recap

The Hawkeyes scored 60+ points for the third time of the 1997 season. The win was highlighted by an electrifying 92-yard punt return for a TD by Tim Dwight. Dwight also caught a 29-yard touchdown from Randy Reiners, who was making his first start at QB, and threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Damon Gibson. The defense did plenty as well. In addition to pitching a shutout, Matt Bowen and J.P. Lange each added long interception returns for touchdowns.

^[11]

Purdue[]

#18 Purdue at #16 Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	10	7	0	0	17
• Hawkeyes	0	14	21	0	35

Date: November 1
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Iowa City, IA
Game start: 11:35 am CDT
Elapsed time: 3:30
Game attendance: 70,397
Game weather: 47° F, Overcast, Wind NW 15-20 mph
Referee: J. Kemerling
Television network: ESPN2

Sources: Box score

^[12]

Wisconsin[]

#12 Iowa at Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	0	7	3	10
• Badgers	0	13	0	0	13

Date: November 8
Location: Camp Randall Stadium
Madison, WI
Game start: 11:30 am CST
Elapsed time: 3:07
Game attendance: 79,864
Game weather: High 40s° F, Party cloudy, Variable wind
Referee: Bill Lemonnier
Television network: ESPN

Sources: Box score

The Badgers defeated the Hawkeyes for the first time since the 1976 season.

^[13]

Northwestern[]

#22 Iowa at Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	7	7	0	0	14
• Wildcats	0	7	8	0	15

Date: November 15
Location: Ryan Field
Evanston, IL
Game start: 11:35 am CST
Elapsed time: 3:05
Game attendance: 40,838
Game weather: 31° F, Snow, Wind SE 15-25 mph
Referee: D. Witvoet
Television network: ESPN2

Sources: Box score

Four missed field goals plagued the Hawkeyes in a road loss to Northwestern.^[14]

Minnesota[]

Minnesota at Iowa
Battle for Floyd of Rosedale

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	0	0	0	0
• Hawkeyes	3	14	7	7	31

Date: November 22
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Iowa City, IA
Game start: 1:05 pm CST
Elapsed time: 2:45
Game attendance: 64,591
Game weather: 35° F, Cloudy, Wind W 14 mph
Referee: J. Teitz

Sources: Box score

After consecutive disappointing road losses, the Hawkeyes returned to Kinnick Stadium and closed the regular season with a decisive win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Senior Day. Late in the 3rd Quarter, Tim Dwight returned a punt 44 yards for a touchdown, giving him the Big Ten record for punt return touchdowns in a career (the record stood until 2006). The Iowa defense posted its third shutout in six home games during the 1997 season.

^[15]

Sun Bowl[]

Iowa vs. #17 Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	0	0	7	7
• Sun Devils	0	10	7	0	17

Date: December 31
Location: Sun Bowl Stadium
El Paso, TX
Game start: 2:15 PM CST
Elapsed time: 3:33
Game attendance: 49,104
Game weather: 53, Clear and dry, Wind 5-10 MPH
Referee: Ken Flaherty
TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan, Dave Logan, and Scott Lasky

Sources: Box score and Game recap

^[16]

Postseason awards[]

Tim Dwight - Consensus first-team All-American (All-purpose / kick returners) and 7th in Heisman Trophy voting.
Jared DeVries - Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year

Team players in the 1998 NFL Draft[]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Mike Goff	OT	3	78	Cincinnati Bengals
Tavian Banks	RB	4	101	Jacksonville Jaguars
Tim Dwight	WR	4	114	Atlanta Falcons
Kerry Cooks	S	5	144	Minnesota Vikings

^[17]

References[]

^ "1997 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
^ "Iowa 1997 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
^ "Northern Iowa vs. Iowa". USA Today. September 6, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Tulsa vs. Iowa". USA Today. September 13, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Iowa vs. Iowa State". USA Today. September 20, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Illinois vs. Iowa". USA Today. September 27, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Iowa vs. Ohio State". USA Today. October 4, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Ohio State Stops Iowa And Banks". The New York Times. October 5, 1997. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
^ "Iowa vs. Michigan". USA Today. October 18, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Griese Starts Poorly but Is Able to Finish Off Iowa, 28-24". Los Angeles Times via Associated Press. October 18, 1997. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
^ "Indiana vs. Iowa". USA Today. October 25, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Purdue vs. Iowa". USA Today. November 1, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Iowa vs. Wisconsin". USA Today. November 8, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Iowa vs. Northwestern". USA Today. November 15, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Minnesota vs. Iowa". USA Today. November 22, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "Iowa vs. Arizona State". USA Today. December 31, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
^ "1998 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.

[1] "1997 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.

[2] "Iowa 1997 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.

[3] "Northern Iowa vs. Iowa". USA Today. September 6, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[4] "Tulsa vs. Iowa". USA Today. September 13, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[5] "Iowa vs. Iowa State". USA Today. September 20, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[6] "Illinois vs. Iowa". USA Today. September 27, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[7] "Iowa vs. Ohio State". USA Today. October 4, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[8] "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Ohio State Stops Iowa And Banks". The New York Times. October 5, 1997. Retrieved December 22, 2018.

[9] "Iowa vs. Michigan". USA Today. October 18, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[10] "Griese Starts Poorly but Is Able to Finish Off Iowa, 28-24". Los Angeles Times via Associated Press. October 18, 1997. Retrieved December 22, 2018.

[11] "Indiana vs. Iowa". USA Today. October 25, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[12] "Purdue vs. Iowa". USA Today. November 1, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[13] "Iowa vs. Wisconsin". USA Today. November 8, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[14] "Iowa vs. Northwestern". USA Today. November 15, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[15] "Minnesota vs. Iowa". USA Today. November 22, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[16] "Iowa vs. Arizona State". USA Today. December 31, 1997. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

[17] "1998 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.

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v t Iowa Hawkeyes football
Venues	Iowa Field (1890–1928) Kinnick Stadium (1929–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa State (Cy-Hawk Trophy) Minnesota (Floyd of Rosedale) Nebraska: The Heroes Game (Heroes Trophy) Wisconsin (Heartland Trophy)
Culture & lore	History Herky the Hawk "Iowa Fight Song" Marching band Kinnick Wave
People	Head coaches Honorees NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 1 Michigan $		8	–	0		12	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State		6	–	2		10	–	3
No. 16 Penn State		6	–	2		9	–	3
No. 15 Purdue		6	–	2		9	–	3
Wisconsin		5	–	3		8	–	5
Iowa		4	–	4		7	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	4		7	–	5
Northwestern		3	–	5		5	–	7
Minnesota		1	–	7		3	–	9
Indiana		1	–	7		2	–	9
Illinois		0	–	8		0	–	11

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll