1983 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1983 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Iowa as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1983 Big Ten football season. In their fifth season under head coach Hayden Fry, the Hawkeyes compiled a 9–3 record, finished in third place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 374 to 175. They concluded the season with a loss to [1983 1983 Florida Gators football team|Florida Gators football team|Florida] in the Gator Bowl and were ranked No. 14 in the final AP nd UPI polls.
The offense broke 35 school records, including most yards of total offense in a season and in a game, and most passing yards in a season and in a game. The team was led on offense by quarterback Chuck Long. Defensive standouts included linebacker Larry Station and defensive back Mike Stoops.
The team played its home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

Game summaries

at Iowa State

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This was the first of 15 straight wins in the series for the Hawkeyes.

Owen Gill 16 Rush, 136 Yds, 4 TD

at Penn State

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No. 3 Ohio State

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The Hawkeyes earned their first win over the Buckeyes since 1962.

at Illinois

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The Hawkeyes - ranked #3 in the Coaches poll and #4 in the AP poll - could not break through on this day in Champaign. Illinois would go on to win the outright Big Ten title by finishing 9-0 in conference play.

Northwestern

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The Hawkeyes set a Big Ten record with 713 yards of total offense.

Chuck Long: 23-33, 420 yards, 4 TD

Purdue

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at No. 10 Michigan

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Indiana

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Dave Moritz - 11 receptions, 192 receiving yards, 2 TD

at Wisconsin

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Chuck Long - 4 TD passes
Eddie Phillips - 162 Rush yards, TD

at Michigan State

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Minnesota

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The Hawkeyes rolled up a school-record 517 yards rushing against the Gophers. Three Iowa backs went over 100 yards, led by Eddie Phillips with 172 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ronnie Harmon had 75 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 4 carries, and also caught a touchdown pass.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Five of the staff would go on to become the winningest head coaches at five different programs: Snyder, Alvarez, Stoops, McCarney and Ferentz

Statistical achievements

The offense broke 35 school records, including:

5,647 yards of total offense and 470.6 per game
3,239 passing yards
713 yards of total offense in a game vs Northwestern.
517 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in a game vs Minnesota
575 passing yards against Northwestern.

The team's individual statistical leaders included:

Quarterback Chuck Long completed 157 of 265 passes for 2,601 yards. He also set a single-game Iowa passing record with 420 passing yards against Northwestern on October 8, 1983.
Running back Owen Gill led the team with 798 rushing yards.
Wide receiver Dave Moritz led the team with 50 receptions for 912 yards. Dave Chappel set a single-game Iowa receiving record with 11 receptions for 192 yards against Indiana on October 29, 1983.
Kicker Tom Nichol led the team with 86 points scored on 14 field goals and 44 extra points.
Defensive back Mike Stoops led the team with six interceptions for 154 yards.
Linebacker Larry Station led the team with 138 total tackles.

Awards and honors

Six Iowa players received first-team honors on the 1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team: quarterback Chuck Long ; ; offensive tackle John Alt ; defensive tackle Paul Hufford ; linebacker Larry Station ; defensive back Mike Stoops ; and wide receiver Dave Moritz.
The team had three most valuable players: fullback Norm Granger; quarterback Chuck Long; and wide receiver Dave Moritz. The team also had three captains: fullback Norm Granger; offensive guard Jon Roehlk; and defensive end Dave Stroebel.

1984 NFL draft

John Alt	Tackle	1	21	Kansas City Chiefs
Joel Hilgenberg	Center	4	97	New Orleans Saints
Norm Granger	Running Back	5	137	Dallas Cowboys
Joe Levelis	Guard	6	166	Dallas Cowboys
Dave Moritz	Wide Receiver	10	275	San Francisco 49ers