2004 Iowa Hawkeyes football team


The 2004 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games in Kinnick Stadium and were coached by Kirk Ferentz. Finishing the 2003 season with a 10–3 record and an Outback Bowl victory, the Hawkeyes began the season 2–0 with wins over Kent State and Iowa State. But after rocky performances at [2004 2004 Arizona State Sun Devils football team|Arizona State Sun Devils football team|Arizona State] and [2004 2004 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan], the Hawkeyes sat at 2–2 going into their game with Michigan State.
The Hawkeyes handily defeated the Spartans 38–16, and turned their attention to [2004 2004 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State], a team whom the Hawkeyes had not beaten at home since 1983. Behind a strong defensive performance that allowed only 177 yards, the Hawkeyes easily defeated the Buckeyes by 26 points, the largest margin of victory over Ohio State in Iowa history at the time. However, tragedy struck soon thereafter, when head coach Kirk Ferentz's father died. In the emotional game that ensued, the Hawkeyes narrowly defeated [2004 2004 Penn State Nittany Lions football team|Penn State Nittany Lions football team|Penn State] 6–4 on two Kyle Schlicher field goals.
The Hawkeyes then raised their record to 8–2 with victories over [2004 2004 Illinois Fighting Illini football team|Illinois Fighting Illini football team|Illinois], [2004 2004 Purdue Boilermakers football team|Purdue Boilermakers football team|Purdue], and [2004 2004 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|Minnesota]. With a share of the Big Ten championship on the line, the Hawkeyes met [2004 2004 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin] in the final regular season game of the year. Iowa won the game, completing its second consecutive unbeaten season at home, and thousands of Hawkeye fans swarmed the field in celebration. Several weeks following the victory, Iowa accepted a bid to play the LSU Tigers in the 2005 Capital One Bowl.
In a game that was originally thought to be a defensive matchup, the Hawkeyes took a 24–12 lead early in the fourth quarter. But behind freshman quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the Tigers stormed back, and took a one-point lead with 46 seconds remaining. However, LSU's comeback was all for naught, as Iowa's Drew Tate completed a 56-yard touchdown pass to Warren Holloway as time expired, giving Iowa the 30–25 win and a 10–2 final record.

Before the season

Prior to the season, the Hawkeyes looked to replace seven offensive starters and four defensive starters. Key losses from 2003 included Maurice Brown, Robert Gallery, Nate Chandler, Fred Russell, and Ramon Ochoa on offense. Defensively, the Hawkeyes looked to replace Howard Hodges, Jared Clauss, Grant Steen, and Bob Sanders.
Replacement starters on offense were Drew Tate, Champ Davis, Jermelle Lewis, Calvin Davis, Tony Jackson, Lee Gray, Mike Elgin, and Chris Felder. On defense, Derreck Robinson, Tyler Luebke, George Lewis, and Marcus Paschal assumed their roles on the starting lineup. On special teams, David Bradley returned for his senior season as punter, while Kyle Schlicher replaced Nate Kaeding as the starting kicker.

Preseason Rankings

  • NationalChamps.net – 12th
  • USA today – 12th
  • SI.com – 15th
  • AP top 25 – 19th

Recruiting class

Iowa signed 21 players on National Signing Day, which was February 4, 2004. The Hawkeyes added other late commits to the class with the late additions of defensive lineman Ettore Ewen.
Another recruit, Kyle Williams, later de-committed from the Hawkeyes and committed to the Purdue Boilermakers.

Schedule

Schedule note

Due to the Big Ten's rotating schedule, the Hawkeyes did not play either Northwestern or Indiana.

Strength of schedule rankings

  • FootballFantasy.com – 13th
  • Russell rankings – 18th
  • AndersonSports – 18th

Game summaries

Kent State

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The Hawkeyes, wearing throwback uniforms commemorating 75 years at Kinnick Stadium, smothered the Golden Flashes. Sophomore Drew Tate had two touchdown passes in his debut as starter. Junior linebacker Chad Greenway had a blocked punt and two interceptions, the latter turning into a pick six midway through the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
StatisticsKENTIOWA
First downs1122
Total yards110437
Rushing yards13214
Passing yards123223
Turnovers41
Time of possession18:0741:53

Iowa State

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StatisticsISUIOWA
First downs1616
Total yards236305
Rushing yards6685
Passing yards170220
Turnovers01
Time of possession28:2331:37

at Arizona State

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StatisticsIOWAASU
First downs623
Total yards100511
Rushing yards5676
Passing yards44435
Turnovers11
Time of possession23:0536:55

at No. 18 Michigan

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StatisticsIOWAMICH
First downs1618
Total yards255329
Rushing yards61122
Passing yards270236
Turnovers52
Time of possession27:4532:15

Michigan State

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StatisticsMSUIOWA
First downs2720
Total yards449464
Rushing yards204124
Passing yards245340
Turnovers11
Time of possession31:3228:28

No. 25 Ohio State

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Kirk Ferentz was able to get his first win over Ohio State in this dominant victory. Iowa's defense was relentless and held the Buckeyes to just 27 yards rushing on 29 attempts. Additionally, Ohio State only ran six plays in Hawkeye territory through the first three quarters of the game, and scored their only points with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Sophomore quarterback Drew Tate had four touchdowns.
StatisticsOSUIOWA
First downs1224
Total yards177448
Rushing yards27117
Passing yards150331
Turnovers11
Time of possession26:0233:58

at Penn State

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Iowa's first win without a touchdown since beating Michigan in 1985.
StatisticsIOWAPSU
First downs106
Total yards168147
Rushing yards4251
Passing yards12696
Turnovers25
Time of possession33:5826:02

at Illinois

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StatisticsIOWAILL
First downs1916
Total yards319268
Rushing yards7658
Passing yards243210
Turnovers12
Time of possession35:1024:50

Purdue

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StatisticsPURIOWA
First downs1918
Total yards357321
Rushing yards5243
Passing yards305278
Turnovers51
Time of possession27:5132:09

at Minnesota

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In one of the more unlikely victories of the season, Iowa traveled to the Metrodome to challenge the Golden Gophers powerful rushing duo of Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney. The Hawkeye defense came into the game rated #1 in the country in rushing defense.
Despite that, the Gopher tandem shredded the Hawkeye defense with the Gophers outrushing Iowa by an outlandish margin of 337 to 6 in yards gained. The Hawkeyes prevailed however behind the deft passing and scrambling of sophomore quarterback Drew Tate, a pass defense that held the Gophers to 73 yards through the air and forced three turnovers, and Iowa's sophomore place-kicker Kyle Schlicher, who was a perfect 5–5 in field goals.
The Hawkeyes led virtually the entire game, but needed a huge defensive stop in the closing minutes, with Jr. linebacker Chad Greenway stopping Marion Barber III for a key loss on 2nd down in Iowa territory and eventually forcing Minnesota to attempt a 51-yard field goal, trailing by two. Although Gopher placekicker Rhyss Lloyd had won three games in his career with last-minute field goals, this time his attempt shanked wide.
QB Drew Tate then guided the Hawks to one closing first down with the help of an offside penalty on Minnesota, and the Hawks survived, winning their sixth consecutive game, all against Big 10 teams. By the time the Hawkeyes kicked off in their next regular-season game, they learned they would be playing for a portion of the Big Ten title.
StatisticsIOWAMINN
First downs1820
Total yards339410
Rushing yards6337
Passing yards33373
Turnovers04
Time of possession30:5629:04

No. 9 Wisconsin

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Iowa clinched a share of Big Ten title with this victory over Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes' defense was smothering, holding a top-ten Badger team to just seven points. Fans rushed the field as it capped off a historic run and an undefeated home season.
StatisticsWISIOWA
First downs1514
Total yards186262
Rushing yards4176
Passing yards145186
Turnovers33
Time of possession26:1633:44

vs. No. 11 LSU (Capital One Bowl)

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LSU would not go away in this back-and-forth bowl game. The Tigers took the lead with under a minute to play. Drew Tate was able to find Warren Holloway for a 56-yard pass as time expired to give the Hawkeyes a miracle victory which would become to be known as "The Catch" among Iowa fans.
StatisticsLSUIOWA
First downs1916
Total yards346334
Rushing yards11847
Passing yards228287
Turnovers12
Time of possession34:1225:48

Team players in the 2005 NFL draft

Matt RothDefensive End246Miami Dolphins
Jonathan BabineauxDefensive Tackle259Atlanta Falcons
Sean ConsidineDefensive Back4102Philadelphia Eagles
Tony JacksonTight End6196Seattle Seahawks
Pete McMahonTackle6214Oakland Raiders