1968 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1968 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1968 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by third-year head coach Ray Nagel, the Hawkeyes compiled an overall record of 5–5 with a mark of 4–3 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the Big Ten. The team played home games at Iowa Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

1968 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–5 (4–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Nagel (3rd season)
MVP	Ed Podolak
Captain	Ed Podolak, Steve Wilson
Home stadium	Iowa Stadium
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Ohio State $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	0
No. 12 Michigan	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Indiana	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	No. 8 Oregon State*	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 21–20	46,892	^[1]
September 28	at TCU*	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	L 17–28
October 5	No. 5 Notre Dame*	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 28–51	58,043
October 12	Indiana	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 34–38	54,633
October 19	Wisconsin	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 41–0	45,651
October 26	at No. 7 Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 14–44	61,927
November 2	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 35–28	57,703
November 9	Northwestern	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 68–34
November 16	No. 2 Ohio State	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 27–33	44,131
November 23	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 37–13	35,055
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

Roster

1968 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Larry Lawrence Jr RB 14 Ed Podolak Sr RB 44 Dennis Green So WR 22 Kerry Reardon So	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K   Marcos Melendez	Head coach Ray Nagel Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Game summaries

Oregon State

Oregon State at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Beavers 14 6 0 0 20 • Hawkeyes 7 7 0 7 21 Date: September 21 Location: Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA Game attendance: 46,892

Scoring summary 1 OSU TD (Arnold kick) OSU 7–0 1 OSU TD (Arnold kick) OSU 14–0 1 Iowa Podolak 2-yard run (Melendez kick) OSU 14–7 2 Iowa Podolak 10-yard run (Melendez kick) Tied 14–14 2 8:36 OSU Rich 1-yard run (kick failed) OSU 20–14 4 Iowa Dennis Green run (Melendez kick) Iowa 21–20

See also: 1968 Oregon State Beavers football team

^[3]

At TCU

See also: 1968 TCU Horned Frogs football team

Notre Dame

See also: 1968 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

At Purdue

See also: 1968 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Northwestern

Northwestern at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 7 7 14 6 34 • Hawkeyes 14 28 7 19 68 Date: November 9 Location: Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA Game attendance: 44,876

Scoring summary 1 Iowa Sullivan 3-yard run (Melendez kick) Iowa 7–0 1 Iowa Podolak 60-yard run (Melendez kick) Iowa 14–0 1 NW Kurzawski 32-yard pass from Shelbourne (Emmerich kick) Iowa 14–7 2 Iowa Podolak 32-yard run (Melendez kick) Iowa 21–7 2 Iowa Lawrence 7-yard run (Melendez kick) Iowa 28–7 2 Iowa Sullivan 9-yard run (Melendez kick) Iowa 35–7 2 Iowa Manning 19-yard pass from Cilek (Melendez kick) Iowa 42–7 2 NW Emmerich 1-yard run (Emmerich kick) Iowa 42–14 3 Iowa Reardon 95-yard kick return (Melendez kick) Iowa 49–14 3 NW Smeeton 1-yard run (Emmerich kick) Iowa 49–21 3 NW TD (Emmerich kick) Iowa 49–28 4 Iowa Sullivan 11-yard run (kick failed) Iowa 55–28 4 Iowa Manning 6-yard pass from Cilek (pass failed) Iowa 61–28 4 Iowa Green 19-yard pass from Cilek (Melendez kick) Iowa 68–28 4 NW Emmerich 3-yard run (pass failed) Iowa 68–34

See also: 1968 Northwestern Wildcats football team

It was a record-setting day for the Hawkeyes. Iowa established a Big Ten record for total offense with 639 yards (431 rushing). Ed Podolak rushed for 286 yards (setting Iowa and Big Ten records) and two touchdowns on 17 carries. His performance still ranks #2 on Iowa's single-game rushing list.^[4][5]

Ohio State

No. 2 Ohio State at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 2 Buckeyes 6 6 14 7 33 Hawkeyes 0 0 6 21 27 Date: November 16 Location: Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA Game start: 1:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 44,131 Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C), Rain, Wind E 12 mph

Scoring summary Q1 12:13 OSU Otis 7 yard run (kick failed) OSU 6-0 Q2 6:42 OSU Kern 3 yard run (pass failed) OSU 12-0 Q3 10:40 OSU Otis 1 yard run (Roman kick) OSU 19-0 Q3 6:45 IOWA Lawrence 1 yard run (kick failed) OSU 19-6 Q3 1:19 OSU Kern 1 yard run (Zelina kick) OSU 26-6 Q4 8:59 IOWA Podolak 3 yard run (Melendez kick) OSU 26-13 Q4 7:07 OSU Brockington 22 yard run (Roman kick) OSU 33-13 Q4 4:02 IOWA Manning 12 yard pass from Lawrence (Melendez kick) OSU 33-20 Q4 :09 IOWA Reardon 9 yard pass from Lawrence (Melendez kick) OSU 33-27

See also: 1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

At Illinois

See also: 1968 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

After winning only 4 games combined over the previous three seasons, the Hawkeyes earned their 5th victory of the season.^[6]

References

1. "Preece hurt, O-State upset by Iowa 21-20". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 22, 1968. p. 1B.
2. "1968 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
3. "Hawk Sophs Prove Determination Can Be Valued over Experience" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. September 24, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
4. "Podolak Captures Lead in Big 10 Rushing" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 12, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
5. "Iowa Sets Mark". The Times (Shreveport). November 10, 1968. p. 39. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
6. "Seniors Close Careers on a Happy Note" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 26, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved January 7, 2018.