Wine Online: Holiday Cheer, Bowl Game Style

Dec. 20, 2010

IOWA CITY, Iowa —Only three Hawkeye football coaches have taken teams to bowl games. Forest Evashevski did it twice in the 1950s, Hayden Fry 14 times in the 1980s and 1990s. The Insight Bowl Dec. 28 will be Kirk Ferentz’s ninth trip this decade. Together, they have 13 bowl triumphs. Here are my favorite wins, two for each coach.

Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 1957 — There were just a half dozen bowl games 54 years ago and the Big Ten allowed only its champion to participate, and that team had an automatic berth to the Rose Bowl. An Iowa team that was not considered a contender scored consecutive shut outs against Minnesota and Ohio State in November to earn the Big Ten title and a surprise trip to Pasadena. The Hawkeyes faced Oregon State, a team they had beaten by only a point (14-13) early in the season. But it was a 35-19 rout in the Rose Bowl as quarterback Kenny Ploen ran and passed his team to victory. Iowa finished the season 9-1 and ranked No. 3 in the polls.

Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 1959 — Evashevski had his team back in Pasadena, only this time it was no surprise. The Wing-T offense he had unveiled two years earlier was finely tuned and producing big scores. California had no answer to the dazzling attack and Iowa cruised to a 38-12 victory. Bob Jeter’s 194 yards rushing included an 81-yard touchdown run, both Rose Bowl records. Willie Fleming scored twice, once from 37 yards. Iowa’s 429 yards rushing and 516 yards total offense were also bowl records. The Football Writers of America crowned the Hawkeyes national champions.

Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30, 1986 — One of the wildest and most exciting bowl games in history ended with a Rob Houghtlin field goal as time expired to give Iowa a 39-38 victory. San Diego State, playing at home, had taken a 38-36 lead with only 47 seconds left, but Kevin Harmon returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to set up Houghlin’s game-winning 41-yard boot. Mark Vlasic threw touchdown passes to Marv Cook and Mike Flagg in the frantic fourth quarter of a game that had a little bit of everything, including three two-point conversions, two of them by Iowa. The lead changed hands five times. The Hawkeyes finished the season 9-3 and gave Fry his third bowl victory.

Sun Bowl, Dec. 29, 1995 — This game was considered the mismatch of the bowl season. Washington arrived as the Pac-10 co-champions and Iowa limped in with a 7-4 record. The Huskies were heavy favorites and a poll taken the day before the game found only one reporter covering the contest who thought the Hawkeyes had a chance. But the game was less than two minutes old when Sedrick Shaw raced 58 yards for a touchdown and the Hawkeyes were on their way to a stunning 38-18 upset. Brion Hurley found the thin air of El Paso to his liking and kicked field goals of 49, 47 and 50 yards. Shaw (135) and Tavian Banks (122) both topped 100 yards rushing. Brian Rollins had eight tackles for an Iowa defense that forced three fumbles. The victory was especially sweet for Fry, who grew up in West Texas and had many friends and family members at the game.

Capital One Bowl, Jan. 1, 2005 — Iowa stunned LSU 30-25 in a game that is best remembered for its final play, Drew Tate’s 56-yard touchdown pass to Warren Holloway. But the Hawkeyes made other big plays that helped stage this upset. Tate’s 57-yard TD pass to Clinton Solomon gave Iowa the lead and early momentum. The Hawkeyes blocked two punts, one by Miquel Merrick that Sean Considine returned for a TD. Ed Hinkle caught a career-high 10 passes. The defense, led by Jonathan Babineaux, recorded five quarterback sacks. Ferentz’s Hawkeyes finished No. 8 in the polls and won at least 10 games for the third straight season.

Orange Bowl, Jan. 5, 2010 — The pre-game hype was all about Georgia Tech’s triple-option offense that had rolled up big scores behind a deceptive running game ranked second in the country. Could coordinator Norm Parker and his Iowa defense slow it down? The question didn’t take long to answer. Tech couldn’t make a first down in the first quarter and managed only 32 net yards in the first half as Iowa cruised to a 24-14 victory in a game that wasn’t nearly as close the score indicates. Adrian Clayborn and Pat Angerer led the assault on Tech’s offense. Together they had 19 tackles. Clayborn also sacked the quarterback twice and was named the game`s MVP. Ricky Stanzi threw TD passes to Marvin McNutt and Colin Sandeman as Iowa finished the season 11-2 and ranked No. 7 in the country.