IOWA CITY, Iowa -- When Ralph Miller became Iowa's basketball coach in 1964 the program was going south. The Hawkeyes had finished near the bottom of the Big Ten the previous two seasons, attendance was embarrassingly low and apathy had set in. Sound familiar? Miller was part coach, part salesman and part showman, and he was very good at all three. Before he ever coached a game at Iowa, he issued a promise and a warning to Hawkeye supporters. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Some things to chew on during a football off-season in which the Hawkeyes are basking in the aftermath of a dominating Orange Bowl performance: Iowa had an impressive 7-2 record against teams that played in bowl games. Wins were against Wisconsin, Arizona, Minnesota, Iowa State, Penn State, Michigan State and Georgia Tech. Losses were to Ohio State and Northwestern. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Orange Bowl matches Georgia Tech's explosive offense against Iowa's stingy defense. In fact, it's a perfect match. NCAA stats show Tech as the 11th best offense among 120 BCS teams, while Iowa's defense ranks 11th. Tech has scored 35.3 points a game. Iowa has given up less than half of that (15.5). One team will try to impose its will on the other, and both will have had a month to formulate their game plans. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- When Hayden Fry took over an ailing Iowa football program in 1979, he had a lot of things to change, including the image. One way to do that was to change the uniform. The best football team on the planet at the time was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were winning Super Bowl championships in the NFL, and their colors happened to be black and gold, the same as Iowa's. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- How much do traveling trophies motivate college football teams? Does the Old Oaken Bucket make Purdue and Indiana play harder? Is the Little Brown Jug an inspiration when Michigan plays Minnesota? Iowa plays for three traveling trophies: The Cy-Hawk Trophy for Iowa State, the Heartland Trophy for Wisconsin and Floyd of Rosedale for Minnesota. And while it is impossible to say how much incentive -- if any -- these trophies provide, recent results indicate they give inspiration to the Hawkeyes. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- It's a little-known fact that Floyd of Rosedale, the long-time traveling trophy that goes to the winner of Iowa's football game with Minnesota at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, is a product of racism. The target of that racism was Ozzie Simmons, a star running back for the Hawkeyes in the mid-1930s when Hitler was spreading bigotry in Europe and the Ku Klux Klan was active in America. Not many African Americans were competing in college sports. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa's football team went to Ohio State Saturday and did what few thought possible. The Hawkeyes played the Buckeyes straight up and after 60 minutes there was still no decision. Each team had scored 24 points, and Iowa had done it with a freshman quarterback starting his first game, and a freshman running back who had missed the last two games with an ankle sprain. After four quarters of play, these two freshmen -- James Vandenberg and Adam Robinson -- had all their team's rushing yardage and Vandenberg had thrown for two touchdowns. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa fans who were eager to see their favorite football team get off to a fast start and an early lead got their wish Saturday. On a gorgeous day at Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes scored in the first minute of play on a 74-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt. On their next possession they moved downfield and Daniel Murray booted a 39-yard field goal. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Fifty years ago the most popular and recognizable person in our state was -- by far -- the University of Iowa football coach. Forest Evashevski, who died Oct. 30 at age 91, had just coached the Hawkeyes through three consecutive seasons that have never been equaled in school history. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Kirk Ferentz says that wind influences a football game much more than rain. Those of us who watched the twists and turns in Iowa's 42-24 victory over Indiana on Saturday would not disagree with the head coach. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Members of Iowa's 1979-80 basketball team have a reunion scheduled for this weekend (Oct. 30-31) to celebrate one of the most memorable seasons in school history. They'll recall the 10 straight victories that opened the season and the injuries and adversity that followed. Finally, and most vividly, they'll remember their serious run at a national championship. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Deep in the bowels of ancient Camp Randall Stadium there is a telephone booth. That's where Iowa's players went at halftime Saturday to slip Superman outfits under their black and gold uniforms. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Here we are in mid-October and only two major college football teams are a perfect 6-0. One is Alabama. The other is (drum roll, please) Iowa. Before you holler this can't be true, let me point out there are seven other unbeaten teams that have played only five games: Florida, Texas, Boise State, Cincinnati, TCU, Kansas and South Florida. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- My son Steve is a sports writer in Miami who makes his living at this time of year writing about the National Football League. But he finds time to follow the University of Iowa, his alma mater, and he has this observation five games into the football season: The two best quarterbacks the Hawkeyes have faced have played for teams from the Missouri Valley and Sun Belt Conferences. They have not played for teams in the Big 12, the Pac-10 and the Big Ten, the so-called power conferences. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- After Iowa and Penn State slogged their way through three quarters of a football game at Beaver Stadium Saturday night, one thing was obvious to 107,000 rain-soaked fans and an ABC television audience. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Here's what we know about the Hawkeyes three weeks into the football season. They are 3-0, with a hair-raising victory over UNI and decisive triumphs over Iowa State and Arizona. While that slate of games does not represent Murderers' Row, it should be noted that all three teams are now 2-l, with their only loss to Iowa. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Did you see this coming? A 35-3 blowout? If so, buy a plane ticket to Las Vegas and cash in on your clairvoyance. Hey, this was supposed to be a hotly contested rivalry football game between the two largest universities in our state. Iowa was limping off a narrow one-point escape from UNI. Iowa State had renewed optimism because of a new offense with no huddle. And, as it happened, no touchdowns. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A week after Iowa's swat team of Broderick Binns and Jerimiah Hunter blocked Northern Iowa's upset bid, the Hawkeyes travel to Ames for a football game with another in-state rival, Iowa State. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Big Ten football schedules are not what they used to be. Not by a long shot. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In the 10 years Kirk Ferentz has been head football coach, Iowa has generally had good defenses. Under coordinator Norm Parker and his staff, some have been very good. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- If you think the sky has fallen and Iowa's basketball team cannot recover from the defection of four scholarship players, here are two stories that will give you hope. One comes from my friend Al Schallau, who graduated from Iowa some 40 years ago, then moved to Southern California to seek his fortune as a lawyer. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Midway through the football season, Iowa fans began to realize they might be witnessing something special. Week after week, Saturday after Saturday, game after game, Shonn Greene hammered his way to more than 100 yards rushing. He ran through, around and over opponents, regardless of how many men they put in the box or what kind of defense they used in an attempt to contain him. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Midway through the football season, a friend who is a knowledgeable fan, asked if I thought the Hawkeyes would win another game. He was serious. Things were not looking good for the Hawkeyes, who were having issues at quarterback as well as turnovers. As a consequence, they had lost three straight games by a total of nine points. They seemed incapable of winning close games, just as they had the two previous seasons. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- One week after the University of Iowa defeated Penn State on a "Hail Murray," Purdue failed to beat the Hawkeyes on a "Hail Mary." After wondering if our favorite football team could win a close game, it won two in eight days. On a cold, windy and generally dreary day, a 22-17 victory over Purdue did not come easy, and it was not always pretty. The special teams were not special, with two missed extra points, short punts, and a long kickoff return by Purdue. Two Iowa fumbles were turned into 10 points by the Boilermakers. And the failure to make a fourth-and-1 in the closing minutes led to a nail-biting finish. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Coaching decisions determine the outcome of games, and Kirk Ferentz made two Saturday that were critical in Iowa' memorable 24-23 victory over Penn State. irk made his first just before the game started. In his nearly 10 seasons as coach of the Hawkeyes, he has chosen to receive the kickoff if his team wins the coin toss. But on a cold and windy day, he decided to defer his choice until the second half when Iowa won the coin flip. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Big Ten probably never had a day in which every conference football game was decided in the final 30 seconds. But it has now. The results of all four Big Ten games on Saturday were determined in the final, fleeting seconds. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Following a bye week, a well-rested Iowa football team is gearing up for the second half of its Big Ten schedule, which looks more challenging than the first half. The two toughest games ahead appear to be with Penn State and Minnesota. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - In the wake of Shonn Greene's Herculean performance against Wisconsin, and the marvelous consistency he has shown, many Iowa fans are asking two questions: (1) Can Greene win the Heisman Trophy, and (2) Will he forego his senior season and turn pro? more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Who was the hero of Iowa's 45-9 thumping of Indiana? Was it the defense, which for the second game in a row allowed a Big Ten opponent only one touchdown? Was it the offensive line, which dominated so thoroughly that Iowa had a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession?. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Big Ten has a long history of producing great running backs. Probably the first was Red Grange of Illinois, who ran wild in the early 1920s and became known as "The Galloping Ghost." Others followed with equally colorful nicknames. There was Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsh and Allen "The Horse" Ameche, both of Wisconsin, and Eric "The Flea" Allen of Michigan State. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Back in August I suggested three ways for the Hawkeyes to enjoy a successful football season: (1) win close games, (2) win when favored, and (3) win at Kinnick Stadium. Saturday they failed on all three. Five turnovers were costly in a Homecoming loss to Northwestern, and this week the buzz is about fumbles, not quarterbacks. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Maybe you've heard that the Hawkeyes have questions at quarterback. Yes, four games into the football season, the all-important quarterback position remains uncertain. While this is unusual at Iowa, it is not without precedent. Let's look at two seasons where "quarterback controversies" resulted in success. And keep in mind that our current head coach was around for both. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Yes, you can put lipstick on a pig and get positive results. The Hawkeyes proved that Saturday by applying some fourth-quarter cosmetics to a football game that was unattractive and often ugly for three periods. Iowa and Iowa State had played a strange and sometimes sloppy contest on a field left slippery by a two-day rain. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- While loyal fans and sports reporters obsess about Iowa's so-called quarterback controversy, here's a piece of information that might divert their attention: The Hawkeyes have not allowed their first two opponents to penetrate the red zone. more

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The capacity crowd for the season opener at Kinnick Stadium included members of the 1958 Iowa football team. They were on campus to renew friendships, reflect on their accomplishments and tell a few stories -- some true, some perhaps embellished. more