FEATURED GAME
Beat Wisconsin
20
vs
16
Kept the Heartland Trophy — won by 4
Football History
Season Snapshot 1971 at a glance
1971 Iowa Football
1-10
Overall
1-8
Big Ten
Frank Lauterbur
Head coach
By the Numbers
Power rating
-9.7
Simple Rating System — #107 nationally
Memorable Games
Highest score
21
vs (11) Ohio State on Sep 11
Best defensive game
held them to 14
vs Indiana (7-14)
Closest game
4-point win
vs Wisconsin (20-16)
Biggest win
by 4
vs Wisconsin (20-16)
Rankings & Streaks
Home record
1-4
at Carver / Kinnick / home court
Road record
0-6
true road games (excludes neutral sites)
Season Defining Games ranked wins, overtime battles, and heartbreakers
Heartbreakers & Tough Tests
VS FLOYD OF ROSEDALE
Faced Minnesota
14
vs
19
Trophy game came up just short
VS A TOP TEAM
Faced #3 Michigan
7
vs
63
Tough matchup against #3
VS A TOP TEAM
Faced #11 Ohio State
21
vs
52
Tough matchup against #11
Compare This Team
See how the 1971 Hawkeyes stack up against another Iowa season.
1971 Schedule 11 games
| Date | Opponent | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 | Away (11) Ohio State | 21–52 | L |
| Sep 18 | Away Oregon State | 19–33 | L |
| Sep 25 | Home (12) Penn State | 14–44 | L |
| Oct 2 | Away Purdue | 13–45 | L |
| Oct 9 | Home Northwestern | 3–28 | L |
| Oct 16 | Home Minnesota | 14–19 | L |
| Oct 23 | Away Michigan State | 3–34 | L |
| Oct 30 | Home Wisconsin | 20–16 | W |
| Nov 6 | Away (3) Michigan | 7–63 | L |
| Nov 13 | Home Indiana | 7–14 | L |
| Nov 20 | Away Illinois | 0–31 | L |
Team & Player Stats
Per-Game Averages
Points per game
11.0
vs
34.5
Iowa scored versus Iowa allowed per game.
-23.5 points per game
Total yards
—
vs
—
How many yards Iowa moved the ball, versus how many they let the other team move.
Pass yards
135.9
vs
127.3
Yards from passing per game — Iowa versus opponents.
+8.6 difference per game
Rush yards
81.5
vs
324.7
Yards on the ground per game — Iowa versus opponents.
-243.2 difference per game
First downs
—
vs
—
A first down means a fresh set of four tries — earning more is good.
Turnovers
—
vs
—
Times Iowa lost the ball (lower is better) versus times the defense took it back (higher is better).
Top Performers
Team Stats per Game
Stat
Offense
Defense
Diff
Pass Cmp
11.5
8.5
+3.0
Pass Att
25.6
17.9
+7.7
Pass Cmp %
44.7
47.7
-3.0
Pass Yds
135.9
127.3
+8.6
Pass TD
0.8
0.7
+0.1
Rush Att
37.5
65.4
-27.9
Rush Yds
81.5
324.7
-243.2
Rush Y/A
2.2
5.0
-2.8
Rush TD
0.6
3.8
-3.2
Plays
—
—
—
Total Yds
—
—
—
Yds/Play
—
—
—
1st Downs
—
—
—
Penalties
—
—
—
Penalty Yds
—
—
—
Fumbles
—
—
—
Interceptions
—
—
—
Turnovers
—
—
—
Player Stats
Passing
| Player | G | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Y/A | AY/A | Y/C | Y/G | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank SundermanQB | 11 | 109 | 235 | 46.4 | 1,297 | 9 | 12 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 11.9 | 117.9 | 95.2 |
| Rob FickQB | 11 | 17 | 45 | 37.8 | 198 | 0 | 1 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 11.6 | 18.0 | 70.3 |
| Steve PenneyRB | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | -45.0 | — | 0.0 | -200.0 |
| Levi MitchellRB | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Rushing & Receiving
| Player | G | Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | Y/G | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Y/G | Plays | Yds | TD | ||
| Levi MitchellRB | 11 | 149 | 623 | 4.2 | 3 | 56.6 | 22 | 263 | 12.0 | 1 | 23.9 | 171 | 886 | 4 |
| Dave TriplettWR | 11 | 2 | -8 | -4.0 | 0 | -0.7 | 28 | 426 | 15.2 | 3 | 38.7 | 30 | 418 | 3 |
| Craig JohnsonRB | 11 | 66 | 235 | 3.6 | 1 | 21.4 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 1.2 | 67 | 248 | 1 |
| Jerry ReardonWR | 11 | 10 | 30 | 3.0 | 1 | 2.7 | 15 | 192 | 12.8 | 1 | 17.5 | 25 | 222 | 2 |
| Don OsbyTE | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 14 | 214 | 15.3 | 1 | 19.5 | 14 | 214 | 1 |
| Steve PenneyRB | 11 | 31 | 94 | 3.0 | 1 | 8.5 | 13 | 58 | 4.5 | 0 | 5.3 | 44 | 152 | 1 |
| Tom CabalkaTE | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 12 | 146 | 12.2 | 3 | 13.3 | 12 | 146 | 3 |
| Brian RollinsWR | 11 | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | 0 | -0.3 | 13 | 131 | 10.1 | 0 | 11.9 | 14 | 128 | 0 |
| Frank HolmesRB | 11 | 54 | 118 | 2.2 | 1 | 10.7 | 2 | -3 | -1.5 | 0 | -0.3 | 56 | 115 | 1 |
| Dave HarrisWR | 11 | 1 | -7 | -7.0 | 0 | -0.6 | 3 | 42 | 14.0 | 0 | 3.8 | 4 | 35 | 0 |
| Paul JurcaTE | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 0.6 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Craig ClemonsDB | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Rob FickQB | 11 | 13 | 6 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 13 | 6 | 0 |
| Bob SimsRB | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Al MatthewsRB | 11 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | -0.1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Frank SundermanQB | 11 | 82 | -192 | -2.3 | 0 | -17.5 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0.0 | 82 | -192 | 0 |
Scoring
| Player | G | Rush | Rec | PR | KR | Int | FR | Oth | TD | XPM | XPA | FGM | FGA | 2PM | Sfty | Pts | Pts/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levi MitchellRB | 11 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 2.2 |
| Dave TriplettWR | 11 | 0 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 1.6 |
| Tom CabalkaTE | 11 | 0 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 1.6 |
| Jerry ReardonWR | 11 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1.1 |
| Craig JohnsonRB | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0.5 |
| Frank HolmesRB | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0.5 |
| Steve PenneyRB | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0.5 |
| Don OsbyTE | 11 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0.5 |
Game Logs
| Date | Opp | Rslt | Passing | Rushing | Total | Penalties | TO | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | Rate | Att | Yds | TD | Plays | Yds | Y/P | No | Yds | FL | Int | TO | |||
| Sep 11 | @ Ohio State | L 21–52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 18 | @ Oregon State | L 19–33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 25 | Penn State | L 14–44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 2 | @ Purdue | L 13–45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 9 | Northwestern | L 3–28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 16 | Minnesota | L 14–19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 23 | @ Michigan State | L 3–34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 30 | Wisconsin | W 20–16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nov 6 | @ Michigan | L 7–63 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nov 13 | Indiana | L 7–14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nov 20 | @ Illinois | L 0–31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
1971 Roster 16 players
| Player | Class | Pos | Season summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Clemons | — | DB | |
| Frank Sunderman | — | QB | 109 Cmp, 235 Att, 1297 Yds, 9 TD |
| Rob Fick | — | QB | 17 Cmp, 45 Att, 198 Yds, 0 TD |
| Al Matthews | — | RB | 1 Att, -1 Yds, -1.0 Avg |
| Bob Sims | — | RB | 2 Att, 2 Yds, 1.0 Avg |
| Craig Johnson | — | RB | 66 Att, 235 Yds, 3.6 Avg |
| Frank Holmes | — | RB | 54 Att, 118 Yds, 2.2 Avg |
| Levi Mitchell | — | RB | 149 Att, 623 Yds, 4.2 Avg |
| Steve Penney | — | RB | 31 Att, 94 Yds, 3.0 Avg |
| Don Osby | — | TE | 14 Rec, 214 Yds, 15.3 Avg |
| Paul Jurca | — | TE | 1 Rec, 7 Yds, 7.0 Avg |
| Tom Cabalka | — | TE | 12 Rec, 146 Yds, 12.2 Avg |
| Brian Rollins | — | WR | 13 Rec, 131 Yds, 10.1 Avg |
| Dave Harris | — | WR | 3 Rec, 42 Yds, 14.0 Avg |
| Dave Triplett | — | WR | 28 Rec, 426 Yds, 15.2 Avg |
| Jerry Reardon | — | WR | 15 Rec, 192 Yds, 12.8 Avg |
1971 AP Poll Movement
Iowa wasn't ranked in the AP poll this season.
History Library
Chapters of Iowa football history
Explore Iowa football history by chapter. Dive into legendary seasons, unforgettable rivalries, and the program's rich tradition.
Greatest Teams
The squads that defined greatness in Iowa history.
Bowl Games
Iowa's iconic bowl performances.
Rivalries
Historic matchups that shaped tradition.
Best Defenses
The stingiest units to ever wear black & gold.
Player Leaders
Single-season stars in passing, rushing, and tackles.
AP Poll History
Iowa's standing through the national rankings.
Updated Jun 1, 5:30 AM