1975 Iowa Hawkeyes Football Season — Schedule, Stats, Results

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Season Snapshot 1975 at a glance

1975 Iowa Football

3-8

Overall

3-5

Big Ten

Bob Commings

Head coach

By the Numbers

Power rating

-0.4

Simple Rating System — #75 nationally

Memorable Games

Highest score

vs Wisconsin on Nov 8

Best defensive game

held them to 10

vs Syracuse (7-10)

Closest game

1-point loss

vs Purdue (18-19)

Biggest win

by 17

vs Wisconsin (45-28)

Rankings & Streaks

Longest win streak

consecutive wins during the season

Home record

1-5

at Carver / Kinnick / home court

Road record

2-3

true road games (excludes neutral sites)

Season Defining Games ranked wins, overtime battles, and heartbreakers

FEATURED GAME

Beat Wisconsin

45 vs 28

home vs Wisconsin · Nov 8, 1975

Kept the Heartland Trophy — won by 17

Signature Wins

ROAD WIN

Beat Indiana

20 vs 10

at Indiana · Oct 18, 1975

Quality road victory

ROAD WIN

Beat Northwestern

24 vs 21

at Northwestern · Nov 1, 1975

Quality road victory

Heartbreakers & Tough Tests

VS A TOP TEAM

Faced #1 Ohio State

0 vs 49

at Ohio State · Oct 11, 1975

Tough matchup against #1

VS A TOP TEAM

Faced #3 USC

16 vs 27

home vs USC · Oct 4, 1975

Tough matchup against #3

HEARTBREAKER

Lost by 3 to Syracuse

7 vs 10

at Syracuse · Sep 20, 1975

Lost by just 3 in the final minutes

Compare This Team

See how the 1975 Hawkeyes stack up against another Iowa season.

1975 Schedule 11 games

Date	Opponent	Score
Sep 13	Home Illinois	12–27	L
Sep 20	Away Syracuse	7–10	L
Sep 27	Home (12) Penn State	10–30	L
Oct 4	Home (3) USC	16–27	L
Oct 11	Away (1) Ohio State	0–49	L
Oct 18	Away Indiana	20–10	W
Oct 25	Home Minnesota	7–31	L
Nov 1	Away Northwestern	24–21	W
Nov 8	Home Wisconsin	45–28	W
Nov 15	Away Purdue	18–19	L
Nov 22	Home Michigan State	23–27	L

Team & Player Stats

Numbers in plain English. Switch to Advanced to see every column. Full stat tables — passing rates, splits, game-by-game breakdowns.

Per-Game Averages

Points per game

16.5 vs 25.4

Iowa scored versus Iowa allowed per game.

-8.8 points per game

Total yards

— vs —

How many yards Iowa moved the ball, versus how many they let the other team move.

Pass yards

54.3 vs 116.5

Yards from passing per game — Iowa versus opponents.

-62.2 difference per game

Rush yards

218.7 vs 223.5

Yards on the ground per game — Iowa versus opponents.

-4.8 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

Quarterback

Tom McLaughlin

358 passing yards, 1 touchdowns, 8 interceptions (11 games).

Lead rusher

Dave Schick

482 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns over 11 games.

Lead receiver

Bill Schultz

8 catches, 238 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns.

Team Stats per Game

Stat

Offense

Defense

Diff

Pass Cmp

3.0

8.2

-5.2

Pass Att

11.4

15.4

-4.0

Pass Cmp %

26.4

53.3

-26.9

Pass Yds

54.3

116.5

-62.2

Pass TD

0.3

0.6

-0.3

Rush Att

50.8

55.9

-5.1

Rush Yds

218.7

223.5

-4.8

Rush Y/A

4.3

4.0

+0.3

Rush TD

1.6

2.6

-1.0

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
Tom McLaughlinQB	11	23	87	26.4	358	1	8	4.1	0.2	15.6	32.5	46.4
Butch CaldwellQB	11	10	37	27.0	239	2	2	6.5	5.1	23.9	21.7	88.3
Doug ReichardtQB	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
Dave SchickRB	11	90	482	5.4	2	43.8	0	0	—	0	0.0	90	482	2
Jim JensenRB	11	81	473	5.8	3	43.0	0	0	—	0	0.0	81	473	3
Mark FetterRB	11	83	395	4.8	2	35.9	3	14	4.7	0	1.3	86	409	2
Rod WellingtonRB	11	60	195	3.3	2	17.7	8	160	20.0	1	14.5	68	355	3
Bobby HolmesRB	11	76	321	4.2	4	29.2	0	0	—	0	0.0	76	321	4
Butch CaldwellQB	11	64	300	4.7	2	27.3	0	0	—	0	0.0	64	300	2
Bill SchultzWR	11	4	33	8.3	1	3.0	8	238	29.8	2	21.6	12	271	3
Ed DonovanRB	11	41	166	4.0	1	15.1	3	47	15.7	0	4.3	44	213	1
Brandt YocomTE	11	0	0	—	0	0.0	7	75	10.7	0	6.8	7	75	0
Jim McNultyWR	11	0	0	—	0	0.0	3	60	20.0	0	5.5	3	60	0
Ernie SheelerRB	11	4	21	5.3	0	1.9	0	0	—	0	0.0	4	21	0
Tom RuskRB	11	2	10	5.0	0	0.9	0	0	—	0	0.0	2	10	0
Nate WinstonRB	11	4	7	1.8	0	0.6	0	0	—	0	0.0	4	7	0
Tom McLaughlinQB	11	49	4	0.1	1	0.4	0	0	—	0	0.0	49	4	1
Tom GrineRB	11	0	0	—	0	0.0	1	3	3.0	0	0.3	1	3	0
Jon LazarRB	11	1	-1	-1.0	0	-0.1	0	0	—	0	0.0	1	-1	0

Scoring

Player	G	Rush	Rec	PR	KR	Int	FR	Oth	TD	2PM	Sfty	Pts	Pts/G
Bobby HolmesRB	11	4	0	—	—	—	—	—	4	—	—	24	2.2
Jim JensenRB	11	3	0	—	—	—	—	—	3	—	—	18	1.6
Bill SchultzWR	11	1	2	—	—	—	—	—	3	—	—	18	1.6
Rod WellingtonRB	11	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	3	—	—	18	1.6
Dave SchickRB	11	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	2	—	—	12	1.1
Butch CaldwellQB	11	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	2	—	—	12	1.1
Mark FetterRB	11	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	2	—	—	12	1.1
Tom McLaughlinQB	11	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	6	0.5
Ed DonovanRB	11	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	6	0.5

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 Iowa Teams

Season	Record	AP Final	Coach	Bowl
1922	7-0	—	Howard Jones	—
1921	7-0	—	Howard Jones	—
1956	9-1	#3	Forest Evashevski	Won — Rose Bowl
1960	8-1	#3	Forest Evashevski	—
1899	8-0-1	—	Alden Knipe	—
1900	7-0-1	—	Alden Knipe	—
2015	12-2	#9	Kirk Ferentz	Lost — Rose Bowl
2009	11-2	#7	Kirk Ferentz	Won — Orange Bowl
2002	11-2	#8	Kirk Ferentz	Lost — Orange Bowl
1991	10-1-1	#10	Hayden Fry	Tied — Holiday Bowl

Iowa Bowl Games

Season	Bowl	Result	Score	Opponent
2025	ReliaQuest Bowl	Won	34-27	vanderbilt
2024	Music City Bowl	Lost	24-27	missouri
2023	Citrus Bowl	Lost	0-35	tennessee
2022	Music City Bowl	Won	21-0	kentucky
2021	Citrus Bowl	Lost	17-20	kentucky
2019	Holiday Bowl	Won	49-24	southern-california
2018	Outback Bowl	Won	27-22	mississippi-state
2017	Pinstripe Bowl	Won	27-20	boston-college
2016	Outback Bowl	Lost	3-30	florida
2015	Rose Bowl	Lost	16-45	stanford
2014	TaxSlayer Bowl	Lost	28-45	tennessee
2013	Outback Bowl	Lost	14-21	louisiana-state
2011	Insight Bowl	Lost	14-31	oklahoma
2010	Insight Bowl	Won	27-24	missouri
2009	Orange Bowl	Won	24-14	georgia-tech
2008	Outback Bowl	Won	31-10	south-carolina
2006	Alamo Bowl	Lost	24-26	texas
2005	Outback Bowl	Lost	24-31	florida
2004	Capital One Bowl	Won	30-25	louisiana-state
2003	Outback Bowl	Won	37-17	florida
2002	Orange Bowl	Lost	17-38	southern-california
2001	Alamo Bowl	Won	19-16	texas-tech
1997	Sun Bowl	Lost	7-17	arizona-state
1996	Alamo Bowl	Won	27-0	texas-tech
1995	Sun Bowl	Won	38-18	washington
1993	Alamo Bowl	Lost	3-37	california
1991	Holiday Bowl	Tied	13-13	brigham-young
1990	Rose Bowl	Lost	34-46	washington
1988	Peach Bowl	Lost	23-28	north-carolina-state
1987	Holiday Bowl	Won	20-19	wyoming
1986	Holiday Bowl	Won	39-38	san-diego-state
1985	Rose Bowl	Lost	28-45	ucla
1984	Freedom Bowl	Won	55-17	texas
1983	Gator Bowl	Lost	6-14	florida
1982	Peach Bowl	Won	28-22	tennessee
1981	Rose Bowl	Lost	0-28	washington
1958	Rose Bowl	Won	38-12	california
1956	Rose Bowl	Won	35-19	oregon-state

Iowa Rivalries

Trophy	Opponent	W-L-T	Years
Cy-Hawk Trophy	Iowa State	47-21	1899–2025
Floyd of Rosedale	Minnesota	54-61-2	1901–2025
Heartland Trophy	Wisconsin	47-48-2	1906–2025
Heroes Trophy	Nebraska	19-26-1	1903–2025

All-time numbers will fill in as historical Iowa schedules are imported.

Best Iowa Defenses

Season	Pts allowed/G	National rank	Record
1899	0.6	#1	8-0
1900	1.5	#3	7-0
1910	2.1	#18	5-2
1929	3.5	#10	4-2
1918	4.0	#14	6-2
1922	4.7	#23	7-0
1935	4.9	#14	4-2
1914	5.1	#21	4-3
1921	5.1	#22	7-0
1928	5.2	#22	6-2

All-Time Single-Season Leaders

Passing yards

Player	Season	Passing
Chuck Hartlieb	1988	3,310
James Vandenberg	2011	3,022
Ricky Stanzi	2010	3,004
Chuck Long	1985	2,978
Nathan Stanley	2019	2,951

Rushing yards

Player	Season	Rushing
Shonn Greene	2008	1,850
Tavian Banks	1997	1,639
Kaleb Johnson	2024	1,537
Marcus Coker	2011	1,384
Fred Russell	2003	1,355

Receiving yards

Player	Season	Receiving
Marvin McNutt	2011	1,315
Keith Chappelle	1980	1,037
Kevin Kasper	2000	1,010
Quinn Early	1987	978
Maurice Brown	2002	966

Tackles

Player	Season	Tackles
Jay Higgins	2023	171
Abdul Hodge	2005	158
Chad Greenway	2005	156
Pat Angerer	2009	145
Jack Campbell	2021	143

AP Poll History

Season	Final AP rank
2025	#17
2023	#24
2021	#23
2020	#16
2019	#15
2018	#25
2015	#9
2009	#7
2008	#20
2004	#8
2003	#8
2002	#8
1996	#18
1995	#25
1991	#10
1990	#18
1987	#16
1986	#16
1985	#10
1984	#16
1983	#14
1981	#18
1960	#3
1958	#2
1957	#6
1956	#3
1953	#9
1939	#9

Updated Jun 1, 5:30 AM

Football History

Season Snapshot 1975 at a glance

1975 Iowa Football

By the Numbers

Memorable Games

Rankings & Streaks

Season Defining Games ranked wins, overtime battles, and heartbreakers

Beat Wisconsin

Signature Wins

Beat Indiana

Beat Northwestern

Heartbreakers & Tough Tests

Faced #1 Ohio State

Faced #3 USC

Lost by 3 to Syracuse

Compare This Team

1975 Schedule 11 games

Team & Player Stats

Per-Game Averages

Top Performers

Team Stats per Game

Player Stats

Passing

Rushing & Receiving

Scoring

1975 Roster

1975 AP Poll Movement

History Library

Greatest Teams

Bowl Games

Rivalries

Best Defenses

Player Leaders

AP Poll History