The 2004 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games in Kinnick Stadium and were coached by Kirk Ferentz. Finishing the 2003 season with a 10–3 record and an Outback Bowl victory, the Hawkeyes began the season 2–0 with wins over Kent State and Iowa State. But after rocky performances at Arizona State and Michigan, the Hawkeyes sat at 2–2 going into their game with Michigan State.
The Hawkeyes handily defeated the Spartans 38–16, and turned their attention to Ohio State, a team whom the Hawkeyes had not beaten at home since 1983. Behind a strong defensive performance that allowed only 177 yards, the Hawkeyes easily defeated the Buckeyes by 26 points, the largest margin of victory over Ohio State in Iowa history at the time. However, tragedy struck soon thereafter, when head coach Kirk Ferentz's father died. In the emotional game that ensued, the Hawkeyes narrowly defeated Penn State 6–4 on two Kyle Schlicher field goals.
The Hawkeyes then raised their record to 8–2 with victories over Illinois, Purdue, and Minnesota. With a share of the Big Ten championship on the line, the Hawkeyes met Wisconsin in the final regular season game of the year. Iowa won the game, completing its second consecutive unbeaten season at home, and thousands of Hawkeye fans swarmed the field in celebration. Several weeks following the victory, Iowa accepted a bid to play the LSU Tigers in the 2005 Capital One Bowl.
In a game that was originally thought to be a defensive matchup, the Hawkeyes took a 24–12 lead early in the fourth quarter. But behind freshman quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the Tigers stormed back, and took a one-point lead with 46 seconds remaining. However, LSU's comeback was all for naught, as Iowa's Drew Tate completed a 56-yard touchdown pass to Warren Holloway as time expired, giving Iowa the 30–25 win and a 10–2 final record.
Before the season Prior to the season, the Hawkeyes looked to replace seven offensive starters and four defensive starters. Key losses from 2003 included Maurice Brown, Robert Gallery, Nate Chandler, Fred Russell, and Ramon Ochoa on offense. Defensively, the Hawkeyes looked to replace Howard Hodges, Jared Clauss, Grant Steen, and Bob Sanders.
Replacement starters on offense were Drew Tate, Champ Davis, Jermelle Lewis, Calvin Davis, Tony Jackson, Lee Gray, Mike Elgin, and Chris Felder. On defense, Derreck Robinson, Tyler Luebke, George Lewis, and Marcus Paschal assumed their roles on the starting lineup. On special teams, David Bradley returned for his senior season as punter, while Kyle Schlicher replaced Nate Kaeding as the starting kicker.
Preseason Rankings NationalChamps.net – 12th USA today – 12th SI.com – 15th AP top 25 – 19th
Recruiting class Iowa signed 21 players on National Signing Day, which was February 4, 2004. The Hawkeyes added other late commits to the class with the late additions of defensive lineman Ettore Ewen .
Another recruit, Kyle Williams, later de-committed from the Hawkeyes and committed to the Purdue Boilermakers.
Schedule
Schedule note Due to the Big Ten's rotating schedule, the Hawkeyes did not play either Northwestern or Indiana.
Strength of schedule rankings FootballFantasy.com – 13th Russell rankings – 18th AndersonSports – 18th
Roster Quarterbacks 5 Tate, Drew – sophomore 7 McCollom, Eric – sophomore 12 Phillips, Cy – junior
Running backs 21 Young, Albert – freshman 23 Schnoor, Marcus – junior 28 Sims, Damian – freshman 29 Lewis, Jermelle – senior 32 Sherlock, Kevin – junior 33 Simmons, Marques – sophomore 35 Busch, Tom – freshman 36 Strube, Taylor – freshman 43 Mickens, Aaron – senior 46 Davis, Champ – sophomore 48 Brownlee, Sam – sophomore
Wide receivers 3 Aldrich, Chris – freshman 8 Townsend, James – sophomore 11 Hinkel, Ed – junior 20 Huisman, Michael – freshman 22 Davis, Calvin – sophomore 84 Melloy, Matt – junior 86 Holloway, Warren – senior 88 Solomon, Clinton – junior
Tight ends 30 Majerus, Ryan – sophomore 41 Barkema, C.J. – junior 81 Jackson, Tony – senior 87 Chandler, Scott – sophomore
Offensive line 54 Elgin, Mike – sophomore 58 Larsen, Blake – junior 59 Cronin, Ben – junior 61 Ferentz, Brian – junior 63 Plagman, Todd – sophomore 64 Felder, Chris – sophomore 68 Bowers, Jacob – senior 69 McMahon, Peter – senior 70 Gray, Lee – junior 71 Olsen, Seth – freshman 74 Walker, David – junior 75 Gates, Ben – junior 76 Jones, Mike – sophomore 77 Huntrods, Clint – freshman 79 Dollmeyer, Greg – sophomore Defensive line 21 Spratt, Jacob – freshman 31 Roth, Matt – senior 45 Babineaux, Jonathan – senior 60 Luebke, Tyler – junior 65 Willcox, Alex – freshman 72 Eshareturi, George – freshman 74 Roos, Nate – junior 86 Browning, Shannon – freshman 90 Elsallal, Saleh – junior 92 Iwebema, Kenny – freshman 94 Kittrell, Richard – sophomore 98 Robinson, Derreck – senior 99 Mattison, Bryan – freshman
Linebackers 18 Greenway, Chad – junior 27 Miles, Ed – sophomore 40 Klinkenborg, Mike – freshman 43 Mike Anderson – freshman 47 King, Mitch – freshman 49 Follett, Mike – junior 50 Lewis, George – senior 51 Gabelmann, Zach – sophomore 52 Hodge, Abdul – junior 53 Kroul, Matt – freshman
Defensive backs 2 Dalton, Harold – freshman 3 Dawkins, Ma'Quan – sophomore 4 Grigsby, Herb – freshman 10 Belleus, Walner – junior 13 Godfrey, Charles – freshman 14 Moylan, Devan – freshman 15 Merrick, Miguel – sophomore 17 Zanders, Jonathan – freshman 19 Shada, Adam – freshman 20 Allen, Antwan – junior 25 Paschal, Marcus – sophomore 26 Johnson, Jovon – junior 29 Fletcher, Bradley – freshman 32 Becker, Andrew – sophomore 33 Williams, Anthony - freshman 36 Ejiasi, Chigozie – senior 37 Considine, Sean – senior Kickers 1 Schlicher, Kyle – sophomore
Punters 28 Bradley, David – senior 91 Gallery, John – junior
Long snappers 66 Asmus, Kody – junior 67 Kesselring, Kyle – junior 65 Olszta, Daniel – freshman
– indicates redshirt (sat out one season)
Coaching staff Name Position Years at Iowa Kirk Ferentz Head coach Five Years Ken O'Keefe Offensive coordinator and Quarterbacks Five Years Norm Parker Defensive coordinator and Linebackers Five Years Chris Doyle Strength and conditioning Five Years Lester Erb Receivers and Special Teams Four Years Carl Jackson Running backs Five Years Reese Morgan Recruiting and Tight Ends Four Years Ron Aiken Defensive line Five Years Phil Parker Defensive backs Five Years Darrell Wilson Linebackers and Special Teams Four Years
Rankings
Game summaries
Kent State
Source: Box Score
The Hawkeyes, wearing throwback uniforms commemorating 75 years at Kinnick Stadium, smothered the Golden Flashes. Sophomore Drew Tate had two touchdown passes in his debut as starter. Junior linebacker Chad Greenway had a blocked punt and two interceptions, the latter turning into a pick six midway through the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
Statistics KENTIOWA First downs 11 22 Total yards 110 437 Rushing yards 13 214 Passing yards 123 223 Turnovers 4 1 Time of possession 18:07 41:53
Iowa State
Source: Box Score
Statistics ISUIOWA First downs 16 16 Total yards 236 305 Rushing yards 66 85 Passing yards 170 220 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 28:23 31:37
at Arizona State
Source: Box Score
Statistics IOWAASU First downs 6 23 Total yards 100 511 Rushing yards 56 76 Passing yards 44 435 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 23:05 36:55
at No. 18 Michigan
Source: Box Score
Statistics IOWAMICH First downs 16 18 Total yards 255 329 Rushing yards 61 122 Passing yards 270 236 Turnovers 5 2 Time of possession 27:45 32:15
Michigan State
Source: Box Score
Statistics MSUIOWA First downs 27 20 Total yards 449 464 Rushing yards 204 124 Passing yards 245 340 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 31:32 28:28
No. 25 Ohio State
Source: Box Score
Kirk Ferentz was able to get his first win over Ohio State in this dominant victory. Iowa's defense was relentless and held the Buckeyes to just 27 yards rushing on 29 attempts. Additionally, Ohio State only ran six plays in Hawkeye territory through the first three quarters of the game, and scored their only points with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Sophomore quarterback Drew Tate had four touchdowns (1 rushing).
Statistics OSUIOWA First downs 12 24 Total yards 177 448 Rushing yards 27 117 Passing yards 150 331 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 26:02 33:58
at Penn State
Source: Box Score
Iowa's first win without a touchdown since beating Michigan in 1985.HawkeyeSports.com. Retrieved 2015-Jul-05.
Statistics IOWAPSU First downs 10 6 Total yards 168 147 Rushing yards 42 51 Passing yards 126 96 Turnovers 2 5 Time of possession 33:58 26:02
at Illinois
Source: Box Score
Statistics IOWAILL First downs 19 16 Total yards 319 268 Rushing yards 76 58 Passing yards 243 210 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 35:10 24:50
Purdue
Source: Box Score
Statistics PURIOWA First downs 19 18 Total yards 357 321 Rushing yards 52 43 Passing yards 305 278 Turnovers 5 1 Time of possession 27:51 32:09
at Minnesota
Source: Box Score
In one of the more unlikely victories of the season, Iowa traveled to the Metrodome to challenge the Golden Gophers powerful rushing duo of Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney. The Hawkeye defense came into the game rated #1 in the country in rushing defense.
Despite that, the Gopher tandem shredded the Hawkeye defense with the Gophers outrushing Iowa by an outlandish margin of 337 to 6 in yards gained. The Hawkeyes prevailed however behind the deft passing and scrambling of sophomore quarterback Drew Tate, a pass defense that held the Gophers to 73 yards through the air and forced three turnovers, and Iowa's sophomore place-kicker Kyle Schlicher, who was a perfect 5–5 in field goals.
The Hawkeyes led virtually the entire game, but needed a huge defensive stop in the closing minutes, with Jr. linebacker Chad Greenway stopping Marion Barber III for a key loss on 2nd down in Iowa territory and eventually forcing Minnesota to attempt a 51-yard field goal, trailing by two. Although Gopher placekicker Rhyss Lloyd had won three games in his career with last-minute field goals, this time his attempt shanked wide.
QB Drew Tate then guided the Hawks to one closing first down with the help of an offside penalty on Minnesota, and the Hawks survived, winning their sixth consecutive game, all against Big 10 teams. By the time the Hawkeyes kicked off in their next (and final) regular-season game, they learned they would be playing for a portion of the Big Ten title.
Statistics IOWAMINN First downs 18 20 Total yards 339 410 Rushing yards 6 337 Passing yards 333 73 Turnovers 0 4 Time of possession 30:56 29:04
No. 9 Wisconsin
Source: Box Score
Iowa clinched a share of Big Ten title with this victory over Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes' defense was smothering, holding a top-ten Badger team to just seven points. Fans rushed the field as it capped off a historic run and an undefeated home season.
Statistics WISIOWA First downs 15 14 Total yards 186 262 Rushing yards 41 76 Passing yards 145 186 Turnovers 3 3 Time of possession 26:16 33:44
vs. No. 11 LSU (Capital One Bowl)
Source: Box Score
LSU would not go away in this back-and-forth bowl game. The Tigers took the lead with under a minute to play. Drew Tate was able to find Warren Holloway for a 56-yard pass as time expired to give the Hawkeyes a miracle victory which would become to be known as "The Catch" among Iowa fans.
Statistics LSUIOWA First downs 19 16 Total yards 346 334 Rushing yards 118 47 Passing yards 228 287 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 34:12 25:48
Postseason awards
Team players in the 2005 NFL draft
Matt Roth Defensive End2 46 Miami Dolphins Jonathan Babineaux Defensive Tackle 2 59 Atlanta Falcons Sean Considine Defensive Back4 102 Philadelphia Eagles Tony Jackson Tight End6 196 Seattle Seahawks Pete McMahon Tackle6 214 Oakland Raiders
References