1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the college football season of 1939. The team, nicknamed the Ironmen, was coached by Dr. Eddie Anderson and was led on the field by halfback Nile Kinnick.

Preseason

Iowa football was clearly struggling as 1939 began. In fact, the entire Iowa athletic department was in poor financial shape. The Great Depression had greatly impacted the small farming state, and Iowa's athletic receipts sharply declined throughout the 1930s. The debt on Iowa Stadium, which was built in 1929, grew by the year. The Hawkeyes had finished among the worst three teams in the Big Ten standings every year in the 1930’s except 1933. Iowa had won just one Big Ten game in the last three years, and the team they beat, Chicago, announced that they would be dropping their football program following the 1939 season. Chicago soon withdrew from the Big Ten Conference.

After compiling a 2-13-1 record in two years at Iowa, head football coach Irl Tubbs was fired. Iowa athletic director E.G. ‘Dad’ Schroeder tried to inject some life into the program by hiring Dr. Eddie Anderson of Holy Cross. Anderson, a Mason City, Iowa native, played and coached under Knute Rockne at Notre Dame. He was the 1921 Notre Dame team captain, and Notre Dame went 28-1 in Anderson’s last three years as a player. Ironically, the lone loss was to the 1921 Hawkeyes.

Around 85 players arrived for spring practice in 1939. About fifty of them did not return in the fall. Anderson installed a complicated new offense and conducted rigorous practices. The 1939 Hawkeye team would be severely lacking in depth. Anderson felt the Hawks could still be a good team in 1939, but only if the starters played significant minutes. A coach brought in temporarily to help with Iowa's spring practice was quoted as saying when he left, "Among 5000 male students at the University of Iowa, there are only five real football players."

Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Ohio State were the Big Ten favorites for the 1939 season, while many sportswriters liked Purdue. Notre Dame was also highly ranked nationally. Iowa was picked at the bottom of the Big Ten.

Before the season, Iowa's best player appeared to be Nile Kinnick. Kinnick was an all-Big Ten selection as a sophomore, when he led the nation in punting average, but he struggled through an injury-riddled junior season. As a result, end Erwin Prasse, an all-Big Ten selection in 1938, was elected as the team captain of the 1939 Hawkeyes. However, Kinnick had recovered from his injuries and was ready for a standout senior season.

chedule

* The Hawkeyes started Diehl, Tollefson, Luebcke, Walker, and Enich on the line, Prasse and Evans at end, and Couppee, Busk, Murphy, and Kinnick in the backfield.

* Kinnick's father, Nile Kinnick, Sr., traveled to Iowa City to see this game, thinking that it might be his only chance all season to see Iowa get a win.

* Green and Dean got interceptions for Iowa. Moore and Couppee each recovered a fumble.

* It was Iowa's first home win since October 1937.

* Kinnick carried 8 times for 110 yards and three touchdowns. His 23 points were the most in a game at Iowa since Oran "Nanny" Pape scored 24 points in a game in 1928.

* Kinnick would sit for most of the second half, the only game action he would miss until the season finale against Northwestern.

* Vollenweider's kickoff return set a stdium record that stood for 10 years. It was broken by Bill Reichardt, who returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in 1949 against Oregon. Vollenweider's touchdown was Iowa's only special teams touchdown of the season.

Indiana

Linescore Amfootball
Road=Hoosiers
R1=10
R2=7
R3=12
R4=0
RT=29
Home=Hawkeyes
H1=7
H2=13
H3=0
H4=12
HT=32

Indiana jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead, but a 73 yard Kinnick punt changed field position to lead to Iowa's first touchdown. Kinnick then used a 55 yard run to set up Iowa's second touchdown. Prasse caught his second touchdown pass of the game to give Iowa 20 unanswered points, but Indiana countered with a touchdown pass of their own just before halftime.

Indiana dominated play in the third period, taking a nine point lead. Diehl got a crucial interception to stop another Indiana drive early in the fourth period, and Iowa responded with an 11 play drive to cut Indiana's lead to 3 points. Green came up with an interception that gave Iowa the ball in Indiana territory. Iowa advanced to the Indiana ten yard line, but the Hoosiers drove Iowa five yards back in three plays to bring up fourth and goal from the fifteen. Rather than attempt a game tying field goal with minutes to play, Iowa went for the win and got it, as Kinnick fired his third touchdown pass to Prasse.

* The Hawkeyes started Diehl, Tollefson, Bergstrom, Hawkins, and Enich on the line, Smith and Norgaard at end, and Couppee, McLain, Murphy, and Kinnick in the backfield.

* Enich, Hawkins, Tollefson, Bergstrom, and Kinnick played all 60 minutes.

* Diehl suffered a season ending knee injury in the game, while Norgaard suffered a career ending neck injury.

* The term "Ironmen" to describe the 1939 Hawkeyes gained widespread use after this game.

* Prasse did not start the game, as Anderson elected bring him off of the bench. As a result, Kinnick served as the acting captain this game.

* It was Dad's Day in Madison.

Purdue

Linescore Amfootball
Road=Hawkeyes
R1=0
R2=0
R3=0
R4=4
RT=4
Home=Boilermakers
H1=0
H2=0
H3=0
H4=0
HT=0

The Boilermakers had practiced all week to shut down Kinnick's passing, and Purdue's Jack Brown intercepted four Kinnick passes in the game. Iowa had an apparent touchdown negated by a false start on Ken Pettit in the first half, and turnovers killed the other Iowa drives. A fumble ended Purdue's only serious scoring threat of a scoreless first half.

The defensive struggle continued until early in the fourth quarter, when Iowa forced a punt deep in Purdue territory. Enich blocked the kick, and Prasse recovered to give Iowa field position. Though Iowa turned the ball over on downs, the Hawkeyes soon forced another Purdue punt, this time from Purdue's end zone. A bobbled snap allowed Iowa to tackle Brown for the safety and the game's first points.

A Kinnick punt late in the fourth quarter pinned Purdue deep in their own territory, and Iowa again forced Purdue to punt from their own end zone. Enich came crashing through the line for his second blocked punt of the game, and Brown recovered it in the end zone for another Iowa safety. Iowa then ran out the clock on one of the most bizarre final scores in Hawkeye football history.

* The Hawkeyes had the same starting lineup for the third straight week.

* Ken Pettit, Andruska, Bergstrom, Enich, Prasse, Evans, and Kinnick played the full 60 minutes.

* Iowa was ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll at the time of the game, the first time in Iowa history that the Hawkeyes had been ranked.

* Couppee sprained his other shoulder and injured his ribs. Andruska played the entire second half with a broken wrist; he would miss the Northwestern game. Ken Pettit badly injured his wrist, but he would not allow it to be x-rayed for fear of being forced to miss the Northwestern game. Gallagher badly sprained his shoulder. Dean and Tollefson suffered leg injuries, and Prasse had a badly bruised arm.

* Swelling and numbness in Kinnick's passing hand allowed him to throw only every other play so he could rest it on running plays.

* With the win, Iowa won the Floyd of Rosedale trophy for the first time.

* One Chicago paper wrote, "Nile Kinnick 13, Minnesota 9; tersely, that tells the story of the most spectacular football game in modern Big Ten history."

* James Kearns of the Chicago Daily News wrote, "There's a golden helmet riding on a human sea across Iowa's football field in the twilight here. Now the helmet rises as wave upon wave of humanity pours onto the field. There's a boy under the helmet, which is shining like a crown on his head. A golden #24 gleams on his slumping, tired shoulders. The boy is Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr., who has, just now, risen above all the defenses that could be raised against him...leading a frenzied little band of Iowa football players to a victory which was impossible. They couldn't win, but they did."

* It was Iowa’s fourth Big Ten win, the most at Iowa since 1922.

Northwestern

Linescore Amfootball
Road=Hawkeyes
R1=0
R2=0
R3=0
R4=7
RT=7
Home=Wildcats
H1=0
H2=7
H3=0
H4=0
HT=7

Iowa spent most of the first half in Northwestern territory, but five first half fumbles, including one at the Northwestern 3 yard line, stopped all Hawkeye scoring threats. A 74 yard Northwestern punt changed field position, and Northwestern put together a good drive late in the first half. The Wildcats scored on a touchdown run with twenty seconds remaining in the first half to take a seven point halftime lead.

Northwestern's third quarter drives were stopped by turnovers, but Iowa could not capitalize on many of them as Kinnick left the game with a separated shoulder. Enich recovered a Wildcat fumble, Northwestern's third turnover of the period, at the Iowa 22 yard line to give Iowa good field position going into the fourth quarter. Northwestern was called for interference on Prasse on a fourth down pass into the end zone, giving Iowa field position to score the game tying touchdown.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to drive to the Iowa goal line. But an Enich tackle stopped Northwestern for no gain on fourth and goal inside the Iowa one yard line. Northwestern later missed a desperation field goal, and Iowa ran out the clock to end the game with a 7-7 tie.

* The Hawkeyes started Snider, Ken Pettit, Frye, Bergstrom, and Enich on the line, Prasse and Evans at end, and Couppee, McLain, Murphy, and Kinnick in the backfield.

* Snider, Ken Pettit, Frye, Enich, Prasse, and Evans played the full 60 minutes.

* Bergstrom and Murphy suffered season ending injuries; they were replaced by Vollenweider and Walker, who had not fully recovered from his knee injury. Tollefson and Snider were injured in the game as well.

* The tie cost Iowa the 1939 Big Ten title. Iowa, with a 4-1-1 conference record, finished the season second in the Big Ten standings behind conference champion Ohio State, which had a 5-1 Big Ten record. Had Iowa won the game, they would have shared the title as the teams had not played.

* Anderson pulled Couppee late in the game, as Couppee threw passes frantically on the last drive in an attempt to win the game. Anderson, who erroneously thought a tie would still give Iowa a share of the conference title (which went to Ohio State), was convinced that Couppee had suffered a concussion, and sent in the backup quarterback with instructions to "sit on the ball." Anderson later apologized to Couppee for benching him.

Postseason

* Kinnick threw for 638 yards and 11 touchdowns on only 31 passes and ran for 374 yards and 5 touchdowns.

* Kinnick was involved in 107 of the 130 points that Iowa scored and played 402 of a possible 420 minutes.

* Kinnick set the school record with eight interceptions in a season, a record which still stands today.

* Nile Kinnick won virtually every major award in the country. He was named:
** A consensus first team All-American
** The Big Ten MVP
** The Walter Camp Award winner
** The Maxwell Award winner
** The Heisman Trophy winner
** Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year

* Iowa was ranked ninth in the final Associated Press (AP) poll.

* Iowa did not attempt a field goal all season.

* Erwin Prasse was a second team All-American.

* Mike Enich actually played more minutes in 1939 than Nile Kinnick. In the final seven games, Kinnick played six complete games before leaving in the third quarter against Northwestern. Enich left the Indiana game in the fourth quarter before finishing the season by playing six complete games.

* Nile Kinnick, Erwin Prasse, and Mike Enich were named all-Big Ten.

References

* 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb (ASIN: B0007E01F8)

* The Ironmen, by Scott Fisher (ISBN 1-4010-9044-3)

* Kinnick: The Man and the Legend, by Derald W. Stump (ASIN: B0006ETB3W)

* One Magic Year: 1939, An Ironman Remembers, by Al Couppee (ASIN: B00071TZKS)