| 1985 Iowa Hawkeyes football | |
|---|---|
Big Ten champion | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 9 |
| AP | No. 10 |
| Record | 10–2 (7–1 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Bill Snyder (7th season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Bill Brashier (7th season) |
| MVP | 13[2]
|
| Captain | Mike Haight Ronnie Harmon Chuck Long Hap Peterson Larry Station [1] |
| Home stadium | Kinnick Stadium (Capacity: 67,700) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 Iowa $ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Michigan | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 5 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 Ohio State | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1985 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1985 Big Ten Conference football season. The Hawkeyes were led by seventh-year head coach Hayden Fry and played their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
Chuck Long declared that he would return for his senior season. He became an instant Heisman Trophy candidate, and Iowa was a preseason top five team. After three weeks in 1985, the Hawkeyes ascended to No. 1 in the national rankings for the second time in team history (1960). Three weeks later, in the sixth game of the season, No. 1 Iowa faced No. 2 Michigan at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa trailed 10–9 as the Hawkeyes regained possession of the football at their own 22-yard line with just 5:27 remaining in the game. Long drove the Iowa team to the 12-yard line with two seconds remaining to set up kicker Rob Houghtlin's game-winning field goal as time expired. After a rout of Northwestern, the Hawkeyes were upset by the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. The loss to Ohio State cost Iowa their No. 1 ranking, but the Hawkeyes still won the Big Ten title outright for the first time in 27 years.[3]
Long won a number of major national awards, including the Maxwell Award, given to the nation's top player and the Davey O'Brien Award, given to the nation's top quarterback, and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the top player in the Big Ten. He was a consensus first-team selection to the 1985 College Football All-America Team and the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy to Bo Jackson of Auburn, losing by just 45 points.
Iowa lost Long's final game, the 1986 Rose Bowl, to UCLA by a score of 45–28. Long's Iowa teams compiled a 35–13–1 record. He graduated with 10,461 passing yards and 74 touchdowns on 782 completions.