1961 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1961 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. This was Jerry Burns' first season as head coach.

1961 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1961 record	5–4 (2–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jerry Burns (1st season)
MVP	Al Hinton
Captain	2 Bill Van Buren Wilburn Hollis
Home stadium	Iowa Stadium

1961 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Minnesota	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Michigan State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Purdue	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Michigan	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result
September 30	California*	No. 1	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 28–7
October 7	at USC*	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	ABC	W 35–34
October 14	Indiana	No. 2	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 27–8
October 21	Wisconsin	No. 4	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 47–15
October 28	Purdue	No. 5	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		L 0–9
November 4	No. 5 Ohio State	No. 9	Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio		L 13–29
November 11	No. 5 Minnesota		Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale)	ABC	L 9–16
November 18	at Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan		L 14–23
November 25	Notre Dame*		Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		W 42–21
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[1]

Roster

1961 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 20 Wilburn Hollis Sr QB 22 Matt Szykowny Jr RB   Bill Perkins Jr FB   Joe Williams Sr WR   Cloyd Webb So OL 67 Wally Hilgenberg So OL   Sherwyn Thorson Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class RB/DB 16 Paul Krause So DB 19 Larry Ferguson Jr LB 61 Mike Reilly So WR/DL 81 Bill Whisler Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Jerry Burns Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
AP	1 (22)	1 (19)	1 (24)	2 (11)	4 (2)	5 (1)	9	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches					6	5						NR

[2]

Game summaries

California

[3]

at USC

[4]

Indiana

[5]

Wisconsin

[6]

Purdue

[7]

at Ohio State

Iowa at Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total Hawkeyes 0 0 7 6 13 • Buckeyes 6 6 0 17 29 Date: November 4 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 83,795 Game weather: Cloudy; 46°F; wind 5 E

Scoring summary Q1 11:07 OHST Perdue 55 yard fumble return (kick failed) OHST 6–0 Q2 6:35 OHST Bryant 18 yard pass from Sparma (kick failed) OHST 12–0 Q3 6:18 IOWA Szykowny 1 yard run (Szykowny kick) OHST 12–7 Q4 14:39 OHST Bryant 62 yard pass from Sparma (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 19–7 Q4 8:04 OHST Van Raaphorst 24 yard field goal OHST 22–7 Q4 1:55 OHST Ferguson 13 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 29–7 Q4 :12 IOWA Turici 4 yard run (kick failed) OHST 29–13

[8]

Minnesota

[9]

at Michigan

[10]

Notre Dame

[11]

1962 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Larry Ferguson	Back	4	52	Detroit Lions
Sherwyn Thorson	Guard	7	87	Los Angeles Rams
Wilburn Hollis	Quarterback	9	118	St. Louis Cardinals
Bill Whisler	End	13	169	Washington Redskins

[12]

References

1. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/iowa/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/2012IAFootballMediaGuide.pdf
2. "Iowa 1961 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
3. "Hawks Still No. 1 In 2nd AP Ballot" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 3, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
4. "Hollis Included on Injured List" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 10, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
5. "Iowa 4th in AP Ballot–Michigan State 1st" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 17, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
6. "Szykowny Ups Passing Percentage to .682" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 24, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
7. "Iowa Ninth in Poll; Spartans Still No. 1" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. October 31, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
8. "Burns Evaluates Ohio State Game; Eyes Strong Gophers" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 7, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
9. "Longhorns Remain 1st; Hawks 23rd" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 14, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
10. "Burns Says Poor Tackling Hurt Hawkeyes" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 14, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
11. "Hawks Praise Jerry Burns Despite Hard-Luck Season" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 28, 1961. p. 4. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
12. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1962.htm