A History of Iowa State University Football
The Iowa State Cyclones football program represents Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, competing in the Big 12 Conference as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Coached by Jimmy Rogers, the Cyclones play their home games at Jack Trice Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 61,500. This article delves into the history of the program, from its humble beginnings to its present status.
Early Years and the "Cyclone" Nickname
Football started as a recreational activity on the Iowa State campus in 1878. In 1892, Iowa State formed its first organized football team. College president William M. Beardshear established an athletic association in 1894 to formally recognize Iowa State football teams.
One of football's early pioneers, Pop Warner, briefly coached at Iowa State. In 1895, while coaching at Georgia, he accepted an offer of $25 per week to coach Iowa State, whose season started earlier than Georgia's. He also provided weekly advice throughout the season.
After Warner's departure, Iowa State played its first game of the season against Northwestern in Evanston. Despite being the underdog, Iowa State won 36-0. A Chicago sportswriter described the team as "cornfed giants from Iowa," and the Chicago Tribune ran the headline "Struck by a Cyclone." This event led to Iowa State teams being called the Cyclones. The team finished the season with three wins and three losses. In 1896, the team achieved eight wins and two losses. Warner continued as head coach for another year, but couldn't replicate his 1896 success.
Clyde Williams Era: Early Success
Clyde Williams, after playing at Iowa and serving as an assistant coach, became the Cyclones' head football coach from 1907 to 1912. He achieved a coaching record of 32-15-2, ranking him fifth in total wins and fourth in winning percentage at Iowa State. Williams led Iowa State to two Missouri Valley Conference football titles in 1911 and 1912, the only conference football championships in school history.
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Williams also served as the school's first men's basketball coach (1908-1911), with a 20-29 record. He was also Iowa State's baseball coach and athletic director from 1914 to 1919. In 1914, Iowa State completed its new football field and named it Clyde Williams Field in his honor. Williams was inducted into the State of Iowa Hall of Fame in 1956 and both the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame (1993) and the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame (1997).
The Jack Trice Story
After struggling for success, Iowa State hired Sam Willaman in 1922. Willaman brought six of his former East Tech players, including Jack Trice, the first African-American player at Iowa State and one of the first in the Midwest. Trice suffered a severe injury during a game at Minnesota in 1923 and died from complications. In 1997, Cyclone Stadium was renamed Jack Trice Stadium in his honor, becoming the first major college football stadium named for a black man.
In his first season, Willaman's team finished with a 2-6 record but had winning records in the next three years. His coaching record at Iowa State was 14-15-3.
George F. Veenker: A Brief Resurgence
George F. Veenker became the head football coach for Iowa State in February 1931. He took over a team that had a sixteen-game losing streak. In his first year, the 1931 team defeated Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas State, finishing with a 5-3 record and second place in the Big Six Conference. The Ames Daily Tribune-Times called Veenker a "miracle man of football" for turning the program around.
The highlight of Veenker's career was a 31-6 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes in 1934, the last meeting between the two schools until 1977. Veenker resigned in 1936, with an overall record of 21-22-8. After Veenker's death in 1959, the university golf course was renamed Veenker Memorial Golf Course in his honor.
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Ed Bock and the 1938 Season
During the 1938 season, under head coach James J. Yeager, the Cyclones achieved a then-best record of 7-1-1. The team was led by senior guard Ed Bock, who became the first consensus first-team All-American in Iowa State history. Bock was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970.
Mid-20th Century Coaches
In 1942, Iowa State hired former Green Bay Packers All-Pro guard Mike Michalske as head coach. He had moderate success, finishing with an 18-18 record in five seasons. Abe Stuber coached the team from 1947 to 1953, compiling a record of 24-38-3. Vince DiFrancesca led the team from 1954 to 1956, with a record of 6-21-1. Clay Stapleton coached for ten seasons and is known for his 1959 team, the "Dirty Thirty."
Johnny Majors Era: Building a Foundation
In 1968, Iowa State hired Johnny Majors as head coach. The rebuilding process started slowly, with the Cyclones finishing 3-7 in his first two seasons. In 1970, the team finished tied for sixth in the Big Eight with a 5-6 record. The 1971 team finished 4-3 in the conference and 8-3 in the regular season, earning a bid to the 1971 Sun Bowl, the first bowl game in program history, where they lost to LSU 33-15.
The team was led by junior running back George Amundson, who rushed for 1,260 yards and 15 touchdowns. End Keith Krepfle had 40 receptions for 570 yards and 12 touchdowns, and quarterback Dean Carlson threw for a school-record 1,867 yards. In 1972, Iowa State tied Nebraska 23-23. Three players were named to the first team All-Big Eight team and honored as All-Americans: offensive lineman Geary Murdoch, defensive end Merv Krakau, and quarterback George Amundson. Amundson was named Big Eight player of the year over Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers. Iowa State became known as D-Tackle U. The team's 5-5-1 regular season record earned them an invitation to the 1972 Liberty Bowl against Georgia Tech.
Earle Bruce: Continued Success
Iowa State hired Earle Bruce in order to continue the success experienced under Johnny Majors. With excitement around ISU football, the university broke ground on a new $7.6 million stadium that would eventually become Jack Trice Stadium. Despite linebacker Matt Blair being a first team All-American, the Cyclones struggled to a 4-7 finish in Bruce's inaugural 1973 season. Over the next two seasons the Cyclones experienced moderate success but both seasons ended again with 4-7 records. However, Bruce's fourth team blossomed as one of the best teams in school history. En route to their 8-3 final record, the Cyclones scored wins against No. 7 Missouri and No. 9 Nebraska. In spite of the Cyclones' finishing the 1976 season ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll, Iowa State was ultimately snubbed by the bowls. Even so, Bruce was selected as Big Eight Coach of the Year.
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Iowa State followed up their strong 1976 campaign with another eight-win season in 1977. The Cyclones beat No. 9 Nebraska for the second time in a row and were ranked as high as No. 16 in the AP Poll at one point. Their 5-2 conference record and 8-4 overall record were good enough for a bid to the 1977 Peach Bowl against North Carolina State. Ultimately Iowa State lost the game 14-24.
The Cyclones returned 14 starters from the 1977 Peach Bowl team including Heisman Trophy candidate, Dexter Green and Outland Trophy hopeful, Mike Stensrud. Iowa State's post season hopes came down to their last game against Colorado which was nationally televised. The game was close throughout, with ISU clinging to a 17-10 halftime lead. The second half was a defensive battle, but the ISU defense came up with big plays down the stretch. Mike Stensrud had 16 stops and caused a fumble to help ISU preserve a 20-16 win over the Buffaloes. The win earned ISU a bid to the 1978 Hall of Fame Classic against Texas A&M. Iowa State opened the game with two touchdowns, but was unable to convert the extra point on either attempt.
Donnie Duncan Era
Iowa State hired Oklahoma assistant Donnie Duncan as its 26th head football coach in order to continue the success found under Earle Bruce. He held the position for four seasons, from 1979 until 1982. His 1980 and 1981 Cyclones squads both made appearances in the national rankings. The 1981 Cyclones began the season at 5-1-1 and rose to No. 11 in the AP Poll. Led by future NFL players Dwayne Crutchfield, Dan Johnson, Karl Nelson and Chris Washington, the Cyclones tied No. 5 Oklahoma 7-7 and downed No.
Jim Criner and Jim Walden: Navigating Challenges
Following the 1982 season Iowa State hired Jim Criner, who had won the 1980 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship as the head coach at Boise State. During Criner's tenure the Cyclones experienced mild success, however they were embroiled in controversy, with multiple players arrested on different charges as well as several NCAA allegations of wrongdoings. The allegations included coaches giving players cash as well as giving recruits rides and meals.
Jim Walden succeeded Jim Criner at Iowa State, where he compiled a 28-57-3 over eight seasons. ISU had been hit with scholarship reductions by the NCAA, both because of infractions by the previous coach, and an overall reduction in scholarships for Division I-A for the 1988 season. In his first four years as Iowa State's head coach, he had just 57, 61, 63, and 67 scholarship players. Walden had only 47 scholarship players on the squad that he took to Lincoln to play Nebraska on October 28, 1989, and they lost 49-17.
Walden was the last Iowa State coach to defeat Oklahoma, until Matt Campbell, which they did on October 20, 1990. Oklahoma was ranked 16th in the nation at the time. They had narrowly missed an upset the year before, losing in Ames 43-40. Walden's best record with the Cyclones was 6-5 in 1989. After the 1989 season, Walden was offered the head coaching job at the University of Arizona, but he declined, citing a number of people at Iowa State telling him it would be "devastating" if he left.
Walden's teams were plagued with injuries, especially at quarterback. In 1991, third-string quarterback Kevin Caldwell, who had begun the season as a tailback, started the final five games under center for the Cyclones. Walden played four different quarterbacks in a 41-0 loss to Kansas in 1991. In 1992, Walden installed the triple-option offense and had mixed results. Iowa State lost to in-state rivals Iowa and UNI early in the 1992 season. The loss to UNI was Walden's first to a Division I-AA school. It was also UNI's first victory over the Cyclones since 1900. Iowa State bounced back to shock the seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers at home on November 14, 1992. The victory was even more improbable as Walden's third-string quarterback, Marv Seiler, would make his first career start. Walden's 1993 squad went 3-8, but with an upset of 18th ranked Kansas State. Walden ended the 1993 campaign with a walk-on quarterback, Jeff St.
In the spring of 1994, Walden recruited running back Troy Davis out of Miami, Florida. Davis later had consecutive 2,000-yard rushing seasons, but not until after Walden's departure. After starting the 1994 campaign 0-2, many fans began to criticize Walden's coaching ability. He began his weekly press conference by handing out the records of Dennis Erickson, Johnny Majors, and Earle Bruce while they were at Washington State and Iowa State. He then handed out Iowa State's overall record in football since fielding its first team in 1892, which, at the time, was 423-461-45, a .480 percentage, and compared his record to that one. Walden claimed that he was as good a coach or better than Erickson, Majors, and Bruce. On Thursday, November 3, 1994, after starting the season 0-7-1, Walden informed his team that he would resign at season's end. He was allowed to coach his final three games by the university, but was banned from coaching his last game at Colorado because of criticizing the officials after the Kansas State game. Kansas State's Nyle Wiren had body-slammed Walden's quarterback Todd Doxzon into the turf head first. No penalty was called and Walden, with nothing to lose, went off on the officiating after the game: "I've kept quiet too long, but since I'm leaving there's nothing they can do about me. I think the refereeing in this league is atrocious … What do you do with bad officials? Do they get fired? You fire bad players and bad coaches. Bad officials get a raise and go fishing."… Iowa.
The Cy-Hawk Rivalry
The Iowa-Iowa State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game between the Iowa State Cyclones and Iowa Hawkeyes. Sometimes referred to as ¡El Assico! Conceived and created as a traveling trophy by the Greater Des Moines Athletic Club in 1976, the trophy was first presented to the winner by Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray in 1977. That game was the first meeting between the two since 1934. In the entire history of the rivalry, the game has never been contested anywhere beside Iowa City or Ames and alternates between the two respective campuses.
The trophy design used through the 2010 season featured a football, a running back in the classic stiff-arm pose, and the likenesses of Iowa State's Cy the Cardinal and Iowa's Herky the Hawk. The trophy was replaced after the 2010 game, making it the only rivalry trophy with a sponsor attached to it. Since then the Cy-Hawk Trophy makes an annual tour with WHO sportscaster Keith Murphy the week before the game.
A new trophy, donated by the Iowa Corn Growers Association, was introduced to the public during the Iowa State Fair on August 19, 2011. A sculpture atop the new trophy depicted a farm family with small children huddled about a bushel basket of corn. Dean Taylor, president of the Association, called it "a work of art that represents Iowans and their hard work." But within hours of its presentation, the new trophy was widely ridiculed in newspaper columns and internet postings. On August 23, the association's CEO, Craig Floss, announced that the new Cy-Hawk Trophy would be changed as a result of the bad public reaction.
The two schools played each other 24 times between 1894 and 1934, before the Cy-Hawk Trophy was established in 1977. The series halted after 1934 after Iowa head coach (and athletic director) Ossie Solem would not return calls to reschedule the rivalry; after more than four decades, the series was restarted in 1977. Games in the series are often decided by less than seven points, regardless of the pregame ranking of the teams. The 2019 game featured an appearance by ESPN College GameDay, the first time Iowa State had hosted the program. GameDay returned for the 2021 edition, which was the first time the rivalry feature both teams ranked in the AP Top 10. Home field advantage has not been a major factor in the series as of recently.
The Origin of the Mascot "Cy"
Collegiate Manufacturing of Ames on creating a school mascot. the school colors (cardinal and gold) was the eventual choice. director Ray Donals. A cardinal-like bird was introduced at the 1954 Homecoming pep rally. contest was held to determine the cardinals name. The entry Cy won. colors as well as the original Iowa State nickname.
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