2004 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

In 2003, Iowa began the season 4–0^[12] and would eventually complete the regular season with a 9–3 record that included wins over Iowa State, Michigan (Iowa's second straight victory against Michigan), and Minnesota.^[13] However, the Hawkeyes lost to Michigan State, Ohio State, and Purdue. Finishing fourth in the Big Ten standings,^[14] the Hawkeyes accepted a bid to play the Florida Gators in the Outback Bowl.^[15] Despite falling behind early on a 70-yard touchdown pass from Chris Leak to Kelvin Knight, the Hawkeyes reeled off 27 straight points en route to a 37–17 victory.^[16] It was a milestone victory, as it gave Iowa its second consecutive 10-win season along with the first Hawkeye victory in a January bowl game since the Rose Bowl in 1959.^[16]

Following the season, five Iowa players were selected in the 2004 NFL draft.^[17] Robert Gallery, the 2003 Outland Trophy winner, became the second-highest pick in school history when he was selected 2nd by the Oakland Raiders.^[17] Following Gallery in Iowa's draft order were Bob Sanders, taken 44th by Indianapolis, Nate Kaeding, taken 65th by San Diego, Jared Clauss, taken in the seventh round by Tennessee, and Erik Jensen, who was taken in the seventh round by St. Louis.^[17]

Prior to the season, the Hawkeyes looked to replace seven offensive starters and four defensive starters.^[18] Key losses from 2003 included Maurice Brown, Robert Gallery, Nate Chandler, Fred Russell, and Ramon Ochoa on offense.^[18] Defensively, the Hawkeyes looked to replace Howard Hodges, Jared Clauss, Grant Steen, and Bob Sanders.^[18]

Replacement starters on offense were Drew Tate, Champ Davis, Jermelle Lewis, Calvin Davis, Tony Jackson, Lee Gray, Mike Elgin, and Chris Felder.^[19] On defense, Derreck Robinson, Tyler Luebke, George Lewis, and Marcus Paschal assumed their roles on the starting lineup.^[19] On special teams, David Bradley returned for his senior season as punter, while Kyle Schlicher replaced Nate Kaeding as the starting kicker.^[19]

• NationalChamps.net – 12th^[19]
• USA today – 12th^[20]
• SI.com – 15th^[21]
• AP top 25 – 19th^[20]

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 .^[22]

Another recruit, Kyle Williams, later de-committed from the Hawkeyes and committed to the Purdue Boilermakers.^[23]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Nyere Aumaitre OL	Camden, NJ	Woodrow Wilson HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	300 lb (140 kg)	5.10	Jan 20, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Walner Belleus CB	Immokalee, FL	Immokalee HS	5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (1.79 m)	177+1⁄2 lb (80.5 kg)	4.42	Dec 14, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Ted Bentler DE	Davenport, IA	Assumption HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	242+1⁄2 lb (110.0 kg)	4.675	Oct 5, 2002
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Andy Brodell WR	Ankeny, IA	Ankeny HS	6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1.89 m)	182+1⁄2 lb (82.8 kg)	4.40	Sep 28, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Lucas Cox DE	Springdale, PA	Springdale JSHS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	238+1⁄2 lb (108.2 kg)	4.815	Jan 16, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Harold Dalton S	Camden, NJ	Woodrow Wilson HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	183+1⁄2 lb (83.2 kg)	4.48	Oct 26, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Rashad Dunn OG	Evans, GA	Greenbrier HS	6 ft 3+1⁄2 in (1.92 m)	270 lb (120 kg)	5.20	Jan 26, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Ettore Ewen DT	Tampa, FL	Wharton HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	280 lb (130 kg)	4.80	Jul 8, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Bradley Fletcher S	Youngstown, OH	Liberty HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	4.50	Apr 19, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Charles Godfrey CB	Baytown, TX	Lee HS	6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m)	201+1⁄2 lb (91.4 kg)	4.54	Dec 15, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Shonn Greene RB	Atco, NJ	Winslow Township HS	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	4.465	Dec 14, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Mitch King LB	Burlington, IA	Burlington Comm. HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	4.73	Apr 6, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Matt Kroul LB	Mount Vernon, IA	Mount Vernon HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	4.75	Aug 13, 2002
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Grant McCracken DE	Ankeny, IA	Ankeny HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	4.80	Jul 26, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Brandon Myers TE	Monroe, IA	PCM HS	6 ft 4+1⁄4 in (1.94 m)	212+1⁄2 lb (96.4 kg)	4.74	Feb 4, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Anton Narinskiy LB	Chagrin Falls, OH	Kenston HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	4.60	Dec 3, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Seth Olsen OG	Omaha, NE	Millard North HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	302+1⁄2 lb (137.2 kg)	5.40	Jan 9, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Michael Sabers TE	Iowa City, IA	Iowa City HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	232+1⁄2 lb (105.5 kg)	N/A	Jul 11, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Adam Shada DB	Omaha, NE	Millard North HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	4.50	Jun 27, 2003
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Damian Sims RB	Boca Raton, FL	Leonard HS	5 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1.77 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	4.475	Jan 28, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Anthony Williams DB	Benton Harbor, MI	Benton Harbor HS	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	4.62	Feb 4, 2004
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 41   Rivals: 38
‡ Refers to 40 yard dash Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Iowa Commit List for 2004". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 13, 2007. "Scout.com: Football Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved August 13, 2007. "College Football Recruiting Schools". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 13, 2007. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 13, 2007. "2004 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 13, 2007.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	11:00 am	Kent State*	No. 19	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN+	W 39–7	70,397[24]
September 11	11:00 am	Iowa State*	No. 16	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy)	ESPN+	W 17–10	70,397[24]
September 18	9:00 pm	at Arizona State*	No. 16	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	ESPN+	L 7–44	71,700[24]
September 25	2:30 pm	at No. 18 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	L 17–30	111,428[24]
October 2	11:00 am	Michigan State		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN+	W 38–16	70,397[24]
October 16	2:30 pm	No. 25 Ohio State		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ABC	W 33–7	70,397[24]
October 23	11:00 am	at Penn State	No. 25	Beaver Stadium State College, PA	ESPN2	W 6–4	108,062[24]
October 30	11:00 am	at Illinois	No. 23	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN+	W 23–13	47,651[24]
November 6	2:30 pm	Purdue	No. 20	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPN	W 23–21	70,397[24]
November 13	11:00 am	at Minnesota	No. 19	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Battle for the Floyd of Rosedale)	ESPN	W 29–27	64,719[24]
November 20	3:30 pm	No. 9 Wisconsin	No. 17	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Battle for the Heartland Trophy)	ESPN	W 30–7	70,397[24]
January 1	12:00 pm	vs. No. 12 LSU*	No. 11	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Capital One Bowl)	ABC	W 30–25	70,229[24]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Due to the Big Ten's rotating schedule, the Hawkeyes did not play either Northwestern or Indiana.^[1]

• FootballFantasy.com – 13th^[25]
• Russell rankings – 18th^[26]
• AndersonSports – 18th^[27]

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.^[28]

^[29]

^[30]

^[31]

^[32]

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).

^[33]

Iowa's first win without a touchdown since beating Michigan in 1985.^{[34] [35]}

^[36]

^[37]

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.

^[38]

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.

^[39]

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.

^[40]

^[41]