Iowa's Five Worst Upsets in All of History
1. Northwestern 2008: jNWU 22, Iowa 17
This is the obvious choice for the worst loss in Iowa history, mainly because nobody could see it coming. Ricky Stanzi had the case of the turnoversies that he usually saves for cupcake opponents like A-State, Indiana, and jNWU.
But even with a expulsion-worthy helmet-to-helmet hit incapacitating Shonn Greene by Brad Phillips and Stanzi's full smorgasbord of new and creative changes of possession, Iowa still had a 1st and goal inside the jNWU 10-yard line with time running out. Alas, the four plays called failed--obviously because O'Keefe was O'Throwing the O'Football game--and Northwestern walked away with college football's most stunning upset of 2008.
Karma rewarded Northwestern when lowly Missouri ran them out of the stadium in the Alamo Bowl later that year, while Iowa cruised against the far superior South Carolina.
2. Northwestern 2005: jNWU 28, Iowa 27
The sight of Kyle Schlicher pushing the field goal that would have made the game 30-14 late in the 4th quarter haunts us to this day. What ensued was an epic meltdown, with Iowa giving up a quick touchdown, an onside kick, and another quick touchdown.
Did the pain end there? No no, friends; no no. Drew Tate got the Hawkeyes moving after the fatal touchdown and had the ball inside Northwestern territory with under 30 seconds to play; two passes bouncing off Herb Grigsby's hands later, we all tried to kill ourselves.
3. Northwestern 1999: jNWU 23, Iowa 21Some people may think of this as not being much of an upset, being that 1999 Iowa was the school's single worst team in the past 35 years, and Northwestern didn't win until a touchdown on the game's final play. Well, yeah, that's why this is #3 on the list of worst Iowa upsets of all time and not #1.
4. Northwestern 1990: Iowa 56, jNWU 14
Just Northwestern fought gallantly for upwards of four minutes (real time, not game time; that'd be ridiculous). Alas, Iowa was much too tough, and God's Team prevailed again. No, the real upset here that we didn't hurt their boys too bad. That usually happens.
5. Tulsa 1996: Tulsa 27, Iowa 20
AAAAGH AAAAGH AAAAGH AAAAGH KILL THIS MEMORY DEAD WITH A FLAMETHROWER. But it's not as bad as only beating jNWU by 42. They're just Northwestern.
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Come, come now
One of those passes in 05 bounced off Scott Chandler’s hands. Or was it two drops for Grigsby and one for Chandler?
by alnamiasIV on Nov 5, 2009 8:18 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I remember vividly that Scott Chandler
was on the hands team to help recover the onside kick that jNU ended up recovering. For whatever reason, Scott was in to block on that play. 6’7’, and he’s in to block on an onside kick.
That game still makes me mad. Albert Young rushes for 200+, and O’Keefe is chucking the ball all the yard in the 2nd half with a 13 point lead.
by TarHeelHawk on Nov 5, 2009 12:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
hahahaha
But on a seriously note, fuck Tulsa. They deserved every one of the 5000 yards Tavian ran for against them the next year.
by NorseHawk on Nov 5, 2009 8:39 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Didnt Iowa's plane...
get delayed due to weather and landed in Tulsa in, like, the middle of the third quarter and the team arrived to see Tulsa playing against nobody and winning 27-0.
"I'm not doing any good back here."
by Hawkaloogie on Nov 5, 2009 11:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
which jack ass AD
set a home & home w/ Tulsa? The dill hole that signed the epic Oregon home & home…did anyone mention Oregon 44/ Iowa 3 orwhatever? Duck hunting revenge. Soon.
this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.
by pfac51 on Nov 5, 2009 6:23 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
We should seriously just never ever travel west unless it's for the Rose Bowl.
by NorseHawk on Nov 5, 2009 6:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
remember that in Sept 2010
…Its warm in Tuscon
this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.
by pfac51 on Nov 5, 2009 7:11 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
I'm aware
Not looking forward to it.
by NorseHawk on Nov 5, 2009 7:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
our last trip to Arizona...
well, one one wants to re-live that melt down…have we ever won a game in Tuscon or Temple?
Was the Arizona St meltdown worse than not showing up agains Western Michigan (either time) or road loss @ IL in 2008 or Penn State home throttle in (was it) 1994?
this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.
by pfac51 on Nov 5, 2009 7:31 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
i agree
no gms west of…oh, I forgot that loss in Boulder, 1991? (Oops, what year was that gaff?)…
No games west of…El Paso
this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.
by pfac51 on Nov 5, 2009 7:17 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Correction
No games west of Ames. Remember the loss to K-State in Kansas City? Or Nebraska the same year?
In truth, I couldn’t remember the last time that we won a road non-conference game west of the Mississippi, not including ISU or bowl games. I went to the archives and it looks like the last time was in 1988 when we beat K-State in Manhattan 45-10. Interestingly, two things happened the Saturday before that: Iowa lost to Hawaii on the road and Ricky Stanzi turned one.
And the beat down we took from Penn State in 1994 was on the road. The game kicked off at 11:00. By 11:15 we were down three TDs.
by Abbas_Cincinnatus on Nov 6, 2009 8:50 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
How can this list not have the Western Michigan game from '07?
That was a soul destroying upset. a season killing upset. It was much more of a dagger to the heart than the above games.
by HawkeyeRecon on Nov 5, 2009 8:46 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
That wooshing sound you just heard?
That was the joke flying over your head.
by NorseHawk on Nov 5, 2009 8:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Disagree.
Only beating jNWU by 42 was much worse.
I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks
by Oops Pow Surprise on Nov 5, 2009 8:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Methinks
you might be missing the fact that it is jNWU week…
Black and Gold Blood: Cubbie Blue Heart
by MissouriHawk on Nov 5, 2009 8:48 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
You guys expect me to actually read the entire post before commenting on it???
by HawkeyeRecon on Nov 5, 2009 9:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
If you didn't read the entire post
How in the world were you sure that WMU ‘07 wasn’t included?
by The Mexican't on Nov 5, 2009 9:14 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I skimmed the games, without checking the scores.
Yes I noticed 4 were jNWU games, and yes I know this week we play jNWU, but I took the post’s title at face value.
by HawkeyeRecon on Nov 5, 2009 9:52 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
20 Monopoly Bucks
to whoever can find the fail in his technique there.
by TheDutchFlounder on Nov 6, 2009 1:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Ah
A tip of the hat to you OPS, I thought I’d see games on this post like the 2003 Orange Bowl game, the 2005 Iowa vs. Iowa State game, possibly the 2005 Iowa vs. Michigian buttfucking by the refs, maybe the even worse buttfucking at the 2006 Outback Bowl with Conference-USAgate, the 1985 Ohio State game, etc. Alas, you sir dig up even more painful memories with the jNW recaps, ugh… The worst part was seeing “highlights” from years past on the news in Chicago last night (apparently they pay attention to jNW when they play Iowa).
They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!
by recoveringfratguy on Nov 5, 2009 8:48 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
wolverined 2005
I used to drive the Cambus and was working game shuttle support for the so-called buttfucking by the refs. It was just a horrible event standing at the loop and watching our fans come up, yelling at me because there weren’t enough buses for them yet. I think I need therapy for that day still.
by tiggerhawk on Nov 5, 2009 9:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
The fans were always grumpy
because there weren’t enough busses. I could never figure out why they would walk from Kinnick to the loop, wait for a bus, then ride downtown when it was just as fast to just walk from Kinnick to downtown. Whatever, I got a free ticket to the game.
We goofed once and had to squeeze something like 110 people onto the last bus downtown. You know the little yellow line? FUCK THE LITTLE YELLOW LINE!!! They were standing on the steps all the way to the door.
Oh wait, this is supposed to be a football blog, not Cambus. Dammit.
In 100 years, we'll all be dead.
by Flakbait on Nov 5, 2009 12:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Did the 2008 game get blotted from my memory?
I thought the score last year as 22-17? Although everything after the Brodell fumble at the end of the first half has been removed from my memory.
by DodgerHawki on Nov 5, 2009 8:52 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I failed pretty hard there
I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks
by Oops Pow Surprise on Nov 5, 2009 9:08 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
And I get fail...
for using the phrase “remove from my memory” multiple times in one sentence.
Hopefully you didn’t have some soothsaying moment where you’ve already seen the score of the 2009 game. Please let that not be the case…
by DodgerHawki on Nov 5, 2009 9:54 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Out here in sunny SoCal I...
operate a fitness boot camp that meets every morning in the “green space” near the Rose Bowl. A MAJORITY of my clients have graduated from USC, or go to USC, or have children that go to USC or work at USC. Since their season is in the toilet they have taken a vicarious interest in my FIGHTING IOWA HAWKEYES.
Today, when I grandly announced that I would be flying back to Iowa to see the Hawks game, Casey, who works at USC asked, “Who does Iowa play?” When I answered “Northwestern”, Craig, who graduated from USC said, (stand by for this)
“JUST NORTHWESTERN? YOU SHOULD BLOW THEM OUT.”
by Zulu on Nov 5, 2009 9:19 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Where is it that your boot camp meets again?
"I'm not doing any good back here."
by Hawkaloogie on Nov 5, 2009 11:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Gawd, I hope we blow them out.
It’s been a long time since ISU. We need…, no we are due…, no we deserve a complete incineration of game. A game where jNW is just a piece of burnt toast at the end. Or at least a game where my internal AED doesn’t fire off 3 or 4 times.
by Stay thirsty, my friends. on Nov 5, 2009 12:07 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
2008 jNWNU was brutal
It nearly ruined my friend’s bachelor party. Luckily, we were a resilient bunch and managed to make the best out of the situation.
Special thanks to a group of East Dubuque strippers for getting us through that rough day. Because without their faded tattoos, gap-toothed smiles and cesarean scars…I don’t think we would have made it.
No self-respecting man from Iowa goes anywhere without beer
by Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride on Nov 5, 2009 10:13 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Clearly
You must have gotten these “entertainers” from the River Queen. Ah, what a shit hole that place is.
They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!
by recoveringfratguy on Nov 5, 2009 10:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed about 2008.
I was in Norman, Oklahoma and that game almost ruined a 4-day bender. In 2007, I was also in Norman for the Northwestern game – I stood along a wall at a bar watching the one TV that was allowed to have the game on. The only reason I could tell the one TV was allowed was because the sister of NU’s center (don’t remember his name) was there (wearing his jersey) and clearly knew the bartenders. I had to silently cheer the Hawkeye win as she was at least as big as he was.
This year, I will be in the stands. I will be in Norman the following weekend. Don’t remember who we play though….
by bpriebe on Nov 5, 2009 10:31 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
you must have been there on an "off" night
East Dubuque is world renowned for very friendly pregnant adult establishment employees
Hey Dolph, you look like I need a beer.
by Give Eddie a Beer on Nov 5, 2009 10:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Oy – I didn’t need that mental image on a Thursday morning. Hope you wore gloves, of all kinds.
by txhawkeye on Nov 5, 2009 10:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
At the River Queen
One of my buddy’s told a stripper: “you guys should get a blacklight pool table, or something else, to get people to actually come in this place.”
The stripper looked at him dumbfounded and said: “well, I think people have enough incentive to come in here without a pool table.”
My friend started laughing at her and says: “yeah, right, we just came here for the $1 bottles that you have right now. Trust me, we’re leaving when we’re finished drinking.”
They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!
by recoveringfratguy on Nov 5, 2009 10:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
You know
I’ve been to strip clubs in 15 different states and the District of Columbia (including a truly horrifying one in Albert Lea, MN), but never one in Iowa. Posts like these make me think I never will.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
by HoyaGoon on Nov 5, 2009 11:03 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
River Queen
Isn’t in Iowa, it’s in Illinois (East Dubuque, IL). The one’s I’ve been to in Iowa are quite nice, and you get to bring your own beer to them!
They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!
by recoveringfratguy on Nov 5, 2009 11:04 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
The Lumberyard in Des Moines
Where real men get wood
Highly recommended
by Duez I say on Nov 5, 2009 1:27 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
That's a fine track record!
/scribbling down my own list now….
"For me the game wasn’t grounded in reality. It was about the uniform you put on that turned you into a warrior. It was about the mythology of the battle, the victory, the defeat, the struggle." - Mike Reid, PSU '69
by jtothep on Nov 5, 2009 11:14 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Horrifying
is (was) the Jolly Roger in Rock Island, IL. A half dozen fat ex-hookers in their 40’s & 50’s. I have never, ever forgiven my “friend” for dragging me there.
Davenport had a couple sweet clubs and Dancer’s in Coralville was fun.
In 100 years, we'll all be dead.
by Flakbait on Nov 5, 2009 1:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
we started a bachelor party
at the Jolly Roger & ended up @ the beat down Tigers Den in lovely Rock Island, IL. Home to many chef Illini_weak fans.
Was anyone @ the Oregon/ Iowa game? It might have even been a home opener, RossWB was probably there….
this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.
by pfac51 on Nov 5, 2009 6:30 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Actually, just remembered
I have been to an Iowa strip club, the now-defunct Fox’s Den outside CR/Marion. Good fo me, I’m now up to 16 states and the District!
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
by HoyaGoon on Nov 5, 2009 2:02 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
We may have covered this already, but I, too, was at a bachelor party for 2008 jNWU
Had to wait for ESPN mobile page refreshes whilst getting drunk at the Annheiser Busch tour to know how truly miserable the day would be.
But hey – free beer?
by YouCanPutYourEddsInIt on Nov 5, 2009 2:00 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Clarification please!
Is is jNW or jNWU? I’m so confused, help OPS/Hawkeye State!
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
by HoyaGoon on Nov 5, 2009 11:00 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Now, calling NW by the name "NW" upsets the 'Cats fans terribly....
…..since they want to be called “NU.”
Sorry, ‘Cats, you may have a great big university endowment, but you’re still only a directional school (with a great big university endowment). You don’t abbreviate the SEC as “SUC” much as some of us probably want to.
To me, they’re jNW, period. If you’re a ‘Cat. they’re jNU, preferably. I suppose jNWU is a compromise, but then again so is putting Coke in your whisky.
If it's not too much trouble, search your soul--and then ask yourself if maybe I might have a point.
by The Director on Nov 5, 2009 11:09 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Actually....
I’ve gotten more flak from calling them NWU than NW, since “grrr Northwestern’s just one word wah wah [random quote from Kant].”
Mind you, that school used “NWU.edu” as a domain name up until about 2005.
I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks
by Oops Pow Surprise on Nov 5, 2009 11:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
What's everyone worried about?
The last Iowa/jNW game I saw was at Kinnick in 2002. Iowa crushed them on the order of something like 63-10, and that team wasn’t even undefeated!
by With Ferentz Like These... on Nov 5, 2009 1:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
2005
will haunt the rest of my life. I was there with a buddy of mine, who to this day enjoys bringing up the fact that by the end I looked like someone had shot my dog.
I get some comfort by the fact that a 10 year kid was giving him shit all game long, and when it was over, he started taunting the kid.
Because that’s what real men do.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Nov 5, 2009 4:29 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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