1942

March 7
With America’s entrance into the war after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Big Ten opted to waive certain conference rules. Officials sanctioned a ten-game season in 1942 by allowing games with teams that “do not observe conference rules.” As an emergency measure, freshmen were made eligible to compete. Though the Big Ten did not suspend its athletic program, some 350 colleges across the country postponed play altogether.

September 26
One of Iowa’s earliest snowfalls blanketed Iowa Stadium in September, prior to the Hawkeyes’ contest with Nebraska. In order for the game to go on, athletic department officials recruited hundreds of students to clear the field. They cleared some of the stadium benches, too, so that fans could watch Iowa outscore the Cornhuskers, 27-0.

Vacanti takes to the air during Iowa's 27-0 rout of Nebraska.

November 7
SACRIFICES ON THE HOME FRONT
The Hawkeyes erased Wisconsin’s top national ranking and pulled off the upset of the year at Homecoming in Iowa City. Five Hawkeyes—Tom Farmer, Jim Youel, John Staak, Bob Penaluna, and Bob Yelton—played every minute of the game, but it was Farmer who connected with Bill Burkett for the winning touchdown. Iowa’s defense was awesome. Despite four tries inside the six-yard line, the Badgers could not reach the end zone.

Iowans would have to savor the victory for a long time, though, as this was to be the last conference game the Hawkeyes would win in more than three years. Watch the winning touchdown catch from this memorable upset.

But other things were more important in 1942. During a year when football shared headlines with Hitler, students willingly sacrificed some of the hoopla of Homecoming. After the game, fans were asked to turn in the traditional badges for recycling, a gesture that provided more than 320 pounds of scrap metal for the war effort.

The fate of the engineers’ corn monument was also dictated by the war. “To destroy it would contradict all war efforts of conservation,” an article in The Daily Iowan proclaimed. “In keeping with the spirit of the times, the corn will be taken from the structure and will go to feed hogs, helping to maintain the nation’s food front, while the electric wiring, so scarce in wartime, will be saved for future uses….” Then the monument was burned.

November 18
The effects of the war really hit home when Dr. Eddie Anderson, head football coach, requested a leave of absence to serve as a major in the Army Medical Corps. Backfield coach Frank Carideo also enlisted, as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.

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