1945

The national rules committee made two important changes in the game of football. It legitimized the forward pass, allowing it to be thrown from any spot behind the line of scrimmage, and it increased to ten the yardage to be gained for a first down. Both rule changes were instituted to offset some of the violence of football’s mass attack.

With the surrender of the German army on May 7 and the Japanese surrender of September 2, the Hawkeyes on tour around the globe with Uncle Sam began to come home. The 1945 squad ranged in age from 17 (Bruce Hitchcock) to 26 (Jerry Niles). Many team members had worn a Hawkeye uniform before. “Tom Hand is one of the peppiest players, always keeps up a line of chatter,” the football program for November 3 told fans. “The war did not change Tommy…. He was like that in 1940 and 1941 as an Iowa squad member.”

October 27
FIGHTING IRISH SHAME IOWA
The Hawkeye chronicled the day the tradition was broken: “A cherished Iowa record came to a tragic end when the Hawks went to South Bend…to meet mighty Notre Dame, then rated Number Two team of the nation. With Iowa victories in 1921, 1939 and 1940—the three times the two teams had met previously—it had become a fine old Hawkeye tradition to beat the Irish.

“ This time tradition alone couldn’t stop Notre Dame’s powerhouse, and the Irish rolled to a 56-0 victory, worst defeat of the season for the Iowa team. A throng of 52,500 fans saw the then unbeaten Irish roll off to an early lead and use everyone but the water boy as Coach Hugh Devore substituted down to his fifth team in the triumph.”

A Daily Iowan story noted that “the [Iowa] players were hustled into their street clothes as rapidly as possible and packed off to spend the night in Chicago again.”

Jerry Niles

November 17
HAWKEYES BRING HOME THE BACON
It was Dad’s Day and the Hawkeyes had played 18 straight conference games without a victory. The opponent was the arch-rival Gopher from the North, Minnesota, and the spoils were cast in the shape of an iron pig.

Daily Iowan sports editor Gus Schrader told the story: “Victory, although it was in the air of Iowa staduim after a heartening Hawkeye drive in the second quarter, did not come until just four minutes before the final gun. Trailing, 13-19, the Hawks pulled a screen pass that sent Nelson Smith snaking 51 yards for the third score. Jerry Niles booted the extra point, but the 13,800 Dad’s Day fans still weren’t convinced.

“ They saw Minnesota’s once Golden Gophers rebound savagely with a reckless passing and running vengeance that ended when Bob Kispert’s attempted field goal went wide just 20 seconds before the end. Then the crowd surged out on the field, realizing at last that the long string of defeats had been broken.”

According to reports, there was near pandemonium in the locker room when the Hawkeyes lugged the famous feudal pig back into the fold. It was the first time Floyd of Rosedale had entered the Iowa locker room since the Ironmen captured him in 1939.

In a season when the Hawkeyes won only two games, the victory was sweet.

Copyright © 2005, University of Iowa Alumni Association Team names, logos, and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. No logos, photographs, videos, or graphics on this site may be reproduced without written permission.