1957

Click the play button above to hear audio highlights from Iowa's 35-19 victory over Oregon State.

January 1
GAME TIME!
“Hundreds of fans were still making their way to their seats in the huge arena in the Arroyo Seco canyon when the Hawkeyes made the scoreboard lights flash,” wrote Brian and Mike Chapman in Evy and the Hawkeyes. Kenny Ploen scooted in for the first of two touchdowns the Hawkeyes would make in the first qauarter.

The foe was Oregon State, the team that Iowa had nipped, 14-13, to start the season. It was the first time the Rose Bowl would offer fans a rematch on New Year’s Day.

But the tenor of this game was different. Before the quarter was half over, the Hawkeyes had scored as many points as they managed in the full 60 minutes of their first game with the Beavers.

When the second half began, fans sighed in relief to see Ploen return for the kickoff. The quarterback, who led the team in rushing, passing, and scoring, had been carried to the sideline earlier after over-extending his left knee.

“After halftime,” the Hawkeye noted, “Iowa exploded in the form of [Mike] Hagler, who raced 66 yards on a reverse for another Iowa touchdown. In the last period Jim Gibbons scored on a 16-yard pass from Ploen. Bob Prescott kicked all five extra points to make the final score 35-19.”

Summing up the action in The Los Angeles Times, Ned Cronin wrote; “What happened was that Oregon State’s pigskinners made the mistake of getting caught in the University of Iowa’s meat grinder and came out of it looking like a minced beaver.”

The game ball was sent to Mrs. Talitha Jones, mother of Iowa’s greatly mourned Calvin Jones, to whom the Hawkeyes dedicated their victory.

September 28
With Ploen gone, Randy Duncan moved into the quarterback slot to begin a career that would make him the idol of thousands. But it was Geno Sessi, playing in his first game as a Hawkeye, who became the hero of the hour.

Sessi touched the ball just three times in Iowa’s opening game against Utah State, but scored a touchdown each time! Writing for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Gus Schrader called Sessi “two quarts of nitroglycerin in a half-pint bottle.”

Final score: 70-14.

Outland Award winner Alex Karras. Listen to Karras's Outland acceptance speech.

1957
Iowa ended the season 7-1-1, falling behind both Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten. The final Associated press poll ranked the Hawkeyes sixth in the country.

After Iowa’s victory over Notre Dame on November 23, Iowa guard Frank Bloomquist admitted, “I’m kind of glad it’s over. That’s a tough way to spend your Saturday afternoons.”

Teammate Mike Hagler, a talented halfback, agreed. He had lost a shoe on two occasions during the game with the Fighting Irish because of a short shoestring. “I took off on a run after a pass interception and found out I didn’t have a helmet and only one shoe. It’s not safe out there like that.”

Alex Karras was named the premier lineman in the country following the season. He won the coveted Outland award and was runner-up behind Texas A&M back John Crow for the Heisman.

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