By Don Doxsie

 

The University of Iowa football program has had its share of ups and downs through the decades. Its history has included prolonged stretches of futility punctuated by periods of sustained success.

 

One of the lowest of the low points was 1938. The Hawkeyes were 1-7 that season with the only victory coming against the University of Chicago, whose program was in such disarray that it dropped football two years later. Among the losses was a 14-0 setback against a 2-5-1 Colgate team. The Hawkeyes scored only three points in their last five games.

 

They had failed to win a single Big Ten game in five of the past nine seasons and had gone 2-13-1 in two seasons under coach Irl Tubbs, who was justifiably relieved of his duties.

 

But that low point was destined to be followed by one of the most memorable seasons in Iowa history, thanks to a brilliant but demanding new coach, a charismatic halfback with a flair for the dramatic and a band of hearty overachievers who dug deep to engender one of the great turnarounds in Big Ten history.

 

The 1939 season gave birth to the Ironmen.

 

The Ironmen went 6-1-1 and finished with a No. 9 national ranking, but what really resonated with an adoring fan base was the grit and work ethic of the team.

 

During the course of the 1939 season, there were 39 instances in which an Iowa player played the full 60 minutes in a game. Even in that era of one-platoon football, it was a highly unusual occurrence.

 

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