The 2009 Hawkeyes became one of the most memorable teams of the Kirk Ferentz era, but the season almost went up in flames before it began.
Iowa and Northern Iowa have played on the gridiron seven times since 1995.
Each game has usually played out like this: the Panthers visit Iowa City to collect a nice paycheck and earn the chance to play an in-state foe, and the Hawkeyes win in blowout fashion.
Anyone who knows a lick about college football can understand this. Iowa plays at the highest level of college football (in arguably the best conference, too), while FCS Northern Iowa, though a formidable program at that level, is usually too outmatched to compete with the Hawkeyes.
Iowa has won by at least two or more touchdowns in five of the seven meetings. The lone matchups that didn't involve a comfortable Hawkeye victory were 2014 and 2009.
The 2014 battle ended in a 31-23 Iowa win, but the clash that deserves a second look is the 2009 meeting. Any Hawkeye fan that hears 2009 and Northern Iowa in the same sentence probably feels a shiver up their spine, so we apologize for bringing back some of those feelings.
Why do they exist you may ask? Because Iowa needed not one, but two blocked field goals to defeat the Panthers in 2009.
Here's how it happened.
The Rundown
After a strong finish to the 2008 season, expectations were high for the Hawkeyes in 2009. Though star running back Shonn Greene left for the NFL, quarterback Ricky Stanzi and a number of other key contributors were back.
The season opener against UNI looked to be a great tune-up game on paper, but looking back now, it's easy to see why the contest everyone remembers today occurred. The Panthers had won five Missouri Valley Conference titles in eight years by this point and were always an FCS title contender.
Assuming Iowa, a 15-point favorite, would just cruise by Northern Iowa in this game was definitely the wrong viewpoint.
The Panthers knew they were being disrespected and took it personally. The Hawkeyes tacked on a field goal on their opening drive, but turnovers prevented them from doing much offensively.
UNI took full advantage of Iowa's struggles, building a 13-3 lead early in the third quarter. The Hawkeyes fired back with 14 straight points to claim a 17-13 edge, but the Panthers responded with a field goal to make it 17-16 with under five minutes to play.
Iowa needed a couple first downs to salt the game away, but was unable to do so. That left 2:14 for the UNI offense to drive down and win the game, and it looked poised to do just that.
The Panthers began their final drive at their own eight, but quarterback Pat Grace led a meticulous 12-play, 46-yard drive down to the Hawkeye 23 to set up a game-winning field goal try.
Billy Halgren's first attempt was blocked, but to the shock of the capacity crowd in Kinnick Stadium, Northern Iowa would get one more attempt because the ball didn't cross the line of scrimmage (it was also a first down attempt) and was recovered by the Panthers there.
Hawkeye fans were expecting the worst, but in an improbable twist, Halgren's second kick was blocked again. Though the ball went well past the line of scrimmage this time, Iowa didn't take any chances and covered the ball up to stamp the victory.
The Hawkeyes swiftly lost their top 25 ranking after this, but ended up going 11-2 and winning the Orange Bowl for their first (and only) major bowl victory since 1959.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]
