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1891 Iowa Hawkeyes football
1891 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Independent
Record	3-2
Head coach	None;
	Seasons ← 1890 1892 →

1890 Iowa Hawkeyes football
1890 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Independent
Record	1-1
Head coach	None;
	Seasons ← 1889 1891 →

1889 Iowa Hawkeyes football
1889 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Independent
Record	0-1
Head coach	None;
	Seasons ← 1888 1890 →

The State University of Iowa began playing American football as a club sport in 1872^[1], but it was not until 1889 that Iowa challenged Grinnell College, then-known as Iowa College, to a game of football.^[2] On November 16, the two teams met in Grinnell to play the first game of intercollegiate football west of the Mississippi River.^[3] Iowa lost, 24-0, and a rematch between the two teams in Iowa City was canceled due to poor weather.^[4]

The next season, Iowa once again played Grinnell, this time in Iowa City. Playing in rain and strong winds, the Hawkeyes lost 14-6, but scored the first touchdown in school history when Martin Sampson blocked a Grinnell kick and returned it 70 yards for the score.^[4] However, much displeasure was expressed with this second loss to the Pioneers.^[4] The S.U.I. Medics, angry with two straight losses to a "small academy", challenged the varsity team to a game in an attempt to prove that Iowa's team was not composed of the best players available. Confident of their victory, the varsity team accepted, but lost 22-10.^[4] The loss brought in multiple changes in personnel and strategy, but it did not deter Iowa from challenging Iowa Wesleyan to a game.^[4] In Mount Pleasant, the Hawkeyes scored 19 touchdowns, and rolled to the first victory in school history by score of 91-0.^[4]^[5]

In the following years, Iowa began hiring head coaches to assemble and prepare the team before the season, the first being E.A. Dalton of Princeton University, who was hired for ten days before the 1892 season.^[6] Following a two-week tenure by Ben Donnelly in 1893, Iowa hired Roger Sherman, who became the first coach to lead the Hawkeyes for the entire season in 1894.^[7] In 1895, however, Iowa decided to forgo hiring a head coach, and limped to a 2-5 record under the volunteer efforts of Bill Larrabee.^[8] For the last time in school history, the Hawkeyes had gone without a head coach.^[9]

The following year, Iowa hired A.E. Bull of Pennsylvania University as the next coach of the Hawkeyes.^[8] Under the leadership of one of the greatest centers to date^[8], the Hawkeyes finished with a 7-1-1 record and won the conference championship in the Western Intercollegiate Football Association.^[8]^[10] Controversy, however, sparked in Iowa's game against Missouri. Missouri alumni demanded that the Hawkeyes play the game without Carleton Holbrook, Iowa's star black athlete. Iowa refused, and won the game 12-0 amid a hostile crowd in Columbia.^[10] Holbrook was one of the two players to score a touchdown during the game. Following Bull's tenure, Iowa hired Otto Wagonhurst, the last Hawkeye coach until John Griffith in 1909 to lead the team for only one season.^[9]

1889 season

On September 26, 1889, Martin Sampson, who would later score the first touchdown in school history^[4], led a meeting regarding the organization of an S.U.I. football team. It was this suggestion that earned Sampson the title of coach and captain of the team.^[2] In the following days, Iowa sent out a challenge to any team in the state of Iowa for a game of football. The one team to accept Iowa's challenge: Iowa College.^[2] The Hawkeyes were no strangers to the Pioneers, as the two schools had met on the baseball diamond in the 20 years before.^[2] The game date was set for November 16, and the preparations for the game began.^[2]

Preparations were difficult at Iowa, as proper management and leadership was obviously lacking at team practices.^[3] That was hardly the case with practices at Grinnell. With the help of Frank Everest and Lou Van Giesen, two men with playing experience back east, the Pioneers were able to field a competitive team.^[3] Iowa was outmatched, and lost the game, 24-0.^[4] Although a rematch was scheduled to be played on Thanksgiving, it was canceled due to inclement weather.^[4] With that, Grinnell had won the first championship west of the Mississippi.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
11/16/1889	at Iowa College*	Grinnell Field Grinnell, Iowa	L 24-0
11/28/1889	Iowa College*	Iowa Field Iowa City, Iowa	Canceled
*Non-conference game

* Indicates non-conference game.

1890 season

Following Iowa's inaugural season in 1889, two games were scheduled for the Hawkeyes to play in 1890.^[4] On October 18, the Hawkeyes played Iowa College in Iowa City, only to lose to the Pioneers for the second time in two games.^[4] It was this loss that triggered a dispute amongst people within the University. In an attempt to prove that the best football talent was not on the team, the S.U.I. Medics challenged the varsity squad to a game. Confident, the varsity squad accepted, and lost, 22-10.^[4] But the loss did not keep Iowa from challenging Iowa Wesleyan, who accepted, under the terms that the game be played in Mount Pleasant.^[4]

Fifteen hundred fans, including John Harlan and Robert Lincoln, were in attendance for the Thanksgiving Day game.^[4] Using rules that made touchdowns worth four points, the Hawkeyes easily won the game in a rout, 91-0.^[4] The Hawkeyes scored 19 touchdowns and five goals after touchdown while A.G. Smith kicked the first field goal in school history.^[5] Today, the game still stands as Iowa's third-largest margin of victory in school history.^[11]