The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

In the mist of time, Michigan loses

In+the+mist+of+time%2C+Michigan+loses

By Blake Dowson

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When Iowa kicker Rob Houghtlin lined up on the right hashmark and booted a 29-yard field goal through the uprights to defeat No. 2 Michigan on Oct. 19, 1985, he not only set the record, he sent the 66,350-person crowd in Kinnick and the whole state into a frenzy.

Iowa had played in big games before Bo Schembechler’s Michigan squad rolled into Iowa City on that chilly and rainy Saturday.

There were Rose Bowls in the past, in 1957, 1959, and 1982. They won the Grand Daddy Of ’Em All in ’59 and ’57.

But never had Iowa, which, after winning its first five games of the season, was ranked No. 1 in the country, lined up in a game of such immense significance.

To understand the magnitude of the situation, you have to go back to the final game of the 1984 Iowa football season, the Freedom Bowl against Texas.

Junior quarterback Chuck Long completed 29-of-39 passes for 461 yards and 6 touchdowns to lead the Hawkeyes to a victory. The record-setting day through the air for Long put an exclamation mark on the season, and what many thought was a storied Hawkeye career for the Wheaton, Illinois, native.

As the seventh-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy race, Long was set to earn money playing on Sundays if he wanted to. His 2,871 yards and 22 touchdowns were proof of that.

But Long decided to return to Iowa for a fifth season, instantly vaulting himself toward the top of the Heisman Trophy candidacy and the Hawkeyes to No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll.

“After that game [1984 Freedom Bowl], we had two weeks of vacation time, and I spent it talking to my family,” Long said in an interview with the Cedar Rapids Gazette in October 2015. “I knew I was coming back and was just looking for any reason not to. I never found a reason not to come back.”

A 58-0 drubbing of Drake started the season for No. 4 Iowa in the 1985 campaign, followed by wins against Northern Illinois and Iowa State.

By the time the Michigan State game rolled around on Oct. 5, the Hawkeyes had leapfrogged Oklahoma for the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll.

A Long naked-bootleg beat the Spartans in the final minute, 35-31, and a 23-13 win the next week against Wisconsin ensured the Hawkeyes would be unscathed by the time the Wolverines arrived in town.

The Wolverines came into the contest with wins over No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 15 South Carolina, and No. 17 Maryland, as well as Wisconsin and Michigan State.

With the win over the in-state rival Spartans, Schembechler’s squad moved into the No. 2 spot in the AP Poll, setting up only the seventh regular-season No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup since 1946.

“We’ve played a lot of big games already; Notre Dame, South Carolina,” then-Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh said in the Oct. 18, 1985, edition of The Daily Iowan. “There’s not extra pressure, but this will be the biggest game so far.”

Even having said that, Harbaugh could not have anticipated the level of energy that squeezed into every one of the 66,350 seats in Kinnick.

“The first thing that always comes to mind for that ball game was just the environment,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said on Tuesday. “It’s one I’ll never forget, right from going out for pregame warmup. It was just unbelievable in there. I think it was one of those twilight games. I think it started late in the afternoon or what have you but ended up being a night game.”

Twice during the first quarter, Harbaugh had to re-huddle his team, and the PA announcer had to tell the crowd to quiet down so Michigan could call its plays. A trashed rule since then, the crowd noise being too loud was a point of emphasis in 1985, and some Michigan players talked about it after the game.

“We went up to the ball after calling two plays in the huddle and then couldn’t hear which one Jim [Harbaugh] wanted us to run,” Wolverine running back Jamie Morris said in an Oct. 20 article in the Chicago Tribune. “The linemen complained, too. The crowd noise was very loud, and it was a big factor.”

A 25-yard Houghtlin field goal toward the beginning of the second quarter opened the scoring, putting the Hawkeyes ahead 3-0.

Harbaugh found his fullback, Gerald White, on a 6-yard pass later in the quarter to put his team up 7-3, and Houghtlin chipped in a 27-yard field goal right before the half to make the score 7-6 heading into the locker rooms.

After trading field goals at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the score stood at 10-9 Michigan, Iowa driving the ball with 10 minutes left.

With a a tad fewer than eight minutes left, Houghtlin missed a field goal from the right hash from 44 yards to keep the score at 10-9, and give Michigan the ball back.

The rest of the game, as everybody at the game and watching on TV will tell you, will live in Iowa lore until they start serving beer in heaven.

Iowa linebacker Larry Station stuffed Morris in the backfield on a third and 2, and Iowa got the ball back on its own 22-yard line with 5:27 left.

During the final drive, Long handed off to Ronnie Harmon seven times for 34 yards, and he crossed the 100-yard mark on the ground.

“I really thought we were going to get a touchdown,” Houghtlin said in the Oct. 21 edition of the DI. “Then, at about 1:24, I started to get an itchy feeling we were going to kick.”

The drive stalled at the 12-yard line, and head coach Hayden Fry called a time-out to stop the clock with two seconds left and sent out his sophomore kicker one last time.

“Coach Fry asked me if we were close enough for me to kick it,” Houghtlin said in the Oct. 20, 1985, edition of the Washington Post. “And I said we were … I don’t remember the kick, to be perfectly honest. But I knew when I hit it that it was good.”

Houghtlin split the uprights as time expired, and the Iowa fans were on top of him before the ball hit the ground.

For Iowa, it was the highlight of the program’s history.

“Was this the biggest win ever at Iowa?” Fry said in the Washington Post on Oct. 20. “There’s no doubt it was. I’m even going to vote us No. 1 tomorrow.”

Thirty-one years later, similarities are abound between the Michigan team that left Iowa City as losers in 1985 and the team that will come into Kinnick on Saturday.

Harbaugh returns, this time as head coach of his alma mater.

The Wolverines return with another No. 2 ranking and another top-five defense, one that has given up 8.5 points per game during Big Ten play and has outscored Big Ten opponents 273-51.

In what some thought would be one of the best games of the Big Ten slate this season now looks to be one of the biggest upsets in school history if the Hawkeyes send the Wolverines away losers as in 1985.

“They come in highly ranked, and they’ve earned both those things, every win, their ranking,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “When you look at them on film, they’re just a strong football team, veteran in a lot of areas. They’re strong in every phase, every area, and you know, nine games right now, I think they’ve been behind one time in one game … “They not only have good players, they’re well-coached, but they’ve really been focused and wired in, and we’re going to have to be at our best certainly.”

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