The 1946 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in the 1946 Big Nine Conference football season. The team compiled a 5–4 record (3–3 against conference opponents) and finished in fourth place in the

Big Nine Conference The Big Nine Conference, formerly the Big Eight Conference, was a high school sports conference in Genesee County, Michigan, that ended with four high schools in 2012. History Formed in 1960 as the Big Eight Conference, the conference became th ...

. The team outscored its opponents by a combined total of 129 to 92. The team allowed an average of 200.7 yards per game, the best total defense in Iowa history. Eddie Anderson returned as a head coach for the Hawkeyes for his fifth season as Iowa's head coach; he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1971. The team's statistical leaders included Bob Smith with 503 rushing yards,

Emlen Tunnell Emlen Lewis Tunnell (March 29, 1924 – July 23, 1975), sometimes known by the nickname "The Gremlin", was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants and also the ...

with 228 passing yards,

Dick Hoerner Lester Junior "Dick" Hoerner (July 25, 1922 – December 11, 2010) was an American football player. He played fullback for the University of Iowa in 1942 and 1946 and for the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1951. He helped lead the Rams to t ...

with 72 receiving yards, and Bob Sullivan with 25 points scored. Tackle Bill Kay was selected as the team's most valuable player. Guard

Earl Banks Earl C. Banks (June 11, 1924 – October 27, 1993) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Morgan State College—now known as Morgan State University—from 1960 to 1973, compili ...

and fullback

were selected as first-team players on the

1946 All-Big Nine Conference football team The 1946 All-Big Nine Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1946 Big Nine Conference football season. The top ...

. The team played its home games at

Iowa Stadium Nile Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football, Hawkeyes football team. First opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently ...

. It drew 197,811 spectators at five home games, an average of 39,562 per game.

Schedule

After the season

The 1947 NFL Draft was held on December 16, 1946. The following Hawkeyes were selected.

References

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Iowa Hawkeyes football seasons Iowa Hawkeyes football {{Collegefootball-1940s-season-stub