Iowa had their breakthrough season in 1981 under Hayden Fry, when they cracked the Michigan-Ohio State monopoly on the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl bid and came to Pasadena. In the ensuing three years, Fry’s teams went 25-11-1, establishing they were no one-year wonder. 1985 Iowa football was a team of a great expectation, with a […]
1985 Michigan football came into the season looking for redemption from the most disappointing season of Bo Schembechler’s tenure in Ann Arbor. They went 6-5 in 1984 and then missed a chance at redemption when they lost the Holiday Bowl to undefeated BYU, the eventual national champion. After having gone to a major bowl in […]
Nebraska had gone to nine major bowls since Tom Osborne became head coach in 1973. The last two years were marked by heartbreak at the goal-line—a legendary failed two-point conversion in the Orange Bowl that cost them a national title in 1983–and a failed fourth down at the goal line against Oklahoma that cost them […]
Tennessee had not reached the Sugar Bowl, the SEC’s contract bowl game, since 1970. But they were winning consistently. The Vols had reached nine straight bowls, including four in succession under Johnny Majors, who came to Knoxville after winning a national championship at Pitt in 1976. The 1985 Tennessee football team would break the Sugar […]
Miami had exploded onto the national stage in 1983 when they won a stunning national title over Nebraska. The mastermind behind it, Howard Schnellenberger, immediately left to the United States Football League, a fledgling organization that had a brief splash in challenging the NFL. READ GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS Jimmy Johnson took over and 1984 […]
1985 Penn State football was in need of a bounceback year. After winning the national title in 1982, the Nittany Lions had slipped off the radar for two years. They went 8-4-1 in 1983 and then a 6-5 season in 1984 resulted in no bowl appearance. Joe Paterno’s program revitalized with defense. Shane Conlan, a […]
The 1985 college football season marked the first of a two-year stretch where Oklahoma, Penn State and Miami all stayed at the top of the polls. This time around, the Sooners won the national championship, beating the undefeated Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes beat Oklahoma in the regular season and had a […]
Texas A&M hadn’t gotten the old Southwest Conference’s Cotton Bowl bid in 18 years. Auburn had the Heisman Trophy winner in Bo Jackson and were looking to vindicate themselves after a disappointing regular season. Here’s a look back at the paths these two future SEC West rivals took through the 1985 college football season, to […]
This post is part of a series of sports history articles commemorating under-the-radar teams and moments in a given year. The 1985 Iowa Hawkeyes played an epic 1 vs. 2 game with Michigan in October that shaped the national championship race and ultimately settled the Big Ten crown.