Iowa State Football History: The 1970's

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State's football legacy stretches over 12 decades back to the program's formation in 1892. Our Athletics Communications Department recently chronicled the highlights of that history into shortened document for another department project.

So, we decided to share that with you. Each Friday leading up until the home-opener on Sept. 1 vs. Tulsa, Cyclones.com will recount major moments in Cyclone football history. Archive links will be made below.

1970
WR Otto Stowe and S Tony Washington are first-team All-Big Eight honorees. Dave McCurry is the last Cyclone to play both ways (offensive-defense).

1971
Iowa State fields the first bowl squad in school and wins eight games (8-4) for the first time since 1906. The season includes a 54-0 win over Oklahoma State in the final home game of the season. RB George Amundson tallied school records in rushing (1,260), and TDs (15) on the ground. QB Dean Carlson throws for a school record 1,867 yards. LB Keith Schroeder earns first-team all-Big Eight honors as the Cyclones end the season in El Paso, Texas playing LSU in the Sun Bowl. LB Matt Blair is selected as the game's most valuable player.

1972
The Cyclones earn a second-straight bowl bid, traveling to Memphis, Tenn. to play Georgia Tech. Iowa State is ranked on the AP poll for the first time since 1938, staying in the top 20 seven weeks, as high as 12th. Iowa State ties No. 3 Nebraska, 23-23. Amundson switched to QB for his senior season, setting several school records, including 2,387 yards of total offense. First-team all-Big Eight honorees are Amundson OL Geary Murdoch and DE Merv Krakau. All three are named All-Americans. Amundson earns Big Eight Players-of-the-Year honors over Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska. Majors informs the team after the bowl game that he is leaving Iowa State to coach at Pittsburgh.

1973
Former Tampa head coach Earle Bruce is named Iowa State's head coach. In October, Iowa State officials break ground on a $ 7.6 million football stadium on the southeast side of campus. LB Matt Blair earns All-America honors in his final season. NG Lawrence “Big Daddy” Hunt, TE Keith Krepfle and TB Mike Strachan earn first-team All-Big Eight honors.

1974
S Barry Hill earns All-American honors. He holds the school record with nine interceptions, which ranked him ninth nationally. PK Tom Goedjen is a first-team All-Big Eight honoree.

1975
Cyclone Stadium opens with a capacity of 42,500. The first game played is a 17-12 Iowa State win over Air Force on Sept. 20.

1976
Earle Bruce's fourth team blossoms as one of the best teams in school history. Iowa State is 8-3 with wins at No. 7 Missouri (21-17) and vs. No. 9 Nebraska, 37-28 in Ames. Sophomore RB Dexter Green rushed for 1,074 yards. The stout Cyclone defense is led by first-team all-Big Eight honorees Tony Hawkins at safety, DL Maynard Stensrud, DL Mike Stensrud and DT Tom Randall. KR Luther Blue and OL Dave Greenwood also earned all-conference honors. Blue, whose kickoff return for a TD was the biggest play of Iowa State's win over Nebraska, earning All-America honors.

1977
Iowa State wins eight games for the second straight season and earns a Peach Bowl berth against North Carolina State. The Cyclones win 24-21 at No. 9 Nebraska, beating the Huskers for the second time in a row and are ranked as high as 16th on the AP poll. Iowa State is 5-2 in the Big Eight, good enough for second place. Dexter Green rushes for 1,240 yards and 15 TDs. DL Mike Stensrud, DT Tom Randall, CB Kevin Hart and LB Tom Boskey earned all-Big Eight honors. NG Ron McFarland is an All-American.

1978
The Cyclones post a third-straight eight-win season and end up the fall campaign against Texas A&M in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. Iowa State wins its last four Big Eight Conference games to earn a second-straight bowl bid. DT Mike Stensrud, RB Dexter Green, DE Rick White, S Mike Schwartz, LB Tom Boskey and OT Dick Cuvelier were all-conference picks. Head coach Earle Bruce leaves to take the head coaching position at Ohio State. Mike Stensrud and Dexter Green are All-Americans.

1979
Donnie Duncan becomes Iowa State's 25th head coach on Jan. 17. He was formerly assistant head coach to Barry Switzer at Oklahoma. In Duncan's first season, S Mike Schwartz is a first-team All-Eight honoree.

Archives
>> The 1960's
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>> The 1910's
>> The 1900's
>> The 1890's

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Iowa State Football History: The 1970's

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