11/25/1978 (1978-1979)

Spartan Stadium [East Lansing, Michigan]

Iowa @ #14 Michigan State Iowa Hawkeyes Football @ #14 Michigan State on 11/25/1978 - HawkeyeRecap.com

L 7 - 42

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Head Coach: Bob Commings
Attendance: 57,007
Kickoff Temp: 34° F

RECAP

Iowa was soundly defeated by a talented Spartan team, in what would be Bob Commings last game as Iowa head coach. The Spartans clinched a share of the Big Ten Championship, however were ineligible for a bowl game because of being on probation. Michigan State fans tore down the goal posts after the win.

Iowa was down 35-0 at halftime. Iowa's Mario Pace and MSU's All-American Kirk Gibson (future MLB player) got into a fight, and were both kicked out of the game. The fight sparked some life into Iowa, resulting in a 50-yard scoring drive, a 10-yard pass from Jeff Green to Jon Lazar.

Multiple Iowa players came out in support of coach Bob Commings after the game. Rummors were going around that Commings had been told he would likely be fired after the game.

1 2 3 4 F

Iowa 0 0 7 0 7

Michigan State 21 14 0 7 42

SUMMARY

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PLAYER GAME QUOTES

We'd been getting into it a few plays earlier, Gibson threw an elbow at me and I threw one back at him. He came back at me so I swung.
-- Mario Pace
Mario Pace talking about his fight with future MLB star Kirk Gibson, who weighed almost 40 pounds more than Pace. Both players were ejected and Gibson left the field after slamming his helmet to the ground several times. "I came to block him and he started swinging, at the end it was me protecting myself. - Kirk Gibson

COACH GAME QUOTES

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DETAILED TEAM STATS

Statistics	Iowa	Michigan State
Total First Downs	15	20
Rushing Attempts	52	38
Rushing Yards	90	321
Rushing TDs	0	3
Yards per Rush	1.7	8.4
Passes Completed	10	12
Passes Attempts	30	30
Pass Completion %	33.3%	40%
Passing TDs	1	2
Passing Yards	108	144
Passing Yards per Completion	10.8	12.0
Passing Yards per Attempt	3.6	4.8
Touchdowns	1	5
Total Plays	82	68
% of Rushing Plays	63.4%	55.9%
% of Passing Plays	36.6%	44.1%
Total Offense	198	465
Yards per Play	2.4	6.8
Lost Fumbles	1	3
Interceptions	0	0
Turnovers	1	3
Penalties	6	5
Penalty Yards	69	52
Yards per Penalty	11.5	10.4
Possession Time

2024-2025 FB Record: 8 - 4

2024-2025 MBB Record: 7 - 1
(24 games remaining)

2024-2025 WBB Record: 8 - 0
(22 games remaining)

805 highlight videos and 673 full game videos gathered from the internet about the past 5,920 Iowa Hawkeye football (since 1889) and basketball (since 1901) games. We also have profiles for 1918 players and 118 coaches.

11/25/1978 (1978-1979)

Spartan Stadium [East Lansing, Michigan]

Spartan Stadium [East Lansing, Michigan]

Iowa @ #14 Michigan State Iowa Hawkeyes Football @ #14 Michigan State on 11/25/1978 - HawkeyeRecap.com