ISU To Honor 1977 Peach Bowl Team This Weekend

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State Athletics Department will recognize a special group of players on Oct. 28 at the TCU game, as the 1977 Iowa State Peach Bowl squad will reunite for its 40^th anniversary.

This team will be featured at the Iowa State Letterwinners Club Football Reunion weekend. Iowa State Hall of Fame coaches Johnny Majors and Dan McCarney will also be back for the festivities.

The 1977 Cyclone squad was one of the finest in the Earle Bruce era.

Iowa State ended the year at 8-4, including a 5-2 mark in Big Eight play, its best conference mark in the Big Eight era (1960-95).

Fresh off an impressive showing in 1976, the Iowa State football team had a lot to look forward to and much to prove heading into the 1977 campaign. Fifth-year head coach Earle Bruce and the Cyclones were still stinging after being spurned by bowl scouts the previous fall despite sporting an 8-3 record and ending the season ranked in the nation's top-20.

Bruce's Cyclones were blessed with the return of a fine core of starters on both sides of the ball. The defense, which anchored this team, was led by defensive linemen Mike Stensrud and Tom Randall. The pair was the first Cyclone defensive line duo to earn first-team all-Big Eight honors in the same season. The secondary featured first-team all-Big Eight cornerback Kevin Hart. Junior captain Tom Boskey earned second-team all-Big Eight honors for his fierce play at linebacker.

The offensive leader would again be diminutive tailback Dexter Green. "Money" rushed for 1,240 yards and scored 15 TDs in 1977. The junior would earn first-team all-Big Eight honors and become the Cyclones' all-time leading rusher.

The Cyclones began the season with an encouraging 3-1 record in non-conference play, defeating Wichita State (35-9), Bowling Green (35-21) and Dayton (17-13), while falling to Iowa (12-10) in the schools' first meeting in over 40 years. Despite the disappointing loss to Iowa, the Cyclones still had hopes for a bowl bid heading into the conference home opener against Missouri.

Behind a strong defensive effort, ISU upended Missouri 7-0, the Cyclones' first shutout win over the Tigers since 1934. Green scored the only touchdown of the game with a 28-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. His run was all ISU needed, as the defense stymied the Tiger offense, holding Mizzou to 166 yards of total offense.

The Big Eight road was not going to get any easier with ninth-ranked Nebraska waiting for ISU in Lincoln the next weekend. The Cornhuskers, still smarting from ISU's 1976 victory in Ames, entered the contest with a victory over nationally ranked Alabama the previous week.

NU scored first with an I.M. Hipp 59-yard TD dash in the first quarter. ISU promptly answered with a 13-play, 76-yard scoring drive that ended with quarterback Terry Rubley's 5-yard run on the option to even the score. Another Hipp touchdown, this time from 17 yards, gave NU a 14-7 lead, but it was quickly followed by Green's 19-yard TD run to once again even the score (14-14). ISU finally took its first lead in the seesaw affair after Mike Clemons recovered Husker quarterback Randy Garcia's fumble.

The turnover led to a 3-yard Cal Cummins TD run to give ISU a 21-14 edge at intermission.

ISU kicker Scott Kollman extended the lead to 24-14 early in the third quarter with a 32-yard field goal. Hipp scored his third TD of the day in the third quarter to close the gap to 24-21, but the ISU defense shut down NU's comeback to register a second-straight win over the Cornhuskers. Green and Cummins carried for 139 and 115 yards on the ground, respectively.

Bruce perfectly summed up Green's brilliance in 2003 when Green succumbed to cancer at the age of 46.

"He (Green) was at his best against the great teams," Bruce said. "I had many good backs over the years, but not all of them were at their best against the Nebraskas and Oklahomas like Dexter was. He was determined to be a success."

Riding high from the win over Nebraska and sporting a 5-1 record and a No. 16 national ranking, the Cyclones traveled to No. 6 Oklahoma the following weekend. ISU's upward momentum did not continue, as the Cyclones suffered a 35-16 loss in front of 71,184 fans. The Cyclones took a 16-14 lead in the third quarter with a 44-yard scoring run from Green and a 12-yard catch by Guy Preston, but the Sooner wishbone offense came alive to hold off a Cyclone triumph.

Green outgained OU back Kenny King 177-146. The loss proved costly for ISU, as nose guard Ron McFarland, who would earn second-team All-America honors from Football News, was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Now 5-2 and out of the national rankings, ISU came back with a vengeance in a 41-3 thrashing of Kansas before a homecoming crowd of 48,500. It was the biggest conference victory margin ever by a Bruce-coached ISU team, as the Cyclone defense held KU to 189 yards of total offense. Iowa State capitalized on three-straight Jayhawk turnovers by scoring a trio of touchdowns en route to a 21-3 halftime lead.

Green scored two TDs and Terry Rubley dove in from one yard out during the scoring bonanza. Green ended the day with 149 yards rushing, while Rubley tallied 130 yards through the air. Rubley and freshman John Quinn provided the necessary support from the signal-caller position all season after fifth-year senior Mike Tryon was lost for the year in the season-opener with a separated shoulder.

ISU could not extend its winning streak the following weekend, suffering a 12-7 loss to Colorado in Ames and falling to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference. ISU's offense was stagnant, mustering a season-low 96 yards on the ground.

Iowa State made amends for the CU loss and kept its bowl chances alive with an inspirational 22-15 win at Kansas State the following Saturday. ISU outgained the Wildcats 394-262 in total offense. The Cyclones did most of their damage on the ground, producing 307 yards on the run, with 139 coming from Green. Rubley connected on two throwing strikes, a 17-yarder to Tom Buck and a 15-yard lob to Stan Hixon, in the second quarter.

The season finale vs. Oklahoma State in Ames was pivotal for ISU. A loss would take the Cyclones out of contention for a bowl bid, while a win would keep them in the hunt for the postseason. Scouts from the

Peach and Hall of Fame Bowls watched ISU down the Cowboys 21-13 to end the regular season at 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Eight. Green was stellar, scoring all three touchdowns, two by run and one by air, while gaining a game-high 176 yards on 30 carries.

The next day, only the Peach Bowl had a vacancy and ISU was still waiting for an invitation. Peach Bowl officials finally made their decision, selecting Iowa State to battle North Carolina State, as the Cyclones were going bowling for just the third time in school history.

No one was happier about the selection than Bruce.

"Our kids deserve this," Bruce said. "They worked very hard for it, and I'm sure glad they got it. This was one of our goals when the season started -- to go to a bowl game and make up for last year."

Heading into the New Year's Eve showdown, the Cyclones found themselves a slight favorite over North Carolina State. Over 12,000 ISU fans traveled to Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., to watch a game that was billed the Dexter Green-Ted Brown showdown. Brown was N.C. State's top runner and would later star in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.

Brown did his damage in the game, rushing for 114 yards, but the star of the game was Wolfpack quarterback Johnny Evans, who gained 264 yards of total offense to help NCSU to a 24-14 win.

N.C. State opened the scoring with a 77-yard bomb from Evans to Randy Hall in the first quarter. North Carolina State closed out the half with two more scores and a 21-0 advantage at intermission.

With ISU's offense stalling, Bruce inserted Quinn at quarterback. Both teams were scoreless in the third stanza before ISU finally scored early in the fourth on a fourth-down, 1-yard TD run from Quinn to make it a 21-7 game. N.C. State followed with a 42-yard field goal from Jay Sherrill, but ISU quickly answered with a 68-yard, 13-play drive culminated by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Quinn to Greg Meckstroth to cut the gap to 24-14.

After a Wolfpack punt, ISU's comeback hopes were all but dashed when Quinn was intercepted. Green posted a valiant effort in the loss, gaining 172 yards.

ISU compiled its second-straight 8-3 regular-season record and earned its third bowl bid in school history. The Cyclones tied for second in the conference with their most wins in Big Eight history, going 5-2 in the nation's best gridiron alliance. All of these achievements helped Bruce earn his second-straight Big Eight Coach of the Year award.

Bruce and the Cyclones would earn another bowl berth and an 8-3 regular season the following year in 1978. It would be his last at Iowa State, however, as the Ohio State alum would return to his alma mater in 1979 to take over head coaching duties.

Bruce, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, will always cherish his time in Ames.

"I have many, many fond memories from my six years coaching at Iowa State University," Bruce said. "I had the pleasure of coaching very nice, hardworking young men. There were many highlights, but beating Nebraska in back-to-back seasons (1976 and 1977) ranks right up there."

Iowa State University Athletics

ISU To Honor 1977 Peach Bowl Team This Weekend

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