The Iowa Hawkeyes took it to the USC Trojans with a 49-24 win at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Friday, and the win came at an important time for the program.
Iowa is grieving after the recent deaths of former athletic director Bump Elliott, and former head football coach Hayden Fry. The Tigerhawks were removed from the team’s helmets in honor of Fry, and “Bump” stickers were on the back of the helmets as well.
Iowa’s helmets pic.twitter.com/awRjuNganV
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) December 27, 2019
After Friday’s win, FS1’s Joel Klatt brought up the deaths of both men during a postgame interview with head coach Kirk Ferentz.
“I think they’d both approve of this one,” Ferentz said of Bump Elliott and Hayden Fry. “Coach Fry is the guy who built this program, got it back up on its feet. There are so many of us who owe him so much. I hope his family enjoyed this one tonight.”
Fry was the Iowa coach from 1979-1998. He turned them around from a team that had 17 straight losing seasons to one that became a consistent winner and played in three Rose Bowls. Elliott was the man who hired him.
Ferentz was an assistant coach under Fry from 1981-1989 and has been Iowa’s coach since 1999. He’s now led the Hawkeyes to seven straight winning seasons and three straight bowl wins.
