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Arizona Wildcats © |
Iowa Hawkeyes |
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Played September 7, 1996 at Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Arizona © | 5 | 13 | 11 | 0 | .542 | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 6 | 7 | 0 | .462 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Iowa | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | ||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Arizona |
7 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
20 |
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Iowa |
0 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
21 |
The 1-0 Arizona Wildcats of coach Dick Tomey traveled to Iowa City to meet the 22nd ranked Iowa Hawkeyes of coach Hayden Fry. Iowa’s defense forced 5 turnovers & recorded 5 sacks while All-Big 10 RB Sedrick Shaw rushed for 115 yards with a touchdown as the Hawkeyes claimed The Belt with a 21-20 victory. Arizona took a 7-0 lead in the 1st quarter when QB Keith Smith connected with TE Mike Lucky for a 1-yard touchdown pass. In the 2nd quarter, the Hawkeyes turned a fumble by Arizona's QB Brady Batten into a score when LB Vernon Rollins recovered the ball in the end zone tying the game at 7-7. On the Wildcats’ next possession, Batten fumbled again & LB Matt Hughes recovered at the Arizona 18-yard line. Two plays later, Iowa's QB Matt Sherman found WR Damon Gibson for an 18-yard touchdown pass giving the Hawkeyes a 14-7 halftime lead. After Iowa's CB Tom Knight intercepted Smith, the Hawkeyes got a 1-yard touchdown run from Shaw. The Wildcats comeback started with a 50-yard field goal by PK Matt Peyton midway through the 3rd quarter &, after a short punt, Arizona had the ball at the Iowa 20-yard line. Smith scrambled after finding his receivers covered & took the ball untouched into the end zone making the score Iowa 21 Arizona 17 with 5:56 left in the 3rd quarter. The Wildcats got a 39-yard field goal from Peyton 3 seconds into the 4th quarter but could not score again as the Hawkeyes ran off most of the last 6 minutes of the game with a 15-play drive. The win gave the Hawkeyes their second Belt reign & first since 1981. Sherman threw for just 81 yards with a touchdown in the win. For Arizona, Batten & Smith combined for 181 yards passing with Smith throwing a touchdown as well as an interception. The Wildcats finished the season 5-6 while the Hawkeyes finished 9-3 & ranked 18th nationally. Arizona would play for The Belt again 2004.
