was unanimously approved by the athletic board, although the selection was opposed by some Iowa alumni at the time. Critics had two complaints. The first was that Ingwersen was not a "name" coach; he had only been out of college for three years, and he did not have the credentials of Rockne. Second, Ingwersen was perceived as a "traitor" by some Hawkeyes who felt that despite growing up in Illinois he was a native-born Iowan who turned his back on the state to play and coach for the Illini. Iowa finished with a 6–1–1 record in Ingwersen's first year as a head coach in 1924, better than Jones had managed the previous year. Unfortunately, the lone loss cost Iowa the Big Ten Conference title. Worse for some fans, the loss was to Zuppke and Illinois, Ingwersen's alma mater, the same school that had cost Iowa the championship in 1918 and 1919 while Ingwersen was a member of the Illini squad. Iowa won the first five games of the 1925 season before losing their last three. The most notable win came in Iowa's third game against Illinois. Ledrue Galloway, a talented black tackle from the 1924 team, was fighting tuberculosis on his sickbed. Just before the 1925 game with Illinois, the Hawkeye team received a telegram from Galloway, stating, "There will be twelve Iowa men on the field to beat Illinois. I am with you." Things looked bleak at first, however, when Red Grange returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. But Iowa fought back and delivered a 12–10 victory for their teammate Galloway, who died less than a year later. Iowa went 7–9 over the next two years, winning just one conference game in 1926 and 1927. Fan opposition to Ingwersen grew and sentiment turned on Ingwersen's biggest supporter, Paul Belting, as well. Iowa was suspended from athletic participation in the Big Ten, effective January 1, 1930 in the wake of a recruiting scandal that stretched back to the Howard Jones era. After agreeing to suspend current players who had been paid from an alumni slush fund and to fire athletic director Belting, who was implicated in the scheme, Iowa was reinstated a month later. The loss of his players greatly hampered Ingwersen's career at Iowa, and after going 1–6–1 in the 1931 season, scoring just seven points all year long, it was clear it would be a