Frank Gilliam attended high school in Steubenville, Ohio, and was football teammate with Calvin Jones and Eddie Vincent.
With 2:06 remaining in the game, Gilliam made a diving catch in the end zone to give Iowa a 14–7 lead.
In Gilliam’s senior season of 1956, Iowa had a 9–1 record, winning the Big Ten and a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time in school history.
The happy occasion was marred, however, by the discovery that Gilliam’s close friend, Cal Jones, had died in a plane crash in the mountains of western Canada during a howling windstorm.
[7] Frank Gilliam’s final game with the Hawkeyes came in the 1957 Rose Bowl, where Iowa defeated Oregon State, 35–19.
[8] After retiring from professional football, he was a teacher for a few years before becoming an assistant coach to Jerry Burns at the University of Iowa from 1966–1970.