A good game on a great day
The Iowa Hawkeyes held on in Ames to beat the host Iowa State Cyclones 20-13 in front of 61,500 football fans and 3 or 4 presidential candidates. And Iowa State's band won.
AMES, Iowa — I believe it was in 1977 when the Iowa vs. Iowa State football rivalry was renewed after it’d been abandoned for several decades. I’ve been to many of the 45 or so games the Hawkeyes and Cyclones have played since then, and I’m not sure there’s been a better day for a game than Mother Nature gave us Saturday.
A full house at Jack Trice Stadium of more than 61,500 fans basked in 80-degree temperatures under partly-cloudy skies, cheering wildly as Iowa built a substantial first half lead, then held on to beat the Cyclones 20-13.
At least three Republican presidential candidates were on hand — former President Donald Trump up in the luxury suites in the press box, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum over in the club section in the east stands, and just two rows in front of my wife Mary Riche and me was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sitting next to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds for three quarters, before both left. And someone said that entrepreneur and candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, of Ohio, might have breen around, too.
Students getting their photo taken with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. (Photo by Mary Riche)
Some of you might remember that for about 20 years, into the late 1990s, at this annual fall game, I was self-appointed judge of which marching band was better. Both always performed. Generally, I found that the Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band played better, but the Iowa State University Cyclone Football “Varsity” Marching Band (that’s it’s real name) marched better and was more fun.
So let me pronounce here that at Saturday’s game, Iowa State’s band was better. One reason is that the Iowa U band wasn’t here.
The Iowa State band did a halftime show featuring music from the uber-popular “Indiana Jones” movies. Note that “Cy” the mascot got into the act, costumed as Jones himself. (Photo by Chuck Offenburger)
Has that become a new thing — that only the home school band performs for the Iowa vs. Iowa State game? If so, then Gov. Reynolds, please do something about it. You over-reach on lots of other things, so you might as well dictate that both bands participate at this game, too.
Actually, she represented the state really well on Saturday. She and DeSantis were cordial as could be when dozens of fans asked to have their photos taken with one or both of the dignitaries.
A dad shoots a photo of himself and his two daughters with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican candidate for president who sat two rows in front of us in the west stands. (Photo by Mary Riche)
Three other observations here:
—Has Brian Ferentz, the offensive coordinator for the Hawkeyes and the son of head coach Kirk Ferentz, forgotten that he was told over the summer that the team must average 25 points per game or he’ll lose his job? Last week, Iowa scored 24 in defeating Utah State. Saturday, they scored 20, and only 3 of them came in the second half. Hmmm.
—No matter how many Cyclone games you attend, and despite that we all know that the fraternity boys shoot off a real cannon in one end zone when ISU scores, and again when the ensuing kick-off happens, it still scares the bejeepers out of most of us when that big gun roars.
—This game was actually a cheap date for Mary Riche and me. First, we didn’t have to pay to park, although we did have to park south of U.S. Highway 30 in the Research Park and then hoof it a mile and a half to the stadium. Even better, the fantastic tickets we had down front on about the 25-yardline were free — or nearly so. I won them in a raffle game during last June’s Bell Tower Festival in our town of Jefferson.
Chuck Offenburger and Mary Riche on their cheap date at the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game Saturday in Ames.
Since those tickets allowed us to sit so close behind the Cyclones’ bench, I thought a way to show our appreciation to our homefolks would be to shoot a couple photos of Tyler Miller, a Cyclone star player who grew up in our Greene County and played for our high school. Oh, what a specimen he is!
The starting offensive lineman, a redshirt junior, stands 6 ft. 9 in. tall and weighs 335 pounds, according to the ISU roster. An ag studies major, Miller was on the Big 12 Conference all-academic team in 2021 and on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He appears to me to be an outstanding lineman, one worthy of post-season football honors if he stays healthy.
So Tyler Miller is representing us well. But how do they keep him fed?
Greene County native Tyler Miller (66) is a rather imposing figure on the football field.
Miller has a presence, all right! By the way, that white wrap on his wrist is a list of plays and formations the Cyclones used in the game.
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You can comment on this column below or write the columnist directly by email at chuck@offenburger.com.
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Thanks for the sideline report!
Hi Chuck -- I suspect the reason you did not see the Hawkeye Marching Band is because of an unfortunate incident at the 2019 game in Ames in which Hawkeye band members were roughed up and an ISU official apologized.
That little skirmish, of course, was eclipsed that year by the ISU fan who panhandled for beer money on ESPN College Gameday. When he promised to donate a portion of his beer money to the Staed Family Children's Hospital in Iowa City, it became a cause celebre and generated a good amount of free advertising for the now-reviled Bud Light. The Register's attempt to delve into his background caused a social-media upheaval and a backlash against the Register that resulted in a reporter being fired and some of the RAGBRAI organizers threatening to start a competing ride -- which apparently was quashed by COVID.
I was in the not-so-cheap upper deck seats on the east side at Jack Trice Saturday, It was my adult son's first Iowa-ISU game. We were far removed from any VIPs or professed presidential face-time wannabees. We only caught a glimpse of our 45th president when he appeared in the lower deck of the SW corner of Jack Trice. My son saw him; I did not.
But we did have one incident upstairs in which a young man unfurled a large Trump banner over one of the exits and two gray haired gentlemen in ISU-colored shirts grabbed the banner away from him and one of them pushed him back into hs seat. I was waiting for the cops, but none came.
Other than that, it was the ususal hijnx. A young woman behind me spilled her bag full of airline-sized bottles of cocktails (or they were little tiny bottles of pink lemonade, take your pick). I picked up a couple, handed them back to her and told her wineskins were used back in my day; she looked back dumbfounded, either not knowing what a wineskin was or wondering just how ancient I really am.
Then there was a big burly dude who said he was an ISU vet med student who couldn't seem to find his seat and was alternately hanging or leaning on a guardrail above an exit on a steep stairway quaffing a tallboy of Michelob Ultra, struggling to keep his ballcap on while trying to impress some energetic professed U of I nursing students who apparently similarly ingested a sufficient amount of general anesthetic and felt like auditioning for the dance team (they also possessed airline bottles of pinkish fluid). The balance-challenged burly dude eventually sat down and the nursing students were told by a representative of stadium services he'd hate to have them escorted out by the state trooper waiting below..
All that aside, as an ISU alum and fan, it was probably the best I could hope for on the field. We didn't get too embarrassed and made it a game at the end. I've seen this movie before, and anything beats the Jim Criner era. After taking my appropriate share of razzing from family and friends for what they consider my laughable if not heretical support of the Cyclones, I now move on.
P.S. The Register article announcing our 45th president's visit to the game reported that Iowa House Majority Leader Jack Whitver provided a statement to the Trump campaign that he was "proud to have President Trump witness the greatest rivalry in college sports."
Sen. Whitver is a former ISU wide receiver and co-hosts Learfield Sports' postgame Cyclone Locker Room show. He should either have stayed mum on our 45th president's visit or excused himself from the broadcast. He definitely should, permanently, if Mr. Trump decides to "primary" Gov. Reynolds with a Whitver gubernatorial run in 2026. The umpire isn't supposed to play shortstop in sports or politics.