During the third quarter of No. 5 Iowa’s 40-35 victory over Minnesota, the speakers at Kinnick Stadium began blaring Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize.” By the time the song’s refrain rolled around, seemingly all of the 70,585 packed inside the blacked-out venue with smart phones had turned on their flashlights, swaying back and forth with the song’s lyrics.
It was sublime; it was unlike anything anyone has ever seen in that 86-year-old venue. It was part of history and one of the countless things that made Nov. 14 the best day Kinnick Stadium has ever seen. It was one that cannot be replicated anywhere, ever.
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Around 10:30 a.m., roughly 20,000 people were scattered throughout the south end of Kinnick Stadium for the Iowa wrestling team’s Grapple on the Gridiron match with Oklahoma State. As the clock ticked closer to the scheduled 11 a.m. start, seats began to fill, and fill, and fill.
By the time 125-pounder Thomas Gilman led the Hawkeyes to the mat through a column of pyrotechnics, there was still some room in the high corners of the stands, and the crowd hadn’t passed the 50-yard line. By the time Gilman won by major decision over Eddie Klimara and Cory Clark followed with a decision over Gary Wayne Harding, the crowd was a solid black mass that stretched past midfield under a clear, beautiful sky.
When 174-pounder Alex Meyer nearly pulled an upset of Kyle Crutchmer, the place was rocking, and the NCAA-record crowd of 42,287 was ready to explode. Sammy Brooks had no trouble giving them reason to.
The 184-pounder beat Jordan Rogers by technical fall in 4:09. After Brooks gave his team a commanding lead it didn’t relinquish, he flexed his biceps and later said he felt like they could have blown the roof off Kinnick.
Of course, there is no roof, but if there had been, Brooks wouldn’t have been wrong.
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Six hours after the Hawkeye wrestlers finished Oklahoma State with an 18-16 victory, the Iowa football team swarmed through the same tunnel Gilman led his squad thorough earlier in the day. AC/DC’s “Back in Black” bellowed throughout Kinnick, and the sold-out crowd shook the stadium to its core.
The audience was electric and with good reason. The game’s entertainment value was astronomical, with Iowa posting 40 points, and Minnesota never going away, scoring 35 of its own.
After running back LeShun Daniels Jr. sealed the game — or so we thought at the time — with a 51-yard touchdown run with 2:01 remaining in the fourth quarter, the customary I-O-W-A chant was audible from as far as two miles away. Again, give an assist to the unseasonable November weather.
And then, the crowning jewel — Floyd. After the Gophers failed an onside kick, C.J. Beathard took the final knee in football’s best formation. Iowa lined up along its sideline and walked across the field to take the trophy back from Minnesota.
As the Hawkeyes walked back through that tunnel the final time, to one more deafening cheer and “In Heaven There Is No Beer,” it was impossible to beat that atmosphere; 112,862 people watched Iowa make history in Kinnick Stadium.
Similar days will likely happen down the road, perhaps again at Iowa, or at other institutions.
But know this — Nov. 14 cannot be replicated anywhere, ever.
