It wasn’t pretty, the conditions were poor, and the game took six hours — but Iowa and Iowa State just put together an instant classic in the latest football matchup of the Cy-Hawk rivalry as the Hawkeyes downed Iowa State, 18-17, for their fifth victory over the Cyclones in a row.

Riding high off of College GameDay making its way to Ames, the crowd at Jack Trice Stadium was electric for one of the most anticipated matchups between the Hawkeyes and Cyclones in recent memory.

That atmosphere was quickly depleted when a weather delay was announced with 7:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Lightning forced both teams into their respective locker rooms just as Iowa State started its first drive on offense.

It would take 49 minutes until players got back onto the field, and when play resumed, Iowa State took advantage.

Teams seemingly always try to connect on a big play out of a long delay, and Cyclone head coach Matt Campbell had the same idea for his offense. On the fourth play back from the lightning delay, Iowa State opted to run a trick play. It worked.

The Cyclones scored a 51-yard touchdown on a double pass that brought life back into the soaking-wet crowd.

Shortly after, however, the weather delay process started all over again.

With 13:24 remaining in the second quarter — just as Iowa State regained possession of the ball with a 7-3 lead — a dreaded second weather delay was announced as the crowd at Jack Trice booed.

If the first delay seemed like forever, the second delay was just short of an eternity.

Play was suspended for two hours and six minutes. Rain, lighting, and hail took over Ames and prevented play. Save for roughly the first 10 rows of the student section, the stands were empty. They got even emptier when Iowa State fans briefly stormed the field out of what looked like pure boredom.

For a football team, constant stoppages in play is not an easy thing to overcome, especially when it nears three hours in total.

That being said, Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley said he thinks the team responded to the challenge well.

“I think the coaches did a great job at preaching to us,” Stanley said. “You stay locked in, but make sure that you’re able to relax. I think everybody did a great job at using those breaks to go over the game plan again, but once they had it down, just relaxing and preparing to get back out on the field.”

Part of that preparation was getting fed properly during the long delays. The Iowa staff had that covered.

“I credit our managers and state troopers,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “They ran out and got around 60 sandwiches from three different stores.”

The sandwiches were a must for the Iowa players. Just ask defensive end A.J. Epenesa.

“I did get a sandwich,” Epenesa said. “It was getting brutal in there, but I got one. It was really good. I ate half of it — it was like a 16-inch sandwich, so I only ate half because I didn’t want to throw up.”

The much-needed sandwiches gave Iowa the boost it needed to outlast Iowa State. The Hawkeyes won their fifth-straight meeting against the Cyclones, this one coming down to the wire.

Every win in the rivalry is special, especially for someone like Epenesa, who grew up with the Iowa-Iowa State matchup.

“Growing up, I’ve always been a big Hawkeye fan,” Epenesa said. “The Iowa-Iowa State game, the significance it has to the state and the people in the state and to the programs. To us and to them, it’s almost the biggest game of the year. The most important game of the season is to beat the home state team.”