Hlas: Ex-Hawkeyes from L.A. loving this Rose Bowl season

This will be the Rose Bowl Edgar Cervantes and Ramon Ochoa didn't get.

After Iowa's football team defeated Minnesota in Minneapolis in 2002 to clinch a Big Ten title-share, they thought they'd be heading to the Rose Bowl. Ochoa clutched a rose while helping carry Coach Kirk Ferentz off the field.

Wide receiver Ochoa and fullback Cervantes were from east Los Angeles — Maywood, to be precise — and thought they would come home to play in a Rose Bowl. But the Orange Bowl got the first pick after the national-title game pairing of Ohio State and Miami, and chose the 11-1 Hawkeyes.

All the verbal commitments for Rose Bowl tickets that Ochoa got from teammates from Florida were for naught.

But 13 years later, Iowa is going to Pasadena. Ochoa is living in Downey, Calif., and working as a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He bounces around schools as a substitute teacher, but is based primarily at his alma mater, Bell High School.

That's also Cervantes' old school. He now lives in Chicago, and works for JBS Commercial Real Estate. Both will be at the Iowa-Stanford game on Jan. 1. Cervantes will attend Ochoa's pregame tailgate party, with a barbecue and live music. They'll relive the past and enjoy the present.

'They remind me so much of how we played,' Cervantes said about this season's Hawkeyes. 'You can see the unity within the team, the closeness.'

Along with many former teammates including Colin Cole, Bob Sanders and David Porter, Cervantes attended Iowa's 16-13 loss to Michigan State in the Dec. 5 Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis.

'I've never been so upset about losing a game than I was that night,' Cervantes said. 'My family and everybody else couldn't believe how upset I was. I felt like I was still playing.'

Ochoa's reunion with the Hawkeyes will be in two weeks. He says he intends to attend the team's practices and reunite with head coach Kirk Ferentz.

'I'm excited, man,' he said. 'The boys are coming out here and I can't wait.

'When I see this team, I see the same thing Coach preached 10 years ago. Blue-collar, hard-workers.'

Cervantes was the Hawkeyes' starting fullback in 2002 and 2003, a dependable presence in the offense. Ochoa played in every game as a reserve in '02, then broke through in '03. With receivers Mo Brown and Ed Hinkel injured, Ochoa stepped in against Arizona State and caught two touchdown passes. In a 30-27 comeback home win over Michigan, he had a 31-yard TD catch and 133 yards in kick returns.

'I think I invented 'Next Man In,' ' Ochoa joked.

Ochoa only came Iowa's way because Cervantes asked Hawkeye coaches to consider him. Cervantes only came Iowa's way because those coaches noticed him in a game tape of another team's player they were evaluating.

Cervantes was a linebacker who Iowa converted to fullback. Ochoa was a 5-foot-9 player who proved he could play wide receiver at the highest collegiate level.

'We came from a high school that didn't get a lot of football exposure,' Cervantes said. 'We were known for soccer and baseball.'

Both are 34, are married, and are the fathers of two. They were success stories in 2002, and are more so in 2015.

'I met my wife at Iowa,' said Cervantes. 'I work with two good friends from Iowa. I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunities Iowa provided me.

'I've been to a couple of UCLA games at the Rose Bowl, but never to a Rose Bowl game. I always said I'd never go to one until Iowa was playing in it.'

Ochoa's California license plate says HWK4LFE.

'This Rose Bowl game is a win-win for me,' Ochoa said. 'I'll be there, screaming my lungs out.'