Nov. 5 in Hawkeyes football history - there have been better dates for Iowa, but few better seasons than 1960

The College Football Hall of Fame has a Web site, and it has a long memory.

It has a page devoted to this week in college football history. The listing for Nov. 5 isn't one the Iowa Hawkeyes particularly love, though you have to be one of their older fans to remember it. It is:

November 5, 1960 - No. 1 Iowa fell to No. 3 Minnesota, 27-10, in Minneapolis. The Gophers forced three turnovers which resulted in two touchdowns. The 17-point loss remains one of the largest margins of defeat by a number one team in NCAA history.

The next week, Iowa walloped then-No. 3 Ohio State, 35-12, in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes followed that with a season-ending 28-0 win at Notre Dame.

Iowa tied Minnesota for the Big Ten title that year, but the Gophers went to the Rose Bowl. It was Forest Evashevski's last season as Iowa's coach.

There were no other bowl options for Big Ten teams back then, so Iowa stayed home despite being ranked second in one wire service poll and third in another.

This rivals.com story by Tom Kirkendall via Kevin Gertsen tells a larger story of that season and recaps Evashevski's final five seasons at Iowa, which saw 37 wins, 8 losses, 2 ties, and 3 Big Ten titles.

For people like myself who weren't born or were infants when Evy's teams were doing what they did at Iowa, this helps explain why Evashevski's death last week resonated in Iowa and in college football almost a half-century after he retired from coaching.