Hawkeye Memories

With it being the holidays I always tend to be reminiscent at this time of year.  Always think about the memories of the past years.  Experiences, good and bad.  People I met, people I didn't talk to and should have.  People who left my life and people that came in.  I also tend to think about sports.  The crazy plays, amazing finishes and unbelievable stories.  Stories that forever stay in our hearts for many reasons. Here is one of those stories:

Jan. 1, 2005 is a day that will live in Iowa Football lore.  The Iowa Hawkeyes played the LSU Tigers that day in the 2005 Capital One Bowl.  My brother Josh at the time worked for the Big Ten Conference and we were able to make the trip down to Orlando for the bowl game.  We were accompanied by 2 of our relatives, Uncle Chris and Uncle Tony.

That morning was like any other of Hawkeye tailgating.  Bloody Mary's, great Iowa pork sandwiches, some Jumbalaya from the LSU friends we made and some bags.  A perfect day was ahead of us for some football.  The game started with Iowa scoring a quick TD to go ahead 7-0. Later in the 1

^st

half Iowa's special teams made a sensational play to block an LSU punt to put the Hawkeyes ahead.  Unfortunately right after, LSU scored on a long running play to shorten the Iowa lead 14-12 at halftime.  I remember the pageantry of halftime.  First bowl game I had ever been to, so the “Show” of it all was pretty magnificient.  Being there with my family made it even more enjoyable.  The smiles on all of our faces as Iowa was ahead was kind of surreal at the time.  Who knew more surreal moments were to come.

The 2

^nd

half was more of a defensive struggle until the 4

^th

quarter.  With Iowa leading 24-12 with only 9 minutes left the game felt all in hand.  Then LSU QB and later No.1 NFL pick JaMarcus Russell came into the game.  Russell led LSU on 2 scoring drives, the 2

^nd

coming with only 46 seconds to play and putting LSU ahead 25-24.

As an Iowa fan not all hopes were lost as we still had 2 timeouts and “Schlicher the Kicker.”  Iowa got a decent return on the kickoff out to the 30 yard line.  On 1st and 10, Iowa completed 10 yd pass for a 1

^st

down.  The next play Iowa completed another pass for about 9.5 yards, not quite enough to stop the clock for a 1

^st

down which left the Iowa players and coaches confused and another play was ran but before everyone was ready,  resulting in a 5 yard penalty.

At this point it was evident a miracle would be needed.  With less than 10 seconds left and ticking, Iowa took the next snap.  QB Drew Tate scrambled slightly, shifted to his right and threw the ball in the air.  That ball was in the air for what seemed like 5 days, but while watching it I was also watching Iowa WR Warren Holloway running down the field:  WIDE OPEN!!

At about the 10 Warren caught the ball and scampered into the endzone!!  Euphoric does not even come close to describing that feeling at that moment.  Grown men were hugging and jumping up and down like high school cheerleaders.  True joy and happiness broke out in that stadium for Hawkeye fans!  To celebrate that moment, with my brother and uncles is by far my favorite HAWKEYE MEMORY!!

Please feel free to share your favorite Hawkeye Memories below.

Joseph Larsen

Community Contributor