Iowa State Cyclone Marching Band involved in bus crash coming home from bowl game

A Windstar Lines motor coach carrying the Cyclone Marching Band collided with a school bus on its way home from Iowa State University’s Pop-Tarts Bowl victory last weekend in Orlando — leaving a dozen band members with “bumps, bruises and cuts.”

The crash occurred about 7 p.m. Monday near Chattanooga, Tenn. — two days and 560 miles from the Cyclone football team’s come-from-behind, one-point victory Saturday over the University of Miami in Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

None of the band members involved in the crash suffered serious injuries, and no one was taken to the hospital, according to ISU spokeswoman Angie Hunt.

“But emergency responders evaluated and treated around a dozen students for bumps, bruises and cuts,” she said.

Windstar Lines President Jeff Greteman said his team is cooperating with local authorities and “completing our own internal investigation.”

“What we do know is that a school bus pulled in front of a Windstar Lines motor coach and collided with the front of the motor coach,” Greteman told The Gazette in an email. “The privately owned school bus left the scene. The Windstar Lines motor coach remained upright but sustained disabling damage.”

Because the motor coach was part of an eight-bus convoy, the seven other coaches had enough open seats to accommodate band members from the damaged bus.

The band arrived home Tuesday afternoon, according to Hunt. The football team flew to Orlando on Christmas Day and returned Dec. 29. The Cyclones were returning from playing at the Pop-Tarts Bowl, which saw ISU rally from a 10-point second-half deficit to win 42-41.

“We gave it everything we’ve got!” the Cyclone Marching Band wrote on social media after receiving a shoutout from Jon Heacock, ISU’s defensive coordinator, for their performance.

“On fire last night,” Heacock wrote. “Difference makers.”

THANKS COACH! WE GAVE IT EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT! https://t.co/Xwdi1Rjn2y

— Cyclone Marching Band (@ISUCFVMB) December 29, 2024

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com