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Iowa-Illinois rivalry nearly ended after controversial game
Iowa and Illinois' football teams won't play for at least six seasons, the Big Ten's longest hiatus among rivals since the Fighting Illini and Hawkeyes skipped each other every year after 1952 through 1967.
The current status is nothing more than a Big Ten scheduling blip. The former break, however, had to do with bad blood resulting from penalties, punches and fans tossing apples at players and officials. Check out “How pass interference, a jawbreaker and tossed apples nearly canned the Iowa-Illinois football rivalry” Sunday in The Gazette and
Former Illinois end John 'Rocky' Ryan was an all-Big Ten player in the early 1950s. He also was involved in one of the ugliest post-game incidents in Big Ten history in Iowa City on Nov. 8, 1952. (Photo courtesy of University of Illinois)
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