(Early) Game Report: Long talks Floyd, Moeaki touts message

IOWA CITY — Former Iowa quarterback Chuck Long participated in four games against Minnesota with Floyd of Rosedale at stake. But one of his biggest memories came his first year on campus in 1981, when he was redshirting.

The Hawkeyes were No. 6 in both polls and were heavy favorites against the Gophers. Iowa failed to convert on a crucial fourth down inside the Minnesota 15-yard line in the second half, and the Gophers won 12-10.

'When you step foot on campus, the first rivalry you hear about is the Floyd of Rosedale,' said Long, who now works as an analyst with BTN. 'That was the very first rivalry that was told to me, taught to me as a young freshman. But still you weren't really sure what it was all about, then we got upset here by Minnesota in 1981. I'll never forget that team coming over. I was on the sideline. I wasn't playing. I wondered what they were doing, to come over and shake our hands. They came right past us and went right to the Floyd of Rosedale, the pig, and took it. I knew right then, 'Oh, that's what that's all about.''

Iowa got revenge the next season with Long at the helm. The Hawkeyes won 21-16 at the then-new Metrodome, and Hayden Fry had a postgame shake-up. He changed out of his sideline attire and put on bib overalls and a straw hat for his postgame news conference.

'Nothing he did surprised us because he was so colorful,' Long said. 'He loved doing that. We loved that. We loved that he did that. It just loosened us up as a team. To see your head coach have so much fun along with you as a team.

'He always was in tune with the media. With the national media, the Big Ten media. He would have been great in social media today. He would have loved Twitter. He was always in tune with it. He'd read their articles and then come out with a straw hat.'

Iowa crushed Minnesota 61-10 in 1983, but Lou Holtz took over in Minnesota and upset Iowa 23-17 in 1984. Iowa reclaimed Floyd of Rosedale 31-9 in 1985 in Long's final year, clinching a Rose Bowl bid in the process.

'It was only fitting to beat them at home in '85 to go to the Rose Bowl,' Long said.

MOEAKI TAKES A BOW

Former Iowa and current Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Moeaki was named honorary team captain. Moeaki's Falcons were idle this weekend, and he spoke to the team at a practice on Friday.

'My message to the team was to play together,' Moeaki said. 'Play for your teammates because they've been doing it all year. You can see it. They care for each other. Just keep doing it, man. It's fun to watch. Teams don't get that magic that they have, even some of the great teams. I just told them to keep holding on to that.'

Moeaki was a member of Iowa's 2009 team that won its first nine games and finished 11-2. That squad won the Orange Bowl and was ranked No. 7 in the final poll, the program's highest final ranking since 1960.

In his six-year NFL career, Moeaki has caught 89 passes for 1,154 and five touchdowns. His best season was his first with the Kansas City Chiefs when he caught 47 passes for 556 yards and three scores. He was out for the entire 2011 season with a knee injury and returned to Kansas City in 2012. He played for Buffalo in 2013 and Seattle last year. He caught eight passes for 134 yards and touchdown last year and played in last year's Super Bowl against New England.

'It's everything that you want it to be,' Moeaki said of the Super Bowl 'It was an unbelievable experience. It was real fun, man. I'll cherish that for the rest of my life.

'Brutal ending, but that's football. The goal is to get back there again. We've just got to keep working and see what happens. It's tough to get back to those.'

Moeaki has played in five games for Atlanta this year with one catch for 11 yards.

SPLIT FAMILY

Split households are common during Cy-Hawk week, but there was at least one couple who displayed their divided loyalties at Kinnick Stadium's Krause Plaza before the game.

Tammy and Troy Kraling live in Cresco, Iowa, just south of the Minnesota border. Troy Kraling grew up a Gophers fan in Harmony, Minn., and he told his wife he'd never come to Kinnick Stadium. Tammy grew up a Hawkeyes fan but never had come to an Iowa game, either. But for their 11th anniversary, they decided to watch their first game at Kinnick.

'It's my first time in Iowa City,' Tammy Kraling said. 'It was a good chance to celebrate.'

TICKET PRICES SOAR

With sellout status and a 9-0 Iowa team, tickets were at a premium cost outside the stadium. One ticket scalper said prices were going regularly for $120 to $130 a ticket, nearly double their original cost. That's more than four times the price outside of Memorial Stadium last week for the Iowa-Indiana game.

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