By DARREN MILLER
hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Bob Davis cherishes two souvenirs from a beautiful fall day in 1977.
It was Saturday, Sept. 17, and Davis was one of 59,725 inside Kinnick Stadium as Iowa State and Iowa renewed their football rivalry after 43 years. He saw Dennis Mosley and Jon Lazar score rushing touchdowns and he watched a Hawkeye defense hold Iowa State scoreless for the final 42 minutes, thanks to 11 tackles by Dean Moore and 10 from Tom Rusk.
There are few specifics Davis recalls from that overcast afternoon when temperature topped out in the mid-70s.
“I just remember the person I was with almost getting punched out by an Iowa State player,” Davis said. “We were right behind them and could touch their helmets. Iowa State was supposed to win and we were egging them on and egging them on and they were getting mad.”
Iowa won, 12-10. Davis and his friends from Muscatine, Iowa, came away from the big day unscathed physically. His bounty was a miniature, plastic football and a Pepsi bottle commemorating the historic event.