What, you thought the storied Iowa-Purdue rivalry, a rivalry desperately in need of protection, didn't have any great moments? Then you, sir, are no student of history. BHGP has gone back through the archives and dug up some of the moments that make this legendary rivalry so compelling.
October 4, 2005:
Iowa, a preseason Big Ten championship contender and trendy darkhorse national championship pick, is mired at 3-2 after an embarrassing loss at Jack Trice and thorough dismantling at the hands of Ohio State. For the first time since 2000, it feels like the wheels could come off the Hawkeye wagon. Making matters worse for Iowa is its next opponent: Its most hated rival, the Purdue Boilermakers and their despicable head coach Joe Tiller, in their traditional "Second Saturday in October"* matchup.
Kirk Ferentz, feeling as if his team was slipping away from him, used the occasion of his traditional Tuesday press conference to stoke his team's collective fire in a way we have seen only when he discusses our most hated rival, Purdue. Shockingly for a press conference, the language Ferentz used is not safe for work.
Iowa won 34-17 (after the game, Ferentz famously told Tiller to "Brock his Spack"), and would eventually finish 7-5 after an Outback Bowl loss to Florida. The conference title was not meant to be, but if you ask many Iowa fans what they savor most from that campaign, they will tell you that it's the memory of that win over their most hated rival, Purdue, and the detestable Joe Tiller.
* -- This is shorthand. It's actually traditionally known as the "Second or Third Saturday in October, Except for When We Play near Halloween, or in November, or in that Weird Conference Game in the Last Week of September" game.