One of the many things I miss about the traditional college football season is the surprise element each and every Saturday.

While we think we know what will happen every Saturday afternoon, the truth is we really don’t and when the surprises happen, it’s usually pretty entertaining and interesting.

One of those really surprising games happened on September 12th back in 1981 when Iowa hosted national power, Nebraska.

This was the start of the third year of Iowa football under the direction of Hayden Fry and the first game on the Iowa sidelines for a young assistant named Kirk Ferentz. After finishing 5-6 and 4-7 in his first two years, Fry was looking for the Hawkeyes to climb over the .500 mark for the first time since 1961.

The Hawkeyes opened the season hosting a Nebraska team that was coming off a two loss season and ranked in the Top Ten nationally. The Husker offense was led by Roger Craig and the previous year, Nebraska had trounced Iowa, 57-0 in Lincoln.

What happened was really the moment that Iowa fans would point to as the turning point in the Fry era at Iowa. The Hawkeyes pounced on the Huskers early on after a short punt. Iowa took over on the Nebraska 44 and rode the running of Eddie Phillips into the end zone and Iowa took an early 7-0 lead.

Near the end of the first quarter, Brad Webb picked on a Nebraska pass and Iowa was once again in business at the Huskers 43 yard line. The Hawkeye drive stalled out and Lon Olejniczak made a field goal from 35 yards out to give Iowa a 10-0 lead in in the second quarter.

One of the real stories of the game was the crazy high number of turnovers. Nebraska had three fumbles and a pair of interceptions, including one late by Lou King to seal the Iowa win. The Hawkeyes also had their fair share of mistakes with three fumbles.

Of course, that win launched the changing of the guard in the Big Ten and the legend of Hayden Fry was officially launched. Iowa went on that year to win five of their first six games, including a victory at Michigan. The Hawkeyes capped that year with a 36-7 victory over Michigan State and Iowa clinched a spot in their first Rose Bowl game since January 1, 1959.

There’s also another shocking result that took place on September 12th and it was during the final year of Iowa football under Hayden Fry. There were few things that defined the Fry era as much as his complete and total domination of in-state rival Iowa State. Starting in 1983, Fry owned the Cyclones. He not only enjoyed beating them, Fry demolished them several times. Heck the year before in 1997, Iowa had hung a 63-20 loss on the Cyclones.

Former Hawkeye player and assistant coach Dan McCarney had taken over the Iowa State program in 1995 and his measuring stick was his in-state rival. In 1998, McCarney got over the hump and ironically, while the Nebraska win in 1981 felt like the true beginning of the Fry era, the shocking loss to the Cyclones felt like the first true sign that the end of the Fry era was coming very soon.

Darren Davis ran wild for 244 yards and Iowa State really dominated Iowa, 27-9 at Kinnick Stadium. It was really a shocking result.

There are a couple of other Iowa/Iowa State games played on this date where the results were much better for the Hawkeyes and both took place during what turned out to be somewhat historic seasons.

Back in 2009, Iowa State felt like they had a pretty solid team, led by Austen Arnaud. The Hawkeye secondary had other ideas. Tyler Sash had three interceptions and Brett Greenwood picked off a pair of passes and Iowa dominated the Cyclones, 35-3 in Ames. This was also a bit of a breakout game for freshman Brandon Wegher, who rushed for 101 yards and one touchdown.

Then in 2015, C.J. Beathard led the Hawkeyes into Ames looking to start the season with a pair of victories. This really felt like the day that Beathard became the unquestioned heartbeat of the team.

With Iowa trailing 10-3 in the second quarter and facing a second and 16 after a sack that was nearly a safety, Beathard took off for what turned out to a 44 yard run, breaking five tackles along the way. Iowa went on to score on the drive and tied the game at 10. With the game tied at 17 in the fourth quarter, Desmond King returned a punt to midfield and then Beathard found Riley McCarron on a beautiful throw to put the Hawkeyes up 24-17. King then struck again, this time with an interception and Jordan Canzeri rushed twice for 25 yards, including an 8 yard score and the game was over. Iowa 31 ISU 17.

One powerful moment that I will always remember about the game in 2015 was the Iowa team walking together across the field to claim the Cy-Hawk Trophy. It was a fitting theme for that entire season, a group of young men that were a team in the truest sense of the word.

Two other games played on Sept. 12th, Iowa defeated Arizona, 15-14 back in 1987. Then in 1992, Iowa beat Iowa State, 21-7.