1935

Coach Solem, who had received assurances from Big Ten Commissioner Griffith that it was all right to allow athletes to sign notes for their tuition, told his players to go home when university officials reneged on the plan. Only a last-minute door-to-door effort by members of the athletic board raised enough money to keep the team in school.

“It was an experience,” Solem recalled later. “I’ve never seen such double-crossing.”

October 26
The Hawkeyes traveled to Illinois, where they soundly defeated their conference opposition 19-0, but the game wasn't all positive for the Iowa team. Listen to former Hawkeye broadcaster "Dutch" Ronald Reagan describe the scene.

November 9
To defuse the rabid enthusiasm of fans prior to Iowa’s Homecoming game in 1935, the governors of Iowa and Minnesota agreed to add some levity to the contest. The victor would take home Floyd of Rosedale, brother of the famous Blue Boy in the movie State Fair. Though Iowa lost the game 13-6 and the prize Iowa hog headed north, a longstanding football rivalry would soon be cast in bronze and an autumn tradition begun—the battle for Floyd.

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