IOWA CITY, Iowa — With two seconds left in Saturday’s debacle against the Hawkeyes, many of the remaining Iowa fans rushed the field.

Parents with young kids in tow ran onto the turf to join raucous Iowa students. Security immediately put down the collapsible goal posts on one end of the field. A middle-aged man yelled at Northwestern coach Randy Walker.

After a few moments of chaos, fans were alerted to the fact that the game wasn’t over. (Third-string quarterback Tony Stauss had just completed an eight-yard pass to third-string running back Kevin Lawrence for a first down on 4th-and-2, and the officials had to move the chains before the game could end.) Confused fans started to make their way off the field. The officials moved the first-down marker and the final seconds ticked off the clock.

This exhibition was reminiscent of another post-game celebration where students poured out of the stands after an NU game. Of course, that was in Evanston, after the then-No. 21 Wildcats upset then-No. 12 Michigan 54-51 in 2000. That was an incredible game complete with emotional highs and lows, two ranked teams and an outcome that was in doubt until the final seconds. Shell-shocked NU students climbed the goal posts with futile hope, secretly knowing it might be the last time they would ever see such an impressive NU victory.

Saturday? No. 6 Iowa rolled over bottom-dweller NU 62-10. The Cats didn’t have a chance. The game was never close.

But the fans still decided to rush onto the field, probably because it was the last chance they would have to send off their Hawkeyes in style this year, after a season that could potentially take them to the Rose Bowl.

The fact that they cared so much almost erased the stupidity of leaving the stands before the game was over.

All in all, it was nice to see fans filling the stands and staying for an entire game, despite the less-than-competitive on-field action. (Let’s just say that doesn’t always happen at NU.) The first big exodus from the stadium didn’t occur until 12:49 was left in the fourth quarter, when both teams had put in their second- or third-string players, and stars like Brad Banks and Fred Russell were long gone.

It was Senior Day at Iowa, and the Hawkeyes emerged with a victory they needed to remain tied for first in the Big Ten. But it was a game the team was supposed to win. And, before they rushed the field, the Iowa faithful knew Ohio State had beaten Purdue, keeping the Buckeyes undefeated and in position to go to the national championship game.

Yet the fans still wound up on the field at the (almost) end of regulation. They showed their appreciation, albeit in a slightly misguided way, for a team that has been nearly perfect this season.

That was great to see.

If only they could have waited an extra two seconds.

Amalie Benjamin is a Weinberg junior. She can be reached at [email protected].