Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Friday, September 20, 2024
A new place to play. More from the Iowa Allman Act in a moment. Every detail matters when building a winning game plan. That's why the Cyclones and Hawkeyes rely on better, cleaner now biodiesel to power their team buses on game day. Delivering success on the field, in the field, and in the environment. Make biodiesel part of your winning game plan by visiting IASoivians.com. Biodiesel, grow it, request it, use it. This message brought to you by the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Check-Off. The Iowa State University football program has a long history. The legendary Pop Warner was one of the early coaches. And starting in 1914, the team that became known as the Cyclones played in Clyde Williams Field. Named after the man who coached the team from 1907 through 1912, and was later Iowa State's athletic director. But by the 1970s, Williams Field had seen better days. And in 1973, ground was broken for a new stadium to be built on the south end of campus. The structure was completed in just less than two years, and opened on September 20, 1975, when coach Earl Bruce's team defeated Air Force 17-12. The original stadium had a capacity of 42,500, but quickly grew to 46,000 the next season when end zone bleachers were constructed. And it's continued to grow with the two largest crowds in stadium history coming in successive weeks in 2015. 61,500 people, four games against the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. It's the third largest stadium in the Big 12 Conference and the third newest in the conference. The stadium costs $7.6 million to build, which would be the same as $33.4 million today. The facility was originally called Cyclones Stadium, and the playing surface was called Jack Tris Field, in honor of the African-American player who died following injuries sustained in a game at Minnesota in 1923. The stadium itself has carried Tris's name since 1997, and it remains the only stadium in FBS Division I named for an African-American. The Cyclone football team has played in 18 postseason bowl games, but 16 of those have come since they began calling their current facility home, a facility then known as Cyclone Stadium, which opened with a win over Air Force on this date in 1975. And that's Iowa Almanac for September 20th. There's more online at IowaAlmanac.com. Until Monday, I'm Jeff Stein.