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Brion looks at this week's opponent Illinois and the games played from 1899 through 1936. There have been 78 games played between the two teams, and Iowa is 37-39-2 all-time (49%). Two more wins by Iowa will tie the series.

This matchup has been fairly competitive throughout the years. Illinois won 12 straight games from 1942 thru 1967, but it included a gap between 1952 to 1967 when they didn't play. From 1990-92, Iowa won 3 straight, then from 1993-95, Illinois won 3 straight, then Iowa won 3 straight from 1996-1998.

Hayden Fry was 10-8 (56%), including the final 3 matchups (1996-1998). Kirk Ferentz is 13-4 (76%), winning 8 straight until last year's 6-9 loss in 2022.

A few interesting stories to listen for. An Iowa coach killed a rabbit to try and end a curse, Iowa fans came to Iowa Field to hear a telegram update on a big road game at Champaign, one game was so popular that ticket prices jumped from $3 to $10, and there were some really bad lopsided games early in the series by both teams.

Player profiles this week are Nick Bell, former NFL running back, who was a key part of the 1990 Rose Bowl, and had a monster game against Illinois in 1990, and Bret Bielema, former Iowa walk-on and team captain during that same time, who is now the head coach at Illinois.

Links from the podcast:

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• Illinois Football Games vs Iowa: https://hawkeyerecap.com/home.asp?sport=Football&opp=Illinois
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• Nick Bell Player Profile: https://hawkeyerecap.com/player.asp?id=244
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• Bret Bielema Player Profile: https://hawkeyerecap.com/player.asp?id=261
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