On Monday, Jeff Woody said he wanted to finish his senior night on the sideline, watching his quarterback take a knee and then to go sing the fight song to the crowd after a win.

Instead, Woody finished his football career at Jack Trice Stadium on the sideline for the final ticks of the game, but it was close enough for him.

“I got to shake the hands of all the people that were still there as we ran around the stadium,” Woody said. “And we got to sing the fight song one more time and that’s what I wanted to do, that’s how I wanted to go out at Jack Trice is being able to sing the fight song and come away with the win.”

Jack Trice Stadium held an estimated 30,000 fans with snow on the field and in the stands and a record-setting eight degree temperature at kickoff that didn’t get any warmer. The stadium might as well have been called a ice rink with the lack of footing, but the seniors didn’t mind, it was their night to have and to remember.

Senior running back Shontrelle Johnson scored on a 23-yard carry in the fourth quarter and was so happy dancing in the endzone with his teammates, that he didn’t mind the 15-yard penalty he was given for celebrating.

“That’s what I’m always going to remember,” Johnson said. “You talk about the moments you’re going to remember and that last game I can take my son to a Cyclone football game and say son I scored on senior night, my last game there and I got a 15-yard penalty.”

Senior linebacker Jeremiah George finished with a team-high 14 tackles and forced a fumble recovered by his fellow defensive captain and senior Jacques Washington, who finished with a career-high 13 tackles and became the third defensive back ever to record 300 career tackles.

George spoke to the media after the game still wearing his cardinal jersey and gold pants – he didn’t want to take them off. After all, it would be the last time he would wear his home colors here at Jack Trice Stadium.

“It all kind of hit me at the end when guys were coming up to me and hugging me and just telling me how much they appreciate me because they don’t know how much I appreciate them and that was a chance for me to express that,” George said.

“I line up with these guys, I play with these guys, I eat lunch with these guys, I do homework with these guys as a student-athlete. I just love everything about this place.”

For Woody, this was his last chance to thank the fans. Even with Jack Trice Stadium half-empty and half-frozen it was a send off Woody wouldn’t have traded anything for. His senior night ended how he had wanted it to. He got to sing the fight song with the fans who chanted his name as he ran off of Jack Trice’s field one last time.

“It’s four degrees in the end of the game and there’s still 20,000 people in the stands,” Woody said. “You can’t thank the fans enough for all the support they’ve given me. Hell, about three minutes in a row my name was chanting through the stadium, that’s a tremendous amount of gratitude.

“Thank you everyone for being so supportive of me. Now you’re going to have to find somebody else to scream the name of as they go out.”