Paul Rhoads was the director. Jeff Woody was the star. The score was Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” bellowed by thousands of Iowa State fans and the rest? Well the rest was pandemonium.

In the aftermath of Iowa State’s most significant victory in program history — a 37-31 double overtime win over No. 2 Oklahoma State — thousands of fans swarmed the field eager to make their mark on a special night in the history of Iowa State athletics.

The postgame celebration completed a trilogy of field stormings at Jack Trice Stadium that have taken place since Rhoads began as coach in 2009.

The first occurred in 2009 when the Cyclones beat Colorado 17-14 to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2005. The second came this season when the Cyclones knocked off in-state rival 44-41 in triple overtime. The third was prompted by the Cyclones’ first win over a top 5 opponent, on senior night, in front of a record sixth consecutive 50,000+ fan crowd and, like in 2009, qualified the team for a postseason bowl opportunity.

“This was really neat because it was another historic victory for Iowa State,” Rhoads said.

A pair of supporting actors throughout the last three seasons include ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard and ISU president Gregory Geoffory. Both speak highly of the job that Paul Rhoads and his staff has done over the last three seasons but had trouble remembering their usual lines amid the hysteria following the stunning upset.

“Speechless, speechless,” said ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard who was standing among a group of fans along the East side of the Jacobson Athletic Building as ISU players went to the locker room. “It’s awesome our fans are awesome.”

The last handshake awaiting players before they entered a raucous locker room was that of ISU president Gregory Geoffroy, who was beaming as he and his wife Kathleen greeted the victorious Cyclones.

“Incredible, wonderful,” Geoffroy said. “I’m so happy, so happy for our team.”

The goalposts stayed upright. Skirmishes between Iowa State and Oklahoma State were not reported. And the players made it to the locker room without celebration injuries. However, there were a few deleted scenes that only the players involved in the herd of ISU fans could tell.

“It gets hard to breathe when they rush the field like that,” said senior wide receiver Darius Darks. “I had to take my helmet off and they were smacking me all upside my head and everything I got my gloves stolen, my towel and they tried to take my shoes off but it’s all fun, it’s part of experiences like this so we get used to it.”

Darks’ fellow senior in the receiving corps, Darius Reynolds, told reporters after the Cyclones’ triple overtime win over Iowa in September that the post-game celebration was “probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life.” On Friday, Reynolds sprinted toward the pile that gathered around Woody after he plunged into the end zone from four yards out.

“For it to be my last game as a senior playing here I feel like I owed it to the fans to celebrate it with them this time, last time I kind of ran away but this time I stayed out there and celebrated it was a great, great feeling,” Reynolds said.

After a postgame locker room celebration, Rhoads talked about the closing scene of Friday night’s upset. In his post-game press conference, Rhoads admitted that he had hoped Friday night’s celebration could have taken place earlier this season when the 3-0 Cyclones hosted 3-0 Texas. However, the Cyclones fell behind early and were routed 37-14 in front of 56,390 fans, the second-largest crowd in Jack Trice Stadium history.

With upset wins at Nebraska, Texas and Texas Tech over the last three seasons, Rhoads felt relieved to finally give the fans in Ames an opportunity to celebrate at home.

“We’ve had some quote-un-quote signature wins in the three years that we’ve been here this one took place at home,” Rhoads said. “I’m very proud for the Cyclone Nation that they got to experience it.”

Curtain closes. Fade to black. Iowa State ended it’s greatest Act of all in dramatic fashion.