On the field, the children screamed.

“I touched it! I touched it!”

Lovers cried, and the band rejoiced.

“In heaven, there is no beer; that’s why we drink it here.”

After collecting the spoils of their 40-21 victory over Iowa State Saturday — the Cy-Hawk Trophy, kept safe in the lobby of Iowa State’s Jacobson Athletic Building since Sept. 12, 1998 — the Iowa Hawkeyes and their fans milled about Jack Trice Stadium Saturday without obvious direction.

“It was the greatest thing ever,” said Des Moines resident Matt Durand, who graduated from the University of Iowa last December.

Durand came to Iowa City as a freshman in the fall of 1998, weeks before the Cyclones’ first win.

“I had to watch us lose all my college years,” Durand said. “I never saw them win.

“After this win, it doesn’t seem like five years … I’ve been waiting for this forever.”

Once Iowa players had secured the annual rivalry’s reward, the Hawkeye contingent of a record crowd of 53,488 gathered with the Hawkeye marching band in the southwest corner of the stadium and joined, intoxicated (with elation), through several rounds of Iowa’s fight songs.

Eventually, West Des Moines native and senior defensive tackle Jared Clauss emerged from the group with the trophy and sprinted for the north end zone. A swarm followed, as Clauss lowered the trophy to his waist level, and the youngest Iowa fans reached to brush their hands against the long-absent prize.

No player on Iowa’s team had ever been on a Cy-Hawk winning team. For placekicker Nate Kaeding and 20 other seniors, the win over Iowa State was a relief.

“This was our last shot to do that,” Kaeding said.

ISU players were subdued after the thrashing. Whether the attitude was due more to the Cyclones’ poor play or to the end of the streak was difficult to read.

“It hurt, watching the whole team come at you and take that trophy away,” said true freshman offensive guard Aaron Brant. “We have to look at what we did wrong and make corrections so that won’t happen again.”

Senior safety JaMaine Billups explained the loss.

“They just wanted it more,” he said.

“It’s a very sad feeling to lose the streak on our home field,” Billups said.

As the Hawkeyes prepared to head home, Kaeding pictured a resting place for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

“It’s going to look really good [in Iowa City],” he said.