Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad witnessed something Saturday that had happened only once before during his time in office — a shutout by the Iowa State football team.

Branstad attended the 38-0 Cyclone win at Jack Trice Stadium as part of a 99-county farewell tour. He is retiring this year after 16 years on the job, the longest term of any of Iowa’s 38 governors.

“It’s a chance to say thank you to the people that have supported me,” he said. “Iowans have given so much to me during my four terms as governor and the preceding four years as lieutenant governor.

“I want to show my respect, appreciation and gratitude with these visits all across the state,” Branstad said.

When he took office in 1982, the 35-year-old Branstad was the youngest governor in Iowa history. As he winds down his term, Branstad is joining the campaign of the Republican candidate to replace him, former U.S. Rep. Jim Ross Lightfoot.

“I’m doing all I can to help Jim Lightfoot,” he said. “We finally have a Republican governor and a Republican Legislature.

“I worked for a long time to get that, and we can see that it really makes a difference,” Branstad said.

Branstad said his greatest achievements are leading Iowa through the farm crisis of the 1980s and getting the state’s finances in order.

“I’m going to leave this state with the biggest budget surplus in history,” he said.

“But it is the people of Iowa who deserve so much credit for their hard work and determination to make this state a better place to live, work and raise a family,” Branstad said.

One benefit of the Branstad era is the ISU Research Park, located south of U.S. Highway 30 off Elwood Drive, which was built in 1986-87.

“Out of the research park, we’ve seen quality jobs,” Branstad said, mentioning biotechnology as an area where research park scientists have done important work.

He said the university also has contributed by developing alternative uses for crops harvested on Iowa farms.

“ISU’s been a real key player in helping us as we move toward the future in value-added agriculture,” he said.