As the Cyclone football team handed Ball State a 38-0 loss last Saturday, an Iowa State student was busy scoring some points along the sideline.

Jeremy Howe, senior in transportation logistics and marketing, proposed to his new fiance‚, Nikki Youngblut, senior in biology, during the second quarter of the game.

Youngblut and Howe have been dating since a mutual friend introduced them during their freshman year at ISU. The couple had already looked at rings, but Youngblut said she had no idea that she would see one on her finger quite so soon.

“It was a total surprise,” Youngblut said. “We had looked at rings, but I didn’t think it was going to come until November.”

Not only did Howe surprise Youngblut with the early proposal, but he hired a plane to fly a banner over the stadium that read, “WILL YOU MARRY ME NIKKI LOVE JEREMY.”

Howe even contacted Channel 5 news and asked them to come and record the proposal.

“I wanted this to be a memorable experience for Nikki,” Howe said. “I know there are more romantic ways of proposing, but I wanted to do it in a big way.”

Members of the marching band, friends and family were all present for the proposal.

“I have no idea how she didn’t find out about it,” Howe said.

Youngblut said she thought she was at just another football game all the way up until the big moment.

“I was just sitting there enjoying the game, and my friend told me to look up at the plane,” she said. “I hadn’t even noticed the news crew.”

Howe said he was never worried about a rejection from Youngblut.

“We had talked about getting married before, and there was no doubt in my mind what she would say,” Howe said.

“The only time I was nervous was when the plane was taking off and had some problems,” he said. “Right after I heard there was going to be a plane delay, the battery in the television crew’s camera ran out and they had to run to the van for a new one.

“Everything was set until the last minute, but it all turned out for the best,” he said.