People who didn't know each other and will probably never meet again were smiling at each other, congratulating each other, high-fiving each other in the street. Random passers-by on Welch jumped into trucks of people they didn't know, just to celebrate. All it took was one car horn honk for a group of people to erupt into screams for their team. Even when administrators wouldn't let students onto the stadium field, together the students found a way to party. They simply found another goal post that would serve their purpose just as well.
Sports unite people like nothing else.
ISU students and boosters can say that we have a better school than Iowa, but it takes a high-profile win like this to solidify the argument. And, as improbable as it seems, we relate to athletes in a way we don't relate to others. Most of us are nothing like members of the football of basketball teams. We can't run as fast or jump as high as they can, and we never will. We can only live out our dreams of glory through athletes, be they celebrity sluggers or unknown linemen.