The Nebraska Cornhuskers football program was coming off a 9-4 season and a victory over Georgia in the Gator Bowl in 2013, and had high expectations for 2014.
Head Coach Bo Pelini was entering his seventh year at the helm and had already guided the program to three ten-win seasons.
In late November, the Cornhuskers traveled to Iowa City for a matchup against the Hawkeyes.
Sitting at 8-3, the Cornhuskers had a great chance to improve their bowl game with a win against a 7-4 Iowa squad.
Iowa came out hot early, and it took everything Nebraska had to overcome Iowa at home, winning 37-34 in overtime.
It wasn't the game that was the biggest surprise, it was what happened two days after.
In a shocking move, Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst fired Pelini and uttered the now-famous words that doomed the Cornhuskers in their rivalry with Iowa.
When asked about his surprise firing of Pelini, Eichorst stated, "In the final analysis, I had to evaluate where Iowa was."
He followed that statement by saying that, "their record was where it was, and ours was where it was. Fair enough?"
Iowa fans took offense to Eichorst's comments, and the embattled AD unknowingly launched a more intense rivalry than anyone thought possible.
Three years later, in 2017, Eichorst was fired from Nebraska, and the Cornhuskers have beaten Iowa only once since then (2022).
After Pelini's firing, Iowa has gone 97-40 overall and 10-1 against Nebraska, and Nebraska has gone 56-74 with a 1-10 record against Iowa.
After Friday's game and the domination by Iowa yet again, all Iowa fans give thanks for the blunder made by Shawn Eichorst.