After Nebraska refuses to shake hands with the Iowa players, the Hawkeyes have the last laugh

IOWA CITY — Jay Higgins witnessed something he had never seen before “in my entire football career,” possibly with the exception of peewee football, during the pregame coin toss.

“They didn’t put their hands out,” said Higgins, one of Iowa’s four captains. “So that was a little strange.”

As captured on camera, the Iowa captains walked over with their hands outstretched to shake hands. But Nebraska’s captains remained silent.

Not to mention, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule was also “going through warmups,” according to Higgins.

After those moments, Higgins “knew immediately what kind of game it was.” It didn’t stop before the game either.

“In the first series we were on their sidelines and I got a little close to their head coach,” Higgins said. “And I said, ‘It probably wasn’t a good idea not to shake hands.’ And he asks, ‘Who are you?'”

As Higgins explained this to reporters, he then turned to teammate and friend Nick Jackson and asked, “How many tackles do I have?”

“More than him,” Jackson said.

(For those keeping track, Higgins is up to 118 tackles this season.)

Iowa players quickly painted a contrasting picture from what would happen in their own program under the leadership of 26th-year head coach Kirk Ferentz.

“Kirk Ferentz – would he ever do something like that?” Higgins said, to which Jackson quickly said, “No.”

“Be a hawk,” Jackson said. “You see the difference.”

When asked about the situation in his postgame press conference, Ferentz said he was “not too worried about it.”

“I heard something in the locker room, but I wasn’t out there,” Ferentz said. “So I haven’t seen it and I really can’t say anything about it. There are certain pre-game etiquette that most people follow, but I didn’t see them either.”

Ferentz also noted that Higgins has “tremendous integrity.”

“So if Jay tells me something, I’m okay with it,” Ferentz said.

For most of Friday night, it didn’t look like the Huskers’ mental tactics were hurting them. They had a 10-0 lead at halftime, which felt even bigger considering the Hawkeyes only had 20 yards rushing in the first half.

“How good did they feel at halftime?” Higgins said. “Didn’t shake hands, got 10 up, they were probably in the locker room going crazy.”

Iowa obviously didn’t get the pregame handshake from Nebraska, but it did get something much better – a win. (It’s a win that comes with a rivalry trophy, bragging rights and an advantage in next weekend’s bowl selection.)

“After the game, I went up to their head coach and shook his hand because they didn’t want to shake our hands before the game,” Higgins said. “Told him, ‘Good game.'”

Higgins said he couldn’t remember what Rhule said to him after the handshake because he was “just really happy we won.”

But the handshake itself? “I’ll probably remember that handshake for the rest of my life.”

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